Middle Age Hollywood

On his engagement to co-star Anna Paquin and the start of their romance: “She doesn’t pull punches. I’ll take 74,000 words to express an emotion because I fear hurting someone’s feelings. Anna will do it in three words. But we trust each other so implicitly that there’s never anything hurtful; it always comes from a loving place. It’s not as though people I’ve been with before haven’t been loving, but with Anna it’s just about pure trust, on camera and off. I have never trusted anybody like I trust Anna. During the show’s first season I had to go back to London and she went back to New York. I wish I had bought shares in Skype, because we Skyped every night for three or four hours. It felt as though part of me had been removed when Anna and I were apart.”

On human-on-undead vampire sex: “Unlike werewolves, who are very hot, vampires are steely cold, so sex with the undead isn’t going to get hot and crispy. There’s no heartbeat, no adrenaline rush as you get close to the moment. But in terms of speed and timing, you may be able to have sex that lasts for days. Vampire sex is muscular and physical, so it could be tiring for a human guy to have sex with a female vampire. I often think a lot of women’s attraction to vampires is based on the fact that vampires come from centuries ago, from eras of chivalry and courtly virtues. So it’s about being treated like a lady but being physically overtaken in the sack.”

On the diverse sexual couplings and overall sensuality of the show: “Sex on our show is like a big muffin that’s heating up, overflowing and expanding in an oven. This time last year I was thinking, What the fuck are we going to do next year to top this? Well, I can tell you it’s weird and exciting this year. As I said, the show is more character-centered—and I’m not saying it’s better or worse for it—but there’s certainly just as much, if not more, interesting sex because of it.”

On his thoughts about True Blood vs. Twilight: “That’s like comparing Monterey Jack and Roquefort. If my eight-year-old daughter comes to me when she’s 13 and says, ‘Dad, what would you rather I got into, Twilight or Black Sabbath?’ I’d be stuck between the two but would probably pull for Twilight. I love Black Sabbath, but that can wait until my daughter turns 16. The Twilight movies fill a niche. In her Twilight novels Stephenie Meyer has chosen a similar vampire framework to tell a story about burgeoning sexuality. What’s interesting about our show is that sexuality has already burgeoned. I wish Twilight the best of luck, but I’m very happy to be doing True Blood.”