- JoAnna Zulli, BettyConfidential.com
The filming of the new season of HBO’s hit vampire series, True Blood, doesn’t begin until early December, but there is already tension brewing among the cast. Setsiders tell BettyConfidential that Alexander Skarsgard, who portrays vampire Eric, is looking for more airtime than his on-screen nemesis, Stephen Moyer.
When the show began two years ago, producers cast Stephen as the lead character, a vampire named Bill who romances Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse. But as fans got to see more of Swedish hunk Alexander, a number of them jumped on the Team Eric bandwagon.
Alex, who despite this rivalry gets along well with Stephen, thought his growing popularity would make him the producers’ favorite, but the insider says that’s not the case. “The execs love Stephen. He’s easy to work with, can handle any scene given to him, he rarely complains, and [SPOILER ALERT!!!!] he didn’t even blink an eye when producers told him they'd be splitting him up with [his real-life fiancé] Anna.”
Read True Blood Stars’ Wedding Plans
As fans of the Charlaine Harris books know, Sookie and Eric do get closer, and last season, Alexander was thrilled when his love scenes with Anna became the focus of the last few episodes of the show (we are choosing to ignore that weird Maryann storyline). But with so many regular cast members and so many storylines intertwined, the source adds that Alexander still felt his character got a bit sidelined and he’s determined for that not to be the case on season three!
In fact, Alexander has been quietly dating co-star Evan Rachel Wood, who plays vampire queen Sophie-Anne, and is hoping they become the show’s next super couple.
"He wants to be the next Stephen and Anna. But Rachel’s character is only recurring and she’s a villain. And fans don’t favor her character like they do Sookie." The insider says Alexander even asked Alan Ball, the show’s creator and producer, to let him see the scripts for the early part of the season, but was told that the scripts were off-limits to everyone. Season three is under wraps, so storylines don’t get leaked.
But in an interview with TVSquad.com, Alan Ball said that he’s not sticking too closely to the storylines of the Sookie Stackhouse books and when asked if Eric and Sookie get together, he revealed the following tidbit: "I can’t tell you if Sookie and Eric are going to get together, because that’s going to ruin the anticipation. But, if you’ve been following season two, he’s definitely been doing things to make her more vulnerable and more susceptible to him. And he does want her, he’s just not sure why. I think it’s deeper than just, ‘I want her because Bill Compton has her.’ Although that’s part of it, because Eric is a total alpha-dog."
Hmmm, Bill or Eric? It’s a tough choice, almost as difficult as the decision Twilight’s Bella faces in that other vampire juggernaut New Moon.
“It's the classic good boy/bad boy,” Ball told TVSquad of his lead vampires. “The good boy, he's great, but the bad boy... you can't stop thinking about him.”
True, but don’t count Stephen Moyer out of the show just yet.
"Producers love Alexander and know he's one of the most popular of the men on the show, even more so than Ryan Kwanten [who plays Jason]. But the truth is, the show is the most important thing and they are prepared to put Alex in his place, if necessary, when the show resumes filming.”
Tell us: Are you on Team Bill or Team Eric?
JoAnna Zulli is a New York-based writer who has worked for Star, Soap Opera Magazine, Woman's World, In Touch and the New York Post.
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