Interview: Anna Paquin Dipped in ‘True Blood’

By Quendrith Johnson
Fancast.com

If you saw the crowd outside the Arclight in Hollywood Thursday night for HBO’s True Blood red carpet premiere, the scope of the gala screamed ‘Oscar winner in the house.’ Based on the best-selling Sookie Stackhouse book series by Charlaine Harris, True Blood indeed delivers with Academy Awardee Anna Paquin (The Piano, Almost Famous) in the Sookie role. Deeply gifted and playing a reluctant psychic waitress, Paquin finds her gift lost on the ‘liberated’ vampire demographic that has just joined the human population in light of a Rights Amendment for the Un-dead. If it sounds like a murky wash of Mark Twain meets Anne Rice, you’d be missing the glint off the other gold statue in the mix here: that of showrunner/producer Alan Ball, Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty (Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari); plus a little ‘groundbreaking’ show called Six Feet Under. As if that isn’t enough, Alan tapped pal/amazing writer/producer Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl) for True Blood.

But back to Anna Paquin, 26, the Canadian-born New Zealand bred wunderkind. When she emerges in her clearly Marilyn-Monroe inspired (hair-up, little black dress) attire on the red carpet she is, in a word, stunning. The charming gap in her front teeth is still there with its childlike glimmer, that’s about it; she’s been retrofitted with glam.

In True Blood, which premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 at 10 PM on HBO, be prepared for the new ultra-sexy wickedly intelligent Anna Paquin, whole blood products and all, as she falls (or does she?) for a former Civil War hero (Stephen Moyer) turned vampire from 1861. Meanwhile, here’s what she told Fancast, in an exclusive interview from the red carpet, about how to pronounce ‘Sookie,’ and why she fought tooth and nail for it:

Alan said, Alan Ball said, that you went after the role - is that true?

Anna Paquin: Aggressively.

Had you read the books, or how did you know about it?

I read the pilot script. Then I read the book. I love HBO, because I have worked for them before. And, I adore Alan, and I’m a huge fan –

But you totally lobbied for it, really?

Absolutely. Why not? If it’s not worth fighting for; it’s not worth doing. I mean, seriously.

Did you know there were other people up for it?

Well, yes, of course. Anything that is really amazing (in Hollywood), you are going to have to fight for.

What did you think of the whole thing of portraying someone with psychic abilities?

I mean, that’s an interesting thing to play because the character brought that, but it wasn’t specifically the main draw.

Did you love the vampire part, is that what brought you into it?

No. It was Alan. It was HBO. The way that they turned a potentially unbelievable of sort of world of science fiction and fantasy into one that is incredibly grounded in reality, and beautiful, and real, and poignant, and emotional. It’s really kind of more about the characters.

Speaking of beautiful, you have totally transformed. How are you handling this very beautiful (read: sexy) role?

Well. Thankfully. Puberty finished. And, so now I guess I don’t look quite so much like a — a — a mid-ugly-duckling stage!

Well, you are a swan now; we’ll just say that.

Now I am 26 and Thank G-d that (stage) was a few years ago!

But isn’t it kind of weird having to be so beautiful? It’s so Hollywood.

NO! Because that’s not how I see me (as beautiful).

How do you see you?

I don’t know.

How do you see the character of Sookie –

Suh-key, suh-key!

I’m sorry, my bad, not the bovine animal.

It rhymes with ‘cookie.’

But how do you see Sookie?

How do I see her? She’s strong. She’s courageous. She’s smart. She’s tough. She’s innocent. She’s vulnerable. She’s hopeful, and she’s a romantic. And on that note, I gotta go because they’re going to start the show!