‘True Blood’ Sneak Peeks: A Naked Eric And An Apology For Casting Evan Rachel Wood

There’s quite a long wait until ‘True Blood’’s third season, which kicks off in June of 2010.

But on Wednesday night at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, the show’s writing staff, including  producer Alan Ball, gave us spoilers to tie us over for a long time - and miss the show that much more!

The juiciest scoop? Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the deliciously devious vampire Eric, will appear in the nude right from the start.

“I believe he [Eric] appears without his clothes in the very first episode,” said Ball to an audience of swooning female ‘True Blood’ fans.

Who won’t be returning, what non-liked actress is heading back, and is the show really done with orgies? Read on to find out.

Watch ‘True Blood’ clips on Fancast

Finding Bill Compton and a “Boatload” Of New Vamps

During the red carpet, the writers told us that five episodes from the new season were already in the can. Bill Compton’s (Stephen Moyer) location won’t be a mystery for much longer - at least for the audience - because Bill’s location will be revealed to us in the season premiere.

There will also be a smattering of new faces in Bon Temps. “We have a big boatload of new characters for season three,” said Ball. Supervising producer Alexander Woo also told us that Sookie (Anna Paquin) will meet various new vampires, along with the audience. “Hopefully you’ll be surprised, they might not be what you expect,” he said to us on the red carpet.

Evan Rachel Wood will reprise her role as the Queen of Louisiana, much to the dismay of the audience in attendance - which didn’t seem to like the actress very much. “Sorry! I cast her! Point it all towards me,” said Ball.

Who won’t be returning? Maryann (Michelle Forbes), who is definitely dead as a doornail.

On The Series Versus The Books

How faithful will the show remain to Charlene Harris’ original books? On paper, at least, Bill disappears from the story. Ball states emphatically, “Stephen Moyer will not be marginalized…Bill and Sookie have a connection that will never die.”

“We try to stay very faithful to the books regarding Sookie’s story because the books are narrated by Sookie,” he said. “There are some books where Jason is hardly in it or Sam is hardly in it. So that’s where we tend to do the bulk of our creativity, [in order to] find out what to do with those other characters so they have lives as rich as Sookie.”

The Future Of Jason Stackhouse, The End Of Orgies & A “Disgusting” Situation With A Harp

What’s in store for Jason Stackhouse? Will he return to his skirt-chasing ways? Ball told us, “I think even if Jason tries to go back to his old ways they’re not going to be as satisfying as they used to be. He’s looking for a way to give himself a sense of importance and what that’s going to be. He’ll probably try a couple things before he figures it out.”

And romance is coming back to Tara in a big way, although Ball assured us they’re done with orgies. “She is going to be involved in a way with a vampire but the Sam door is still open and the Jason door is still open.”

What role will violence play for the rest of the series? It seems the writers will try to outdo the gory bits from season two. Writer and producer Raelle Tucker, who penned an episode for the third season, told us, “We saw a giant harp inside a location and we thought of a really disgusting thing to do with that harp. I threw it in the script. I won’t tell you anything else except that it’s really disgusting and it involves a harp.”

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