True Blood Hiatus Support Group End of the Week Edition

By now you might have noticed I have been a lover of all things Vampire for a very long time. Kindred, The Embraced was a show I adored, the reason it ended was a very sad one for fans of the series. 
The star, Mark Frankel, had a beloved yellow Harley and was in an accident that ended his young life, still is very sad to think of it. He had a young family and a very bright future ahead of him, he also had/has a huge fanbase. Kindred was based on a book, Vampire, The Masquerade and Julian Luna (Frankel) is like the Godfather of the vampire clans and must rule with an iron fist to keep peace between them. It isn't easy because they are always warring, you know how vamps are.

If you can get a DVD of the show or catch it on some cable channel, you won't be sorry you did.
TVLine has info on a new cast member-

True Blood is introducing the woman who gave life to late werewolf packmaster Marcus, and they found one tough mother to play her. My Name is Earl character actress Dale Dickey — who knows a thing or two about channeling formidable, backwoods matriarchs (see: her acclaimed, award-winning performance in last year’sWinter’s Bone) — is joining the HBO hit as Annie, Marcus’ werewolf mother. Powerful and respected within the pack due to her late son’s position, Annie is determined to perform a particular ritual. Might said ritual involve making Alcide pay for whacking her demon spawn? Her status is reccurring.
 Ah, dear Mr Ball, the books have great characters, can't you bring yourself to use them more?

Moviefone has an interview with Askars-
Alexander Skarsgard is well aware that he can't be the scoundrelly yet, at times, amiable, vampire Eric Northman forever. That's not to say that he hasn't enjoyed his time on 'True Blood'; he has, even if that does include filming an occasional ménage à trois with real-life husband and wife Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin. But he also realizes that continuing to play the versions of Eric Northman he's continuously offered -- "without the fangs," he admits -- is, as Skarsgard puts it, "creative suicide." In other words: nothing a Lars von Trier movie won't fix. 
This is what he answered when they talked about Melancholia, the whole interview is at the above link.
You play, by far, the nicest person in this movie.
It was fun because Eric on 'True Blood' is an alpha male. And we shot this right after we wrapped season three, so I had spent seven months being Eric and it was so fun doing something that was very different.
You play an extremely popular character on 'True Blood.' A lot of people have played popular characters on television and sometimes it winds up haunting them. Between a Lars von Trier movie and 'Battleship,' is there a plan in place so you're not known as Eric Northman the rest of your life? Or maybe you want to be known as that?
Well [pauses], it's not so much like a career move or a strategy that I have. It's more... I need that. Like, creatively. Of course, after 'True Blood,' I get a lot of scripts that are similar to 'True Blood' or very similar to Eric Northman -- because people want to pigeonhole you. So it's the same character, but in a movie set or whatever. First of all, of course it's not a good career move to do that, because then you become that. You'll get typecast doing that forever. That's creative suicide. But it's also, for me -- I'm not going to do a good job if I do something I've done 25 times before. Because I won't be inspired; I won't be encouraged. There's nothing in that script or in that role that I'll discover. I mean, it's already there, I know what I'm doing. I'll just go there and I'll show up and I'll be whatever I've been for the past 'X' amount of years. So that's why I actively look for guys like Michael in this movie, who is so different than Eric Northman.

How Can they typecast this actor? He is a good vamp but he's good at everything.
I'm curious how much input you have in this: During the first season of 'True Blood,' I found Eric a bit frightening, but I feel like there's something more appealing about him in recent seasons -- even when he does something frightening, I still want to be his friend. Maybe it's the hair.
Well, that's what I loved about it. When people watch something, they're lazy. So they want to label the characters. Oh, "the hero." "The girl." "The villain." And they sit back and it's very convenient, you know? And what I loved about Eric -- I always love when it's because life is more complicated than that. In movies, I always love when there's darkness in the protagonist. You know? And there's goodness in the antagonist. When there's more of a grey zone than just black and white. What I love about Eric is that when you meet him, he's introduced as "the villain." And the audience is like, "All right, very well, here's the evil sheriff." But then, after a while, you're like, "Oh, wait a minute, that was kind of nice, why did he do that?" And I love that, that people had to revisit, "Oh, shit, well, actually, maybe he's not just the villain." But, of course, when people see a vulnerability that he can be weak and sensitive and kind and loyal... it is tough, because you still want him to be dangerous; he's still a predator -- so you can't emasculate him too much.
I know love scenes on set are nothing but professional. But is it at all different when the other two members of the scene are married in real life? 
Not really. We're good friends and professional actors. All three of us. So we know what we're doing. And it's like, I love Anna [Paquin] to death, but Steve [Moyer] obviously knows that our friendship is very platonic. So, sometimes it's more awkward if you don't know them. Steve knows that I'm not a threat.
Well, I'd be more like, "Oh, I hope I'm not imposing."
Nah. And Steve was very sweet before we got in to all of that stuff. He said to me, "Dude, I just want you to know that I want you to feel comfortable with this and it's not awkward at all. I love you and I know there's no one I'd rather have doing these scenes with Anna and me because we're friends. It's not awkward at all and I don't want you to hold back because then that's going to be weird. Like, do what you have to do." It was very great of him to say that.
Men's Health has fitness tips from Stephen, and we can see that he knows his stuff.

Moyer’s Essex upbringing informed his approach to fitness as he drank and smoked his way through his twenties and most of his thirties. But True Blood’s steamy Louisiana setting required plenty of clothes-free action so he had to shape up, and fast. “I didn’t want my kids to look back at the show in 20 years’ time and go, ‘Who’s that slobby git? Oh it’s you, Dad.’” But his attitude to training was very different from his US co-stars. “I’m an English boy,” he says. “I played a lot of sports growing up, but I never had any kind of routine.”
So now he swears by personal trainers to motivate him. “I don’t go at it if I don’t have someone making me. Half of what a trainer does is make you feel shame if you don’t show up.” Shamed or not, it worked for Moyer, as the countless websites testify. And if he’s ever lacking drive he can also dwell on the fact that his True Blood co-star Ryan Kwanten is well known for his washboard stomach. “His character walks into a room and takes his shirt off. That’s a normal entrance.”
As with his career, persistence is the real key to staying fit in your forties. “There’s no immediate pay off,” he says. “Sometimes it feels like it’s taking forever to see results. It takes commitment and time, but when you start to see results – when you feel a bit leaner or you’re doing more reps – you start to think, ‘Wow, I can see a difference!’ And it’s palpable. I recommend it.”

From Globalgrind- Ryan brings us a taste of Australia as a model, spokesperson and even designer for the Aussie-based brand. The 34-year-old actor is designing a few t-shirts of his own to include alongside MAMBO's beach ready basics for Spring 2012, which you can cop at any Bon-Ton store across the nation, plus online.
Askarsgard.com has scans of the GQ UK article, he's man of the month.

Looking ruggedly handsome and possibly taking attention away from the models on stage, True Blood heartthrob Joe Manganiello was spotted in head-to-toe G-Star at last night’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York. DenimHunt
Joe Talks to TVline-
The HBO drama’s upcoming fifth season will be packed with werewolves, and the man beast leading the resurgence — Joe Manganiello (a.k.a. Alcide) — ischamping at the bit to get started. “Oh my god, I can’t f—ing wait,” he enthused to TVLine at the after-party for this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (airing Nov. 29 on CBS). ”The fact that they’re basically busy casting an entire new pack of werewolves is unbelievable. There’s going to be like a werewolf show within the show this this year, so I’m like a kid about it!”
Among the lycanthropes making tracks to Bon Temps: late pack leader Marcus’ mother, Annie (played byWinter’s Bone standout Dale Dickey); a hot young she-wolf named Rikki; and a hard-bodied fiftysomething named J.D. who sounds suspiciously like Alcide’s never-before-seen father.
“It may not be what you expect,” teases Manganiello of the character, adding, “Alcide’s dad is in [Charlaine Harris' fifth Sookie novel]. Whether or not he makes an appearance… well, that’s a question for [executive producer] Alan [Ball].” (With reporting by Matt Webb Mitovich)

Rutine and her castmates attended the opening of Venus in Fur, Carrie Preston also attended.                           courtesy of Playbill.com

                                                Skarsgardfans Has some info on Charlaine's latest

Sam gives good interviews on The Daily Habit, go to link to view another one.

Kristin at the American Humane Society Hero Dog Awards, looking beautiful for a good cause, Michele Forbes, the Maenad, was there too.

True Blood News has more videos on their youtube channel