'True Blood' Creator Teases Upcoming Season

Creator Alan Ball teased True Blood's upcoming season 4 at the Paley Center for Media's PaleyFest tribute to the HBO show over the weekend. While the man behind the sexy vampire series remained tight-lipped about the prospects of a Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) romance, he did bring a clip of the season’s June premiere to help satisfy fans' craving for more from Bon Temps, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The scene focused on a reunited Pam (Kristin Bauer) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack), joined by Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) confronting a group of protesters demonstrating outside of vampire hangout Fangtasia.

After the clip, 16 cast members joined Ball at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills and spoke about the future of his or her character. “She's been on a bit of an adventure, she comes back. She's still very new to all this fairy stuff,” Paquin said of Sookie Stackhouse. In regards to Eric Northam, Skarsgard revealed that his vampire is quite aloof at the start of the season. "He's completely lost and he doesn't know who he is. This powerful character is just gone," he explained. "Eric needs help… there are a lot of friendly people in Bon Temps who are kind enough to help Eric."

Ball confirmed the return of Denis O'Hare as Russell Edgington, as well as the addition of notable guest stars Gary Cole and Fiona Shaw. The creator also hinted at the use of flashbacks in season four, particularly to help flesh out certain characters' pasts. Of course, Bon Temps would not be the same if every character's life was easy. "They can only be happy for one episode," he said of his complex characters.

Yet their personal lives of Ball's actors is a different story. Costars Paquin and Stephen Moyer married last summer, and now Sam Trammell, who plays shape shifter Sam Merlotte, is going to become a father. The actor, 40, is expecting twins with his girlfriend of eight years, Missy Yager, People reports. —EMILY EXTON

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