Nearly a decade after HBO’s True Blood came to an end, Anna Paquin reflects on filming steamy scenes for the hit supernatural series.
During a recent interview with the New York Post, Paquin recalled her husband Stephen Moyer, who starred on the show, gave her and Joe Manganiello sex scene tips while he was directing some episodes.
“Steve started directing me when we were on True Blood,” Anna Paquin explained. “And in Season 7, our final season, he directed the season opener, which had Sookie in love with a giant beautiful werewolf Joe Manganiello.”
While directing her and Mangeillo during an explicit steamy season, Moyer decided to help out a bit. “So when you ask if it is awkward to shoot a movie with your husband, the bar for awkward is set terribly high in our household,” Paquin joked. “Not to mention on that show in general.”
Anna Paquin then stated that Moyer had “cut his teeth” directing True Blood and there would be jokes about the intimacy her character Sookie had with other characters. “By Season 3 or 4, it would be like, ‘Hi honey, who are you f—ing on camera today?’”
True Blood made its debut on HBO in 2007 and ran until 2014. The show also starred Alex Skarsgård, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, and Chris Bauer.
Steven Moyer Talks ‘True Blood’ Steamy Scene Encouragement, Directing Anna Paquin in Other Projects
Meanwhile, Anna Paquin’s husband Steve Moyer recalled hilarious behind-the-scene moments at the True Blood set.
“There was actually a day where we were walking from our tailers, Alex Skarsgård and Anna and another actor,” he said. “And we were all working in dressing gowns going towards our stages.”
“It got to a point where I was about to go to one stage and Anna and Alex to another and I was just like, ‘Go for it, guys, good luck, have a good time, make it look good.’”
Moyer also said he encouraged Manganiello to get it on with his wife on camera during the Season 7 episode. “In that Season 7 sequence with Big Joe, there was just a funny moment where I’m going, ‘Joe, you can do it, mate. It’s OK, grab it, you can do it.”
Moyer also complimented his wife, whom he met on the True Blood set in 2007. He is now directing her in the new drama film A Bit of Light.
“One of the great joys of working with Anna is that I think she’s a brilliant, genius actor,” he said. “But we also have a shorthand.”
“We don’t talk about [a scene] the night before like, ‘Right, tomorrow, this is what we’re going to do’ We sort of skirt around that because we have a deep understanding of each other as performers and we trust each other.”
Moyer then added that sometimes he and Paquin leave it to the moment they’re shooting a scene to talk about it.