Your hit HBO series True Blood returns for its fourth season in June. WebMD wants to know: Do you know your own blood type?
Noooo! That’s awful — I should! That’s crazy! I don’t remember! My doctor knows, because we’ve talked about it. Even Bill Compton [the 175-year-old vampire Moyer plays on TV], whom I’m really, really close to, I don’t even know what his favorite type of blood is.
Are you squeamish at the sight of real blood? Or even at the fake stuff used on set?
Not at all. But I used to be. This show has erased any fears. Once upon a time I would have run a marathon rather than, you know, look after my kid’s skinned knee. I probably would have fainted. Now I kind of relish the sight of blood after four years on the show. You learn to enjoy it after awhile. Especially when it’s the sort of syrupy, strawberry, sugary stuff we have to eat!
Fangs are gory but still fun. What scares you in real life?
Something happening to my kids. My family being hurt. My daughter is terrified of tsunamis. I’ve said to her all these years [living in Venice, Calif., before the recent tsunami in Japan]: “Come on, the chances of there being a tsunami …!” You know, all the things one says to one’s children to make them feel better. I worry about the things that will take away the people I love. Or that could take me away from them.
You’ve been quoted as saying you once considered yourself an atheist, but that you’ve had some experiences that changed your views. What happened? Something supernatural?
It was before True Blood — it wasn’t True Blood-related. I did a show in England five years ago about a character with a real inner life. The strange irony is that the character was kind of like Sookie, the telepathic waitress is True Blood. This character, when he touches you, feels the emotion you are going through at that moment. I loved the part, it was beautifully written, but I had no belief in that stuff. But during my research, I met with a number of people who changed the way I looked at life. It made me re-evaluate. I just stopped not believing.
You just married co-star Anna Paquin last November. Is it difficult to negotiate matrimony while working together?
We’ve only ever known each other in this scenario, where we work together and see each other, every day. When we’re not on set together, that’s been the thing that we’ve had to get used to. You know, “Hey, what are you doing at work today?” “Well, I’m [expletive]-ing a vampire, what are you doing?” Or when there’s stuff going on with her and another character, or me and another character. We’re a team, we’re husband and wife, and we support each other in the stuff we’re doing, but sometimes it’s like, “So, let’s get this straight: You’re doing a scene with one of my best friends in bed today!” And you just have to deal with it — I was going to say like everybody else does. But the situation doesn’t come up with most people, does it? [Laughs.]
Read the rest of the interview at webmd.com