Below is part of Sam’s interview:
How does a guy who set out to study physics at an Ivy League school end up in Hollywood?
Trammell: I went to Brown University thinking I’d become a theoretical physicist, but then I realized that it was all math and not any fun. So somehow I got into semiotics — I went to Paris and studied that during junior year — and by the time I got back, I was a little bit burnt.
How off-the-charts pretentious did the semiotics talk get?
Trammell: It’s the most pretentious there is. We were all wearing black, smoking cigarettes, thinking we were the smartest people in the world. “The hegemonic transcendental signified forced upon the proletariat” — that was the kind of thing we were talking about. It was ridiculous.
After college, you got an agent, worked the theater circuit in New York, moved to L.A., then True Blood came along.
Trammell: Literally every other actor in town auditioned for it. [Creator] Alan Ball had just finished Six Feet Under, so I knew it was a big deal. After I got the part, I had lunch with him, and he told me the character was a shapeshifter. I thought Sam was just a guy who owned the bar.
Fast-forward to Season 5, and there are virtually no regular humans left in Bon Temps. What gives?
Trammell: Right, who’s the normal person left to react? It’s all in the [Sookie Stackhouse] books — they divvy out the supernatural creatures as the story goes on. But now even Tara’s been turned! The show keeps getting bigger and the writers need something to work with.
For being the folksy town barkeep, Sam sure has a checkered past…
Trammell: It was so fun getting that background [on him] after I spent the first season pining after Sookie [Anna Paquin] and warning her about vampires. Anytime you get to hold a gun in a show, it is fun.
Is it just me…or does the food at Merlotte’s look really good?
Trammell: Ha! That bar is incredible. The amount of detail they put in is unbelievable; if you go and look behind the bar, they have real cards for carpenters from Shreveport. I actually see the food, so I don’t think it’s that good. But the menu looks great.
Sam’s been pretty unlucky in relationships. Do he and Luna (Janina Gavankar) stand a chance?
Trammell: He does have trust issues — that irrational fight-or-flee impulse. But I think he’s found real love [with Luna], and he’s learning how to hold onto it. It’s about that moment when you know you want to pursue it in a serious way.
Think he still carries a torch for Sookie?
Trammell: Oh, sure. We’ve gotten pulled off in our different ways, but when you think about it, it’s only been about a year and a half or two since the action started. It seems almost like a reasonable thing for them to end up together.
How close-knit is your cast?
Trammell: Funny enough, none of us ever hang out. Most ensemble shows take place in the hospital or the law office…us, it’s all over the place. We all have separate story lines, so some of us never see each other. It feels like a lot of independent contractors. That’s part of the reason why we get along really well; we’re not with each other enough to dislike each other.
Your costars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are expecting twins — how hush-hush was it when they first got together?
Trammell: They were very good at keeping it secret. I didn’t know until Stephen came and told me. All of us were like, “Oh, my gosh, what’s going to happen? I hope they don’t break up!” But it’s only made things better.
Read the rest of this interview by going to: tvguide.com