Kristin Bauer : NYPost

For an actor, there's obvious appeal in playing a supporting character. Aside from the reduced time commitment, there's less pressure since the project doesn't ride on their shoulders and are typically given the best lines. So when a show upgrades a fan favorite from recurring to full time -- as "True Blood" did with vampire Pam for season three -- there is some fan fear involved.

Mostly we worry everything we loved about the character will be thrown out the window in order to create a three dimensional person. But once again "True Blood" proves itself to be unflappable since they've been able to retain everything we adored about Kristin Bauer's character while also giving us what we never knew we always wanted -- more.

More pink, more one-liners and more of a grasp on who this woman truly is. After coming out of the series regular gate like a champ, we caught up with Kristin to find out where Pam is headed this season, if she'll be doing it in a pastel shade and why she had to taunt us with stories of naked Alexander Skarsgard.

Note: PopWrap is teaming up with HBO for a fantastic fan-focused online event on Sunday June 20 at 9pm. Details below!

PopWrap: Not trying to be biased, but I think Pam had some of the best scenes in Sunday's season premiere. 
Kristin Bauer: It’s been like that all season. I get an email saying, “the script’s coming” and I stay home to read them immediately. And every single script that came was a new reveal about who Pam is and that has been endlessly fun. The sarcasm has stayed and the great outfits have stayed, but they’ve added this other layer where we actually find out who she is, how deep her relationship with Eric is, sexually who she is, how tough she is, how loyal she is and it’s incredibly fun.

 

PW: It's like they're giving this vampire a soul in some ways. 
Kristin: That’s exactly it. And it’s so much fun for an actor to play with the big boys no that set because the whole cast is amazing.

 

PW: I love that the show seems very intent on exploring her relationship with Eric first and foremost. 
Kristin: The main thing I keep thinking is "behind every good vampire is a great vampire" [laughs]. We find out exactly what her role is and how she feels she can best support her maker. She obviously thinks Eric is the best maker ever and the activities that go with that can at times be a bit hairy, so you find out how strong her backbone is.

 

PW: What else have you loved discovering about Pam this season? 
Kristin: I loved finding out that she has such integrity. That this incredibly entertaining surface is backed by a real depth of character. Now, I can feel her immortality. You look at someone who’s lived so long and doesn’t have probable death in front of her and think wow. I love seeing that scaffolding under the building. It’s also what I love about “True Blood” as well – we have eye candy and all sorts of entertainment, but the show is about so much more than that. And they just extended that to Pam.

 

PW: Since you mention it, you walked in on Alexander Skarsgard in a very compromising situation last week. 
Kristin: Yes, speaking of eye candy [laughs]. For hours, I just kept walking in and walking out on naked Alex.

 

PW: Do you know how many fans would pay to trade places with you? 
Kristin: Oh yea. I think another moment I had like that was when Alex and I were in the makeup trailer – he can get a bit of a tan, so the makeup girls had to make sure every inch of his body was white. I just looked over and thought, “wow that’s so funny, I’m at work and here’s this man in his underwear being massaged with white lotion.”

 

PW: Whether it's Pam, Bill, Sam or Eric -- it seems like season three took an already sexual show and slipped it some Viagra.
Kristin: I know! I didn’t think it could get more sexual. Last year was literally an orgy, so you think, it can’t get any more sexual than that. Then I read the scripts and thought, “oh, ok, that’s how you do it.” You focus on intimacy. It seems like everyone is getting some this year.

 

PW: Sookie's lack of desire to have any lesbian weirdness with you makes me think you two might not be hooking up any time soon however. 
Kristin: [laughs] Isn’t it awesome? It feels like I just have to hit my mark and just say these lines, and I’m golden. It feels like I’ve been set up in a no-lose situation with the dialogue they give me.

 

PW: Now that Pam is such a force on the show, do you think Alan Ball might include that storyline where Eric gets amnesia and Pam really takes the reigns we talked about last year? 
Kristin: I really wonder. I do all the time. It seems like we have most of the stuff in the books plus a lot. I just am on the edge of my seat wondering where the show and Pam are going. I didn’t expect to be so fortunate and lucky this season because she’s not in book three very much. So I was kind of waiting to find out more about her in season four – I have this deep sense of awe and trust, so I don’t know. This season has so many colors of Pam – I was going to say “the rainbow” but I didn’t want to be too much of a cliché here [laughs]. But you could pick any direction and it would make sense.

 

PW: What can you tease about Pam's journey this season? 
Kristin: Pam has incredibly dark moments this year that I wouldn’t have expected – they’re very personal. And that’s what I found so fascinating and revealing. She has moments that I don’t think fans will expect, but then you realize that’s why she makes such a good lieutenant. You see other sides of her, other ... demons.

 

PW: Seeing as you're hard at work on the finale right now, I'm curious what you think about year three as a whole. 
Kristin: It feels to me like a build up all season, but around episode nine the dominos really get knocked over when a certain thing happens in the vampire world. Then .. oh man. Every angle you look at, you think, I don’t know how these people are going to work this out. I am so excited for everyone to see how great this season is. Every time I came home, my husband would ask, how was it. And I’d say “well, they let me come home, so I must have done something right.”