Stephen Moyer : Playboy

“I’ve never been in a relationship before in which, literally within the first three days, all the cards were laid out…It wasn’t something that was kept from me. I condone what she has done 100 percent, and it’s her business to talk about it, not mine. It doesn’t change anything. I’m proud of who she is,” says True Blood actor Stephen Moyer in Playboy’s July 20Q when commenting on his fiancé and co-star Anna Paquin’s recently announced bisexuality.

While many Americans have only recently discovered Moyer, the English native has logged nearly 20 years of experience in theater, television, and film acting before landing his present role as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO hit series True Blood. To kick off Season Three, Moyer sat down with Playboy Contributing Editor Stephen Rebello to discuss his engagement to co-star Anna Paquin, the finer points of vampire sex, his thoughts on theTwilight series, and the story behind those fascinating fangs. Following are selected quotes from the interview:

On his engagement to co-star Anna Paquin and the start of their romance: “She doesn’t pull punches. I’ll take 74,000 words to express an emotion because I fear hurting someone’s feelings. Anna will do it in three words. But we trust each other so implicitly that there’s never anything hurtful; it always comes from a loving place. It’s not as though people I’ve been with before haven’t been loving, but with Anna it’s just about pure trust, on camera and off. I have never trusted anybody like I trust Anna…During the show’s first season I had to go back to London and she went back to New York. I wish I had bought shares in Skype, because we Skyped every night for three or four hours. It felt as though part of me had been removed when Anna and I were apart.”

On securing his role on True Blood and the American attention he’s now receiving: “I’ve never had the Hollywood dream. I just wanted to be an actor. I worked at bars while I was in drama school, but luckily I’ve been acting for nearly 20 years and have never been unemployed for more than five or six months. When True Bloodcame along, I had returned to London to take a chill after four back-to-back gigs that had taken me away from home for four and a half months. I told my manager, ‘Don’t send me any more scripts. I’m not interested.’ She said, ‘Read just this one for me,’ and three days later I was sitting in [series creator] Alan Ball’s office with Anna, talking about True Blood.” 

On human-on-undead vampire sex: “Unlike werewolves, who are very hot, vampires are steely cold, so sex with the undead isn’t going to get hot and crispy. There’s no heartbeat, no adrenaline rush as you get close to the moment. But in terms of speed and timing, you may be able to have sex that lasts for days. Vampire sex is muscular and physical, so it could be tiring for a human guy to have sex with a female vampire. I often think a lot of women’s attraction to vampires is based on the fact that vampires come from centuries ago, from eras of chivalry and courtly virtues. So it’s about being treated like a lady but being physically overtaken in the sack.” 

On the diverse sexual couplings and overall sensuality of the show: “Sex on our show is like a big muffin that’s heating up, overflowing and expanding in an oven. This time last year I was thinking, What the fuck are we going to do next year to top this? Well, I can tell you it’s weird and exciting this year. As I said, the show is more character-centered—and I’m not saying it’s better or worse for it—but there’s certainly just as much, if not more, interesting sex because of it.”

On what’s in store for Season Three of True Blood: “I don’t want to give anything away in case I get in trouble for it, but last season loads of stuff happened with the whole town being under threat. The stakes are higher this year because everything that happens is about the characters, and every single character has to react to situations that are very personal. It has created a muscular, more visceral storytelling mode that should be exciting to watch.”

On his thoughts about True Blood vs. Twilight: “That’s like comparing Monterey Jack and Roquefort. If my eight-year-old daughter comes to me when she’s 13 and says, ‘Dad, what would you rather I got into, Twilight or Black Sabbath?’ I’d be stuck between the two but would probably pull for Twilight. I love Black Sabbath, but that can wait until my daughter turns 16. The Twilight movies fill a niche. In her Twilight novels Stephenie Meyer has chosen a similar vampire framework to tell a story about burgeoning sexuality. What’s interesting about our show is that sexuality has already burgeoned. I wish Twilight the best of luck, but I’m very happy to be doing True Blood.”

On the fascination the press and fans have with his prosthetic fangs: “[Laughs] I have a set at home and about three more sets at work. They’re insured, and they get locked up every night but not before a lovely assistant readies a cup of Listermint they go into. They get a little scrub, and then they get put back into a wallet.”

On what scares him in his real life outside of the show: “Something happening to my daughter or son, who are eight and 10, respectively. The first time I had my picture taken with my daughter was after we’d gone to get pizza, and 20 paparazzi were running backward with their cameras. My initial impulse was to drop the pizza and fucking smash those cameras. I’d never felt that before. My daughter hasn’t chosen to do what I do for a living. Those guys are just doing their job, and if they’re taking pictures of Anna and me, then somebody’s watching the show. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m very happy in my life. I don’t go to big parties. I’m out there every morning picking up my dog’s shit, so if they want to take that shot, fine.” 

On getting a DUI as a teenager: “When I was 13 and my mum and dad would be out for the evening, I’d take out their car, pick up my best friend and go racing around. For my 15th birthday I was given the opportunity to drive at a racetrack, and before I could drive legally, I bought a Mini and put racing stuff all over it. Then three weeks after passing my driving test I got a DUI and lost my license for a year.”

On losing his virginity: “I was quite young when I started doing all right, below legal age and with somebody I knew very well. It happened outdoors and was very naughty and unexpected. In my little village some girls reached maturity at a young age, and there was a lot of ‘you show me yours and I’ll show you mine’ stuff happening, lots of looking and a little bit of touching too, from a very young age.”