Hollywood Crush › True Blood

Further proof an actor should think twice about turning down a badass bloodsucker role: Directors watch vampire dramas too.

MTV News recently caught up with "Battleship" helmer Peter Berg and the film's leading man Alexander Skarsgård (whom you may know as Eric from HBO's "True Blood") at Toy Fair, and the director let it be known he's been following Alex's work on a certain sexy series.

"I was a fan of 'True Blood' [and] all the girls in the office stormed my office and demanded that we cast him," Peter said of offering the role to the Swede. Of course, with the topic of "True Blood" on the table, I had to ask Alex for any and all hints about the upcoming season, set to debut this summer.

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Tags Alexander Skarsgard, Battleship, Chris Meloni, True Blood, Video

Summertime and the return of HBO's "True Blood" might still be a long way off, but it's never too early for a postcard from the haunted environs of Bon Temps. We've been watching carefully for the past few months as casting announcements for season five trickled in, and today, we're getting our first taste of the bloodsucking shenanigans to come: the show's next-season teaser is here, and would like to remind you that (cue ominous music!) nothing...stays...buried...FOREVER.

...Ooooooooh. Did you get chills? We totally got chills.

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Tags True Blood

The "True Blood" hottie parade continues its deliciously distracting march through Bon Temps, picking up a ravishing new recruit along the way. So who's the latest looker to descend upon the supernatural Southern town? British actor Giles Matthey, who, according to Entertainment Weekly, is taking over the role of Claude (briefly played by "Lost" actor Neil Hopkins) when the HBO series returns for its fifth season this summer.

You may recall that Claude is a beguiling fairy and the nephew of Sookie's grandfather (and by extension, the cousin of her father). How he'll fit into the dramatic dynamic already in place remains to be seen, though EW did note that some reports have him wooing not-such-a-baby-anymore vamp Jessica.

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Tags Giles Matthey, True Blood

"True Blood" season five is shaping up to be a can't-miss, hottie-filled television event for fans of the HBO vampire drama. Not only has "Law & Order: SVU" alum Chris Meloni traded in his badge for a set of fangs as an all-powerful ancient vampire in the new season, but "Felicity" favorite Scott Foley is also sticking around Bon Temps after appearing way too briefly in last year's season four finale.

But those of you on Team Noel should prepare yourselves for a much darker Foley character: As war veteran Patrick Devans, Foley promises to throw more than a few curveballs at the "True Blood" cast… especially the happily married Terry Bellefleur and Arlene Fowler, both of whom are about to get caught up in Devans' dangerous baggage.

"The jury is out on Scott Foley's character," Carrie Preston, who plays Arlene, told MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival. "They set it up to be something that's a little dangerous by the end of season four, and I'm telling you right now, it's not going to get any better."

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Tags Carrie Preston, Scott Foley, Sundance 2012, True Blood, Video

With "The Twilight Saga" coming to an end next year, Hollywood is going to lose one of its best available outlets for vampire employment. But that's okay! Because at least one be-fanged actor has already found a home in another bloodsucking production: namely, "True Blood," which will be the biggest fanger game in town come November.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the long, lean and appropriately pale Christopher Heyerdahl has signed on for the next season on HBO—where he'll go from playing a high-ranking member of the vampire power club to...a high-ranking member of the vampire power club. Huh! This guy just really likes wearing pale makeup and looking authoritative, I guess.

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Tags Christopher Heyerdahl, True Blood

Unfortunately for all of us "True Blood" fans, we still have quite a wait for the premiere of season five. And while the waiting does indeed suck, MTV News was lucky enough to attend HBO's fancy Golden Globes party on Sunday where we encountered not one but four excellent cast members—Ryan Kwanten, Janina Gavankar, Carrie Preston and Joe Manganiello—who gave us a little preview of what's in store for their characters.

"Jason is hanging onto every shred of humanity as it is, and he was lucky to survive last season. He was on the brink of death several times," Ryan said of Jason Stackhouse's failed werepanther transformation. "This season he's finally becoming a man, I think. He's got responsibility in his life. He's in a position of authority too because Andy is not doing too well with being a sheriff."

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Tags Carrie Preston, Janina Gavankar, Joe Manganiello, Ryan Kwanten, True Blood, Video

Aaaand it's official: The next season of "True Blood" just upped its ogle-able hottie quotient by a factor of a bajillion, thanks to the now-confirmed addition of Christopher Meloni in a major recurring role. (This radical increase in sexiness is known in scientific communities as "the Stabler effect".)

After a few tasty rumors last month that the actor was circling the show, The Hollywood Reporter has the news that the former star of "Law & Order: SVU" will be donning some fangs for season five.

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Tags Chris Meloni, True Blood

If you're staring down a long, lonely winter of singledom (including a loverless Valentine's Day in the cold, cruel month of February), then here's a piece of news that'll make you want to rip your own face into little, angry pieces! The news from E! Online is that Ryan Kwanten, best-known 'round these parts as the hot-bodied Jason Stackhouse on "True Blood," will be making an appearance on a special Valentine's episode of "New Girl" as a love interest for star Zooey Deschanel. Because apparently it's not enough for our friends, our boyfriends and every single guy we've ever crushed on to have a thing for the Hot Hipster Poster Girl; she's got to take our celebrity lust objects, too. Way to bogart ALL THE GUYS, Zooey.

The scoop from E! indicates that Ryan will play a prospective one-night stand for Zooey's character Jess, making her the 2,399,764th person in the world to take one look at Ryan Kwanten and immediately want to see him naked. But while we can't get our hopes up for some sizzling nude scenes (this show doesn't air on HBO, alas), this might be a great opportunity to see Ryan playing a different kind of role—and ooooh, perhaps showing off his natural, yummy Australian accent? 'Scuse us, but we've gotta go set our DVR.

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Tags New Girl, Ryan Kwanten, True Blood, Zooey Deschanel

We've already seen Chris Meloni flashing a badge on "Law & Order: SVU" and flashing some...er, other things on HBO's "Oz," but there's one part of the man formerly known as Detective Stabler that we haven't gotten a peek at yet: his fangs.

But wait! (You are probably shouting.) Does Chris Meloni even have fangs?
The answer: maybe! Or at least, he'll be acquiring them soon—assuming that, as TV Line reports, he's about to snag himself a major role on the next season of "True Blood." Rumor has it that the owner of television's sexiest receding hairline is eyeing the part of a powerful vampire for the show's fifth season.

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Tags Chris Meloni, True Blood

We interrupt your regularly scheduled "Twilight" programming for this message about one of our other favorite vampire series: "True Blood." Because you know what? They're going back to set. Like, soon!

When MTV News' own Jim Cantiello caught up with star Joe Manganiello at last night's GQ Men of the Year event, the hunk not only revealed that Bon Temps is back in business in just a week and a half, but that he's also gotten his paws on two scripts! So what can we expect?

"There's going to be a lot of werewolves," Joe dished. "A lot of new werewolves. Which I'm very excited about. I'm excited to meet them all."

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Tags Joe Manganiello, True Blood, Video