Images from True Blood Fans, Getty and Wire Image

At the event Alan Ball stated, “My job is so much fun it doesn’t feel like work.”

We’re jealous.

~M.

(AOL) ‘True Blood’ star Carrie Preston doesn’t have to go far to get scoop on one of her favorite shows, ‘Lost.’ All she has to do is turn over and ask Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus. Yes, these well-respected, fan-favorite actors on two of the most high-profile shows on television are married.

Now that’s we call a Hollywood power couple.

But while Preston and Emerson may not be paparazzi targets like Brangelina, anything they say or do concerning their respective shows gets dissected and analyzed by fans on the Internet. Case in point: When it was announced that Preston would be guest starring on CBS’ new hit legal drama ‘The Good Wife,’ fans of ‘True Blood’ instantly began to speculate whether this meant death for her character, waitress Arlene.

Hold your horses, though, she warned in an interview with AOL TV. “Let me put it this way, we’ve done half the season and I’m still there,” she said. Preston spoke about the furor surrounding her ‘Good Wife’ guest stint, the upcoming third season of ‘True Blood’ and what she knows about the ‘Lost’ finale.

I’ve got to ask you about being on ‘The Good Wife.’ I don’t know if you started filming yet …
I did. I’m afraid the Internet has gone a little insane with this story [laughs].

Everyone thinks this means that you’re not going to be on ‘True Blood.’
That’s so funny. Well, obviously I can’t comment on what’s happening on ‘True Blood,’ but I will say that I go through stretches where they don’t need me. We have a cast of about 1,000 on ‘True Blood.’ [Laughs] I’m not kidding, we’ve got 20 series regulars, or at least people who do more than half the episodes. Then we have at least another 20 guest stars and stuff, so the writers are servicing many, many people. We all end up — even Anna [Paquin] and Stephen [Moyer] — having a stretch of time where we’re not working. ‘The Good Wife’ caught me during one of those times, so I did an episode and right now, we’re in discussions with ‘True Blood’ for me to do more.

More episodes of ‘The Good Wife’?
Yes, yes. But, I’m definitely not going to be with ‘The Good Wife’ full-time; it’s recurring.

Fans pointed out that Arlene isn’t in the third book that much …
That’s correct. Although, we’re not really following the books at all.

Are you amazed that a little bit of casting news can cause such a furor on the Internet?
I know. It was very interesting because like I said, I had a couple of weeks away from the show. ‘The Good Wife’ called and asked if I could do this, and since I had already gotten clearance to go out of town, we just went ahead and accepted it. We didn’t even really feel the need to tell anybody. It was a fun character on ‘The Good Wife,’ but there’s never any guarantee that any part you do is going to recur, even if they say it is. It was only an offer for one episode with the hope that it would recur. We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I don’t know who leaked it or how it got leaked, but then everybody just took a hold of it. It was pretty funny. I’ve been happy to hear the fans get extremely upset about the idea that Arlene might not be a part of ‘True Blood.’ That made me feel very appreciated.

And ‘True Blood’ fans are really intense, right?
They are! I recently joined Twitter (@carrie_preston) and I just can’t believe how excited people are about the show, it’s great. It’s really great for me because like I said, I don’t really experience the fans out in the world, but I am starting to experience them cyberly through Twitter and through the Internet. Especially with this whole breaking news about me doing ‘The Good Wife’ — just being able really see into the minds of the fans has been fun … It was nice to hear that people were up-in-arms that I might be dying — and I can’t say whether or not I am — but let me put it this way, we’ve done half the season and I’m still there. I guess I can say that.

So, you’re liking Twitter so far?
I am! I’m having a very interesting and rather surreal experience on Twitter because I’m following @ArleneFowler.There is someone who is Twittering as my character … There are a bunch of fans out there that Twitter as our characters and they have this whole kind of game that I guess they play … I’m following some of the ‘True Blood’ fan sites and I saw there was an @ArleneFowler and there’s a Lafayette, there’s Sookie. I sent her a tweet that said, “I’m following you now, girl. You’re doing me proud.” Six minutes later, I had a tweet back that said, “Gulp, I think my wig just fell off.” … We just kind of have a fun little rapport going. She stays in character and I talk to her as if we are Arlene.

What can you tell us about this upcoming season of ‘True Blood?
It’s getting even bigger than the second season, and I didn’t think that was possible what with the insanity and the town getting possessed, running around with black eyes and Maryann and all of her shenanigans. This season is even bigger. You have these small town people dealing with larger than life issues and you’ve got a whole new breed of supernatural introduced — actually, a couple — a couple of supernatural breeds are coming in that we haven’t really seen before. There’s a lot of blood. Yes, there will be a death, but it’s later in the season and — what else? Oh, it’s just fraught, it’s still funny. The writers have really found their stride, I think, and are having a great time. For us in the cast, it is so interesting because everybody will have time off and then you show back up and somebody is lying in a pool of blood [laughs]. It’s pretty messy, but it’s pretty exciting I have to say.

So, on ‘The Good Wife,’ you play a lawyer defending Chris Noth’s character. Can you talk a little bit about your role and what you do on the show?
Yes. I am introduced at a moment of crisis in their apartment. He’s under house arrest, so I’m introduced under some duress. Something has happened in the apartment and I come in at the last minute and sort of take over the situation and make it right. The thing that’s fun about it is she’s not a ‘Law & Order’ kind of talking head lawyer. The writers have really — with all the lawyers on that show — have given them interesting character twists and nuances that you don’t normally get when you play those kind of roles.

My character is definitely a little off-kilter. She’s definitely got one of those brains that works a million miles a minute, and she gets seduced by the next thought all the time and goes from A-to-Z in a second flat. I’ve only done the one episode. It was really fun and I’m longtime pals with Julianna Margulies, so it was fun to do a scene with her because I’m a friend. That made it a lot easier walking on the set as a guest with the responsibility to bring,all of a sudden out of nowhere a full character when you don’t know anybody on the set. That happens a lot when you’re a guest, but this time it was nice because I do know her and that made it a lot easier for me.

One of the great things about ‘The Good Wife’ is it has such strong female characters and you don’t see that many network shows with a female lead.
You sure don’t and that’s why I’m so happy that it’s doing so well, especially, because it’s not a 20-year-old woman, it’s somebody with history. It’s somebody with a life and children and a past dealing with issues that are very topical. I just thought it was very exciting that the audience went for it. Not only did they go for it, but Julianna’s winning all these awards and it seems to me that it’s going to stay. Also, [the show tapes] in New York and Michael and I live in New York. That’s our home base, even though we’ve both been working on the Pacific side of things. New York is our home base, so it’s really fun to watch that show because every episode it’s all of our friends that are on the show. New York keeps losing shows so it’s nice that there’s one there .

You also have some movie projects coming up — ‘What’s Wrong with Virginia?’ will be out later this year, right?
I shot that on the hiatus and they’re in post [production] right now and I hear that it’s looking really good. It was a really fun experience because Dustin Lance Black, who wrote ‘Milk,’ wrote and directed this one. He’s a great, great guy. At he was a little wary about casting me because he thought I was too young and he wanted somebody who was a little more worn down and maybe not as — I don’t know — who lived life a little harder than me. I said “Well, what do you need? I’ll dye my hair, this is what I do. My hair color changes from role to role. We can create a makeup that gives you that look.” Luckily, he was willing to take a shot … I play rough around-the-edges Southern, but different Southern than Arlene Southern. I tend to play a lot of Southern characters because I’m from Georgia, but I like trying to honor all the different colors of the South.

Another film that I did over the hiatus is called ‘A Bag of Hammers’ and that’s with Rebecca Hall and Jason Ritter, and again I play a Southern woman, but this is a very dark character and a very sad situation … I had to go to some dark places, but I was happy to do that in contrast with doing a season of ‘True Blood.’ It was really nice, I definitely got to exercise all my muscles over the summer.

There was all this news about Michael getting injured on the set of ‘Lost’ — is he OK now?
He is fine. It was an accident and the show is rough, there’s a lot of combat and stuff and sometimes things just happen … It’s so hard for me to watch him on the show get beat up; it’s always very difficult for me to watch, especially the few times I’ve been on set with him and they have him covered in all that blood, I sometimes get a little weak in the knees. It’s so real, you know?

Any chance we might see you again on ‘Lost’?
No, I wish. They’re wrapping up an epic, epic six seasons of madness. I make Michael keep everything from me. I don’t want to know.

Really? You don’t read his scripts or anything?
No, I’m a fan. I really want it to be that I’m seeing it fresh. I mean, he’ll say things. For example, [the episode] which was all about Richard Alpert — I thought that was genius — all he said to me was, “I think that this is going to be one of the best episodes they’ve ever shot on ‘Lost.’” Then I was like, “Oh my god!” I get so excited. Of course it was, I thought it was extraordinary.

Does he avoid spoilers for ‘True Blood’?
He’s not as married to that as I am. I mean he loves ‘True Blood’ obviously, but it doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t mind looking at previews for movies — I don’t like watching previews for movies. We’re just different that way, so he doesn’t mind getting any kind of spoilers and stuff because when he sits down to watch something, he’s just there to watch it. He will forget whatever information he had about it before. He’s just there to watch it. I can’t do that.

When are we going to see him on ‘True Blood,’ because that would be amazing.
Yeah, that would be cool. I don’t know. I know he would like to try and veer away from the bad guy roles for a bit, just to change it up for himself. ‘True Blood’ is full of bad guys, so I don’t know exactly what will go down there. But I know they’re fans of his on ‘True Blood,’ so you never know.

Do you like working together, or do you try to avoid it?
No, we love working together. We haven’t gotten to do it that much, but the times that we have — I produced a movie that I starred in; I have a little production company — and it was called ‘Ready? OK!’ like the cheerleading thing. My friend who wrote and directed it, he wrote a part for Michael as well. We had one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie, we got to play together and part of it was just because he and I, we have a shorthand. We were so comfortable with each other, we trust each other. There was no need to even really talk about the characters or the scenes because we trusted the writing, we trusted the director and we trust each other. We showed up and it was just a really wonderful experience and I think it shows in the film.

Extra

(Ausiello/Entertainment Weekly) Question: Any new spoilers for season 3 of True Blood? —Heather

Ausiello: Carrie Preston hints that “something very unexpected is going to happen with her character Arlene… [She] might just be nervous enough about the supernatural characters around her that she will try to do something about it. I think she is going to try to figure out a way to protect herself. She gets very upset. She doesn’t think vampires should be around children.”

Question: What’s Jason going to be up to on True Blood this season (aside from taking his short off, of course)? —Nick

Ausiello: “He finally discovers the long lost art of love,” reveals his portrayer, Ryan Kwanten. “Well, at least his version of. It gets him into more trouble that he expected. He’s also dealing with the fact that he committed a small crime in that he killed [Eggs].” What’s been his biggest acting challenge so far this season? “I start the season in bed with two girls,” he says. “Not that I couldn’t do it, but a challenge? Sure.”

by Marc Malkin and Dahvi Shira- eonline.com

Kyle Rover/startraksphoto.com

Good news for True Blood fans!

We’re told we can expect much more nudity during season three of the hit HBO vampire series, which began filming again last month.

“A lot of people will be getting naked this season,” T.B.’s Todd Lowe (aka Terry Bellefleur) told us at the 16th Annual SAG Awards Saturday night.

In fact, according to castmate Carrie Preston, baring it all is especially a cinch for hunky 33-year-old Swede Alexander Skarsgård…

“Alex is not shy about getting naked at all!” said Preston, who plays Arlene Fowler. “And there will be lots of those kinds of scenes with Alex this season.”

Lowe said, “He’s already been naked a time or two so far since we’ve gotten back to filming.”

Nelsan Ellis, who plays same-sex-lovin’ Lafayette, said, “There are a lot of hunky dudes and beautiful women who have been added to the cast, so it doesn’t surprise me that more clothes are coming off.”

At the recent BAFTA/L.A. tea party, Sam Trammell, who’s already gone practically full frontal as Sam Merlotte, said that he’d like to have a bigger share of the fangelicious hanky-panky.

“I’m not having any sex yet,” Trammell told us. “They really should provide Sam with more sex.”

But then he added, “There is a surprising—well, shocking—scene in the first episode. Some people will be happy and some people will not.”

(E!) Here is an interview with Carrie Preston and her husband Emmy Award Winning Michael Emerson on the Red Carpet. Kelly

(by Joseph McCabe) A new episode of True Blood is on this Sunday night. And to whet your appetite we’ve got an exclusive interview with Carrie Preston, who plays Bon Temps’ pie-slinging skeptic Arlene. I chatted with Carrie at this year’s Saturn Awards, at which her husband Michael Emerson was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Television for his role as Ben Linus on Lost. Preston told me what to expect this season from True Blood, what direction she’d like Arlene’s love life to take, and what differences she sees between Lost and True Blood fans. Hit the jump to read what she had to say.

True Blood has become quite a phenomenon in just a short time.

Yeah! I’m so excited.

What can you say about this season?

You’ve probably seen the first two already and you can tell the show is definitely a departure from the books already.  The second book was completely different than the series.  I mean, Lafayette was supposed to be dead and the second book was about finding his killers, so already we’re kind of departing from that.  But the show really established itself in the first season and I think now it feels very free and able to kind of go to new places.  There are new supernatural characters introduced; we’re going to be going places that you don’t expect, that certainly our characters don’t expect.   Alan Ball even sat us down in our table read for the very first episode and said, “You guys are going to be doing things that you aren’t going to believe and if you have any problems just come and talk to us.”  It’s true.  We’ve done some crazy things this season.

Alan even seems shocked by what he’s seen on screen. For example, when we spoke with him he seemed surprised by how extreme the first episode’s love scene appeared on screen.

Yeah, I know, I know. I think there’s an amazing team around him, cause it’s not just him. We’ve got all these great writers and producers and stuff that are helping make it happen.  I don’t know…  I hope Alan sticks around for the whole series.  He might just want to, you know, sort of turn it over to everybody else and move on.  But he likes to have his hands on things, so hopefully we’re going to have Daddy around for a little while longer.

Speaking of being around for a while, where would you like to see your character go? Given the choice, is there a direction that you think she should take?

Well, what I think is kind of great about Arlene – and what I hope they explore more – is that she sort of bridges the gap between the two polarities: that vampires are great and vampires are the most horrible things in the world.  She is sort of someone who actually voices something that no one else on the show really voices.  Which, “Hey, wait a minute… maybe they aren’t all good or all bad.  Maybe we should just be wary of them around our children.  I mean, they’re killers.  And because I’m saying that doesn’t mean I’m a racist.  It just means, let’s take a look at this kind of potentially dangerous thing.” 

The whole babysitting thing started in the first season when Bill was babysitting for her kid.  I think it would be fun to see something like that develop more, to see Arlene in situations where she has to deal with her kind of uncomfortableness with the unknown.  So I would love to see that down the line.  Who knows?  It would be cool to see her get in a relationship with a vampire or something like that.  Just to see how she would handle that, like an interracial thing.  You know what I mean?  It could be interesting.

How long do you think the show should continue?  Have you talked about this with Alan?  How long would you like to see your character continue on the show?

As long as they find a good story for me, I’m so happy to be on a show.  I mean, I’ve always wanted to be on a TV show, to have that kind of consistency, to play a role for a long time, which you don’t get to do very much.  So I never thought it would be a character like Arlene, because I’m obviously so different from her.  But it’s great.  I mean that’s where I’ve ended up, and it’s cool.  And Charlaine [Harris] has written like nine books now, so there’s a potential for nine years.  I mean, who knows what could happen in that time.  Charlaine came on the set actually, and she did a little cameo last week on the show.  We were talking to her and she said she was really excited about the show because it is so different from her books.  And that she feels like she gets to experience the world that she created in an entirely different way and she gets to experience it with the audience, which is kind of cool.

In real life, what’s your greatest fear?

My greatest fear in real life?  I guess losing my passion.

Your husband stars on Lost.  So you both have quite a few fans now.

Most people are not sure that I’m on True Blood, so I don’t get the benefit of talking about the show so much because you wouldn’t recognize me.

So you don’t have an opportunity to compare your fans with his?

Yeah, I don’t see that at all.

But having witnessed some of the True Blood fandom, how do you feel it compares to that of Lost?

I had never really experienced it until the Paley Fest.  Because, like I said, I’m not recognized.  But I was there, and I was identified as the woman who plays Arlene and so I did get to experience that for the first time.  And I was able to see.  Because you know I’ve been watching that with him, and I thought, “Wow, it exists for our show too.” – and the show has only been on for a season, so it’s kind of neat that there’s a cross-pollination there: my fans, his fans, the show’s fans.  You know, a lot of the same people watch the shows.

So you’re spreading the love?

Spreading the love, sharing it.  But there are differences too.  I mean, I don’t know… I would love to see a chart.

A Venn diagram perhaps?

Yeah, I would like to see that.  There are a lot of like middle-aged women who are really into True Blood.  I wonder [about] the numbers of True Blood in relation to Lost.  There’s such a romance element to True Blood, you know? – that Harlequin thing.  It sort of feeds the Housewives sort of thing.  More than Lost, I think.

Recently Carrie Preston attended the 35th Annual Saturn Awards where she was interviewed by both Fearnet.com and scifiwire.com. Here’s the videos. In the second video they talk to her about a minute into the video.
Kelly

~Maria