True Blood News - Season 4 news and spoilers

 Back Stage, an online resource for actors, published “Successful Actors Talk About Their Training” and two current stars, Nelsan Ellis and Joe Manganiello, and two past stars, Aunjanue Ellis (Vampire Diane) and Melissa Rauch (Summer), share with the site their professional training background. Here are excerpts of the interviews:

Nelsan Ellis - Juilliard Drama Division and Marjorie Ballentine

I did not always want to be an actor. I originally wanted to be a lawyer or police officer. In high school, the girl I was dating at the time was auditioning for the school play, and she wanted me to audition with her, so that she could be comfortable. Even though she wasn’t cast, I was. The play ended up being a good experience. Later in life, I harkened back to those days, and I thought, “The thing I probably know how to do best is act, and that’s what I should do.” I mentioned to a girl that I wanted to be an actor, and she said, “If you want to act, then you should probably go to Juilliard.” And I did. I didn’t question her. I didn’t know Juilliard was Juilliard when I auditioned. I just auditioned thinking I was going to get in, and I did. Once I got in I realized, “Oh, this is a good school.” Read More »

SyFy Germany interviewed Sam Trammell, Allan Hyde and Nelsan Ellis at RingCon 2011. Click on read more to watch them all!

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After attending Sam Trammell’s panel in the morning, as no other True Blood panel was scheduled for Saturday, it was time to do some Bonn sightseeing. We returned from our sightseeing to the Maritim Hotel at 8 p.m. that evening, looking for some bloody fun with werewolves, vampires, elves and other supernatural creatures. We were surprised to find out that there was a Nelsan Ellis panel scheduled for 9:30 p.m! We couldn’t feel more lucky and happy to know that Nelsan Ellis had finally landed in Germany, but we were somewhat disappointed because some fans that were unaware would miss the opportunity to be at the panel. We now understand that one needs to spend the whole day at the Con or otherwise important events may be be missed. Although the rest of the Con was well organized and ran smoothly, I guess they can’t help but be at an actor’s mercy when it comes to scheduling their events.

Anyway, it was great to see Nelsan onstage, and here’s a brief accounting of what was said. Nelsan Ellis is nothing like the colorful Lafayette, it seems he’s a rather quiet and shy person in real life.

• Although his role as Lafayette has gotten him accolades by the critics, his conservative father and brother feel kinda uneasy with him playing Lafayette.
• He gets the inspiration for getting into Lafayette’s shoes by channeling his mum’s essence while listening to Rihanna’s music.
• He thinks boyfriends are always happy to be introduced into watching the show ’cause that means lots of good sex after every episode.
• He thinks his alter ego is not necessarily gay; Nelsan loves the prostitute aspect of Lafayette.  Does it makes him weird? Not at all!
• If Lafayette was Sookie, who would he chose? Bill or Eric? He said that he would shag them both. After some inquiries, to be more concrete, he said Eric, since he’s more experienced.
• He talked about the scene where he dreams of Eric (season 2) and made everybody laugh recalling how comical it was to see Eric standing dressed as a woman while scratching his crotch.
• What does Nelsan sees for Laffayette’s future? He could very well foresee Lafayette being happy (finally) leaving Bon Temps and establishing himself in NY, maybe opening a restaurant. That of course, would mean a spin-off for his character. I could see very well that happening, couldn’t you?
• He’d like to see his mum in fiction, played by the wonderful Alfre Woodard, being turned into a vampire. That would definitely open interesting situations in the show, as he’s so traumatized by her and by the vampires.

After the panel, we went to party at the Piano Bar with the lovely girls from True-Blood.org and had an epic night which included some naughty fun with David Anders from the Vampire Diaries and a certain Danish handsome guy named Allan Hyde, who was an example of good manners and kindness by hanging with his fans, chatting, laughing, and even dancing until the morning! What a blast!

True-Blood.org girls having some fun with Allan!

Big thanks to the talented Tess Donohoe who took this Nelsan Ellis pics. Please be sure to visit her website: http://www.tessdonohoe.com to see more of her work.

Some of the True Blood actors exhibited their support for worthy charitable causes by making appearances at some events this week.

In New York City at The Plaza Hotel, Nelsan Ellis walked the red carpet at the 2011 Skin Sense Awards Gala, which benefits the The Skin Cancer Foundation and recognized achievements in skin health, including public education about sun protection and skin cancer prevention.

Kevin Alejandro showed his support for Soles 4 Souls, an organization that donates shoes to adults and children, Oct. 11 when he showed up at the Puma presents Riddim + Run benefiting Soles 4 Souls held at Siren Studios in Hollywood.

Last night, Ryan Kwanten attended CAA’s Young Hollywood Party, benefiting Communities In Schools at The Colony, Los Angeles. Communities In Schools is the same charitable organization that is currently auctioning the on set meet and greet with Ryan and Alexander Skarsgård that we posted earlier this week.

Nelsan Ellis will be appearing in the new film, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” being created by Internationally acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker Mira Nair.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a riveting thriller about Changez, a young Pakistani man chasing corporate success on Wall Street in the era of globalization. After September 11th, Changez experiences a seismic shift in his own attitude, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.

Riz Ahmed stars in the lead role of Changez alongside Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber & Kiefer Sutherland.

Source: FemaleFirst

I didn’t quite think this was a real story when I first read it, but it seems legit. Nelsan Ellis who portrays that short order cook, road crewing, drug dealing, medium, Lafayette Reynolds, will be hanging out next June with a bunch of vampire freaks fans on a giant cruise ship!

The ship will depart from Vancouver, B.C., to Alaska on Holland America’s Zuiderdam ship. The cruise will last from June 23rd to June 30th and is bound to be the event of the summer.

They’re calling this cruise Vamps at Sea and not only will you be able to meet Nelsan, you’ll be able to hang with Dacre Stoker, the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker himself. The ship has a passager capacity of 1,916, but Vamps at Sea organizer Linda Wolf has reserved space for just 400 vampire-genre fans.

Source: MSNBC

Lately, it seems that a lot of True Blood actors are taking in The Big Apple. In New York, Nelsan Ellis visits the New Era Style Retreat at the Empire Hotel on September 14, 2011.

source: wireimage