'True Blood' Panel At Comic-Con in San Diego

Anna Paquin celebrated her birthday Saturday with most of the cast of HBO’s True Blood at San Diego Comic-Con International, where three announcements headlined their hourlong panel.

Based on the Sookie Stackhouse books written by Charlane Harris, the author announced that she had “just signed on for three more books,” taking the series through 2014. Fans of the books and HBO series, naturally, went ballistic. Many in the 6,000-capacity ballroom had been camped out all day waiting for Ball, Paquin, Stephen Moyer (Bill) and Alexander Skarsgard (Eric).

Also representing the show at the panel was Michelle Forbes (Maryann), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), Sam Trammell (Sam), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica) and (Rutina Wesley (Tara) who said that she’s enjoying playing “soft” Tara this season and that it’s “nice for everyone to see that side of her.”

Not to be trumped, Ball, when asked what he was looking forward to in Season 3 of the show, said that he was just happy that there was going to be a third season, and that a formal announcement from HBO would be coming soon. Ball added that “seeing werewolves and the Mississippi vampires” from the book series on the small screen for the first time in the series were among the highlights of what he was excited about for next year.

Ball also noted Saturday that Tru Blood, the bottled blood substitute that makes it possible for vampires to survive without feeding on humans — the show’s premise — would be available beginning Sept. 10 via HBO.com. (Link to preorder:https://trubeverage.com)

He joked that the all-natural orange-flavored beverage was a mix of “vodka, Vicodan and Viagra … with Ecstasy,” and would be available for parties for the Season 2 finale.

And as for the possibility of a “half vampire, half human baby” resulting from all the lovin’ Paquin and Moyer have onscreen, Ball was quick to dismiss it with a resounding “no.”