This post has been updated with a reaction of Stephen Moyer to this article.
Read at the bottom.
The interview “Five questions for Stephen Moyer” is part of a bigger article. The writer posted the quotes that didn’t make it on her blog.
I found out yesterday that people.com picked up my interview with Stephen Moyer for DirecTV’s Access magazine, which I write for all the time and nobody’s ever heard of, in which he talks about how hardcore his girlfriend Anna Paquin is about boxing. Hence, the failure for people.com to give me a name check. But whatever, I’m not exactly up there with Maureen Orth or, gee, you know, Meghan McCain. Still, it’s a bit exciting to have an outtake from a piece you wrote aggregated all over town.
Moyer was a fantastic interview. He was super-chatty and informal and off-the-cuff and funny—he joked around and laughed a lot. I had to narrow the piece down to 700 words so a ton of quotes got left behind, so here’s some of the stuff that didn’t make it in.
Moyer’s a patron at the Brentwood Theatre in Brentwood, in England’s Essex County, where he grew up. His mother is the chairman, and it’s where he got his first acting gig. “I was about 10 in a show called The Gypsy Baron. And I can’t remember very much about it apart from a song that went [lapsing into an impressive tenor] Up in the morning with the lark… And I also had to run onstage and say, ‘Queen Sheepra is coming!’”
When he hit big as Bill Compton in True Blood, a lot of fans of the show started contributing to the theatre’s renovation—including the BillsBabes, a group of middle-aged women who were rabid fans of the character in the Charlaine Harris books and now are just crazy about Moyer. I asked him what he thought about the BillsBabes.
“They’re wonderful, and they’re totally insane. We were at the Paley festival this week, it was honoring True Blood, and these ladies had flown in from all over America to come to see us live. And there was a load of BillsBabes in the second row with their BillsBabes T-shirts on. But I’ve gotta say, what I really love about it is that all these girls and ladies have never known each other before, and they started… twittering, if you will, in the True Blood wiki website, and now they’ve all become friends, and they’ve started this amazing community of people. It’s quite unbelievable really.”
I asked him if he ever dreamed anything like this would happen to him back when he was touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“That I would be followed by some middle-aged women across America?”
Ooo-er, cheeky!
He talks about the sexual potency of Twilight vs True Blood:
“Twilight is about a chaste love affair. And in many respects, it’s the same with True Blood, up to a point. And then when the sex happens, it fucking happens, and it’s real and it’s almost breathtaking. You know, you’ve been waiting for it and it’s: Will they? Won’t they? Yes they fucking will. And it’s gonna be dark sexy sex. And you’re gonna see it. And of course you don’t see that in Twilight. And you don’t get to see it on terrestrial television. Luckily on HBO you do get to see that, and I think the viewer does want to see that.”
Which gets him going about the hypocrisies in American culture. “I think we live in a puritanical society where we should be able to say to our children, ‘No you can’t watch something after 9 o’clock,’ and we should be able to watch it on television without having to pay for it. We’re grown ups. I don’t understand that you’re allowed to shoot 200 people in the first 30 seconds of 24 but you’re not allowed to show a nipple? And how are we gonna bring up our kids with that kind of right-wing puritanical…. Oh it drives me fuckin’ nuts.”
I asked him if he thinks Robert Pattinson has stolen his thunder. And he gets totally earnest.
“No! I truly don’t. I was in England, I didn’t even know about Twilight. I was in England living my happy little life and being with my kids and walking the dog. So as much as I think people want me to say I am affected by it, I’m not. I wish him all the best. He’s a cracking lookin’ dude and good luck to ’im. There’s room for all of us, there really is.”
Moyer has described himself as a bit of a lad, a geezer. He translates, for those who think geezer means old man:
“A geezer is somebody who is confident, who’s a little bit cheeky and cocky and maybe a little bit too cocky for his own good. A bit of a lad means a bit naughty, maybe you do things that you shouldn’t do.”
I’d read that Moyer had become a vegetarian because Anna was a vegetarian. I asked him if this was true. He’s genuinely taken aback.
“Noooo! Anna’s not a vegetarian. She was at one point.” He pauses. “But, she likes her meat and two veg, know what I mean?”
Ooe-er! Nudge nudge, wink wink.
Note from Shadaliza:
I would like to set a few things straight. The writer of this article could have contacted me to know more about the Billsbabes, but instead she guessed and she guessed wrong.
Most of us hadn’t read the Charlaine Harris books before True Blood and many of us still haven’t read them. Our demographic includes many different ages, countries, cultures, body types and colors. Stating that we are a bunch of middle-aged women seems very short-sighted to me. It makes it sound like we are dull and colorless.
Stephen is right that we are totally insane and we have become best friends, we chat, twitter, Facebook and Skype and organize meetings in various parts of the US. But our roots are not on the True Blood Wiki, we started out on the HBO message boards, but that was a long time ago, we now have our own virtual community.
I sent Stephen Moyer a link to this post on The Vault and this is part of what he responded to me:
“Oh God..
I am so sorry this has been edited this way.Whenever I talk about your web site and your group I have always made a concerted effort to represent you in the best of all possible ways.
At the beginning I say something like ‘what I really love about it is that all these girls and ladies have never known each other before,’ and truly I mean that..
The interviewer then asked me something about aspirations..if I remember rightly.. something like “did you see yourself followed by middle aged ladies…?” and I took the sentence and made it what it became because, in that moment, I probably thought the sentence would sound funny.. (something that is increasingly getting me into trouble!)So – apologies indeed”
Thank you Steve. Knowing you, we knew you didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You’re the best!
I have never doubted for a minute that Stephen did not say that statement. We have been following his comments too long now and know what a great person he is. I hope he realizes what an impact he(and Anna) have had on our lives and how they have in this story about vampires in a sleepy southern town brought such hope and happiness to alot of us, and that not all celebrities are high and mighty. As far as Anna goes, i think i speak for all of us on this site that she is gorgeous, vivacious and the only person to play Sookie. We may not like all the stuff Sookie does, but we truly love Anna. I wish you both nothing but love and happiness in your lives.
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First I would like to start by saying I LOVE STEPHEN MOYER!! He is an amazing actor! He is an amazing man! I have fell in love with True Blood!! I am apart of the True Blood Wikiand proud of that! I don’t think anything bad of any other fan site. I don’t think that anything that he said was offensive! I don’t think that he needed to appologize! Sure it may have been a generalization, but that is not all and we know that! I know that he has many fans be it a Billsbabe, a Moyers Madien, or anything else, we all support the same man! No need to be getting panties in a bunch! I am sorry that this article has turned in to something more. (Many no what I am talking about)! I hope that everyone can get along and not finger point or think that one is better than another!
Stephen,
Your amazing actor! Your portrayal of Bill Compton is breath taking! I couldn’t imagine anyone else for this role!
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Shadaliza Reply:
July 7th, 2009 at 9:17
For me this article has not turned into something more. There shouldn’t be rivalry between message boards (if that is what you mean), many True Blood fans post on many different boards at the same time. There is place for everybody…. spread the love!
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In responce to people being upset at being identified as being older fans, why worry! there is a good explaination for how come women just out of their twenties and thirties find the character so attractive:
I am a mother of two small children living in Berkshire England. I sleep next to my own snoring, farting, prince charming, who I love dearly. I really like the idea of the character Bill in true blood as it is a far more realistic bloke to fancy now that we know how the happily ever after really ends.
The idea that a vampire could like you so much that he is willing not to snap your head off and drink all your blood is a really charming sacrifice on his part. He can never have children: What a plus when you are at the stage as I am of nappies and play dates and the thought of more at this moment in time is more frightening than having your body drained of all it’s blood. I may be tempted to make more at a later date but at this moment in time a sexy sterile vampire sounds like a really good idea to me.
He sleeps during the day and wakes up at dusk, just when the kids go to bed – fantastic, no juggling needy kids with a needy bloke. You don’t have to cook him dinner just give him a vein, and the chances are that his family is dead so you don’t have to contend with crappy in-laws. His looks are going to stay the same, no new pot belly for him or every expanding arse cheeks.
Hey and if the kids are awake one of two scenarios comes to mind, he is a fountain of knowledge and could help out with history homework, or he could scare the little buggers so much they actually stay in their rooms once they have been put to bed.
Why wouldn’t women who are in the middle of their lives find this character the new prince charming, I take comfort in the fact that I am now grown up enough to see that Superman just seems too much like hard work, Bruce Willis in die hard isn’t dependable enough, and Captain Jack sparrow is a piss head.
When looking for a new bloke to fancy I think it is hardly surprising that so many women are going for this vampire, it also helps that the guy playing the part makes him seem very charming and is not unpleasant to look at!.
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Ann Marie Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 20:01
One of the best statements I have ever read. Well said, berkshire mum
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@ Stephen:
Please keep getting in trouble – if it means keeping your humour! ;-)
As for me, I’m mid-thirty and don’t mind being called middle-aged if it serves the purpose to point out I’m not some crazy screaming teenage fan. ;-)
Haven’t read the books, stumbled over the BillsBabes while surfing the web. Never met anyone since Germany is pretty far away from where the action takes place.
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OMG, how do I sign up to become a Billsbabe? Thank you Shadaliza for this. I finally found a site/blog I can so relate to. I’m a “Bill” fan all the way, but just adore Stephen. He’s the real deal – honest, humble, and witty with a delicious British accent. He loves to talk and tell a story. The fact that he always mentioned his children and his dog in interviews really won me over. I am definitely middle-aged and don’t mind a bit of his description of the Billsbabes, I just want to be one! As an aside, it really pisses me off when I read comments on other sites about the age difference between Stephen and Anna. Since when did 12 years become a big deal, especially in the Hollywood community? It’s easy to imagine how he and Anna had that connection from the beginning. A big hug and congratulations to both of them.
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Shadaliza Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:10
We have the largest information resource for Stephen Moyer on our Billsbabes messageboard. Come join the fun: stephenmoyer.yuku.com and sign up for an account.
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Middle-aged women dull and colorless? Excuse me?
Oy!!!Shadaliza, since when?
What should the writer and Moyer have called women in their “middle” years?
Help me, please – a middle-aged woman and proud to have lived this long, who is not now nor ever has been dull or colorless.
If I were a joiner I’d look into those ‘Babes’. But I’m happy to admire Stephen in my own lone wolf way. I love his extroverted nature and his Brit humor. A multi-talent like him will be around a very long time.
Bill Compton is a bitchin’ vampire, thanks to Stephen, and he’s right, there’s room for all – something for everyone, as it were.
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Love Stephen, Love Bill, Love Anna, Love Sookie, Love TrueBlood.
This fellow is such a great interview. He’s so real ! He’s so confident ! He’s so foot- forward, as he would say. He’s so unbelievably sexy, as I would say.
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