It appears that there are a lot of ties to Wilmington, North Carolina in True Blood or so the article below tells us. Wilmington seems to have some uncanny ties to specifically werewolves and HBO is treating Wilmington folks well. It seems there are lots of cool places where vampires and werewolves would hang out and they’d even drink the beer.
Well, at least “True Blood” is. A close look at the actors, guests and even crew of the hit television series is sprinkled with hints of Wilmington, much like blood sprinkled on a white death shroud.
First, there’s Joe Manganiello, True Blood’s Alcide who played bartender Owen Morello on “One Tree Hill.” Manganiello has grown out his hair and his beard, and has spent more time in the gym for this role.
Though he’s filming the series in L.A., he still hasn’t forgotten about Wilmington. In a phone interview, he said that if vampires and werewolves lived in Wilmington, they’d probably hang out at Blue Post Billiards. “I think the person who would be able to direct you to them would be “Big D” O’Dell, the guy (who gives) the ghost tour,” Manganiello said. “I would imagine it would be somewhere downtown. I mean, obviously they’d probably be hanging out in a bar right off of the Cape Fear River.”
Downtown is just one of the things the actor misses about Wilmington. He said the local restaurants, especially the Dixie Grill, and the beach also top his list. “It’s very difficult to get a good fried green tomato here,” he said.
While we all know what vampires drink, if you see Manganiello’s werewolf character tossing down a cold one at a werewolf bar, look closely. It could likely be a Wolf Beer, a brand owned by local brewer Jonathan Olson. The Watha-based Olson distributes the beer from Wilmington and other locales in North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Olson got a call from HBO and was told they wanted to use his beer on the series. “They Googled something and I was the first to come up,” he said.
He’d never heard of “True Blood,” so he told them no. Then, a friend explained the huge popularity of the show and Olson called them back. He ended up giving them some light boxes with the Wolf Beer logo on it, some beer taps and some empty boxes.
“It was pretty cool. I’ve seen the show since then. … It’s pretty big having HBO basically marketing for you,” he said. “I don’t think any of my competitors can say that.”
Though he didn’t get paid and there’s no guarantee his product will be shown on the series, Olson said he has a pretty good feeling that his beer logo of a white wolf will get at least some air time. HBO e-mailed him just last week to ask if he’d sign a release form so Wolf Beer could be discussed on the Blue Ray DVD of the third season.
Olson sells three varieties of Wolf Beer in more than 50 locations in the Wilmington area and elsewhere on the East Coast. The “wolf” on the bottle is actually his wolf-hybrid named Sol Locks, who can often be seen riding around Wilmington with him. Each month his company works to raise money for a different animal organizations including the Humane Society and a wolf sanctuary.
But the ties to Wilmington don’t end with at the bar.
“True Blood” also tapped the acting talents of New Hanover High School graduate Beth Grant. She appeared in an HBO “mini-sode” called “A Drop of True Blood,” featuring the “True Blood” vampire, Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer).
She didn’t know about the show’s Wilmington ties but thinks vampires and werewolves would probably hang out at the Bellamy Mansion or one of the other old homes. “Vampire Bill’s house would be one of those old mansions downtown,” she said. “When I was a girl that area wasn’t restored down there.”
Grant remembers being a child and noticing an old, unpainted house on one block. And although it was dilapidated, the people who lived there always kept the brass doorknob brightly polished.
Grant doesn’t get back to Wilmington very often, although she was one of the celebrity guests at last year’s Azalea Festival. And she might come back in August to enjoy her favorite thing about the area – Wrightsville Beach.
Although Grant has appeared in numerous television shows and feature films including “No Country for Old Men,” “Crazy Heart” and “King of the Hill,” she’s only done one project in Wilmington. She spent three weeks on a movie of the week called “To Dance With Olivia.”
There’s no word on whether the minisode will lead to a role in “True Blood,” but Grant said she’s keeping her fingers crossed.
“Well, I’d do anything for (“True Blood” writer/creator) Alan Ball, though. If he asked me to run down the street and gargle peanut butter I would do it,” she said. “But when I read (the minisode), I just absolutely fell in love with it. My agent was a little, ‘Well what is a minisode? I don’t know if you should do that.’ And I said, ‘I am doing this. This is some of the best writing I have ever seen.’ And then to get to do it with vampire Bill who is so hot and so cute. And what a lovely gentleman he is.”
The Port City’s “True Blood” ties don’t end there, though.
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