Image Credit: John P. Johnson/HBOHow apropos: It’s six days before Halloween, and I just so happen to have gotten the first casting intel on season 4 of True Blood. Wanna know who — and, in some cases, what — is in store? Read on!
* Marnie is a Z-list palm reader who’s painfully aware of what a joke she is — that is, until she comes to be possessed by the spirit of a real witch. Anybody else thinking said sorceress might turn out to be the Hallow character Alan Ball told me about back in August?
* Andy’s sister, Portia, is as easy on the eyes as she is sharp in the courtroom. And, since I hear possible portrayers have to be cool with nude scenes, we’re gonna get an eyeful.
* Naomi is an Asian-American cage fighter who, outside of the ring…er, cage…is hot-’n'-heavy with one of her female competitors. My hunch is that, driven away by brother Sam, Tommy starts putting up his dukes for money instead of his paws.
* Queen Mab is an elegant beauty who presides over a fantasy land that sounds a lot like the fairy domain into which Sookie (Anna Paquin) keeps being pulled. But, ethereal as her highness may be, she’s also got a temper…
* Suzanne McKittrick is a Real Housewives type who throws a hootenanny to bond with “her kind.” That “kind,” I’m thinking, being shapeshifters like buttoned-down African-American (and fellow newbie) Emory Broome.
Casting suggestions? Fire away!
Queen Mab à la Shakespeare? Oh my.
Well, she does come off as sexually as a True Blood character in Mercutio’s speech…
Suzanne should be played by Sela Ward or Swoosie Kurtz.
Yes, Marnie is Hallow (at least she was in the books).
Delia, my words exactly. Marnie is Hallow. My thought is that Lafayette’s new man is Marnie’s brother – Hallow’s partner in crime.
Except this sounds lame and stupid where Hallow was badass. Last year critics were soured on the show and too many characters, this sounds worse. Sometimes sticking to the books is just better for the plot.
You said it Toni – the last season just got bad the further it got from the books
Thank you it feels so good to not be the only one who thinks sticking to the books is a good idea.
Portia in the books was just Andy as a female, this is definitely a big change.
Rest of these characters are not in the books at all.
Exactly! I’m okay with some changes (Tara and Lafayette spring to mind), but I don’t know about this…
I know! I mean, Queen Mab??? Has Alan even read the freaking books? I’m okay with some changes (Like Lafayette as you mentioned) but Queen Mab? Really? Things like this is why I watched all of three episodes last season and just read Mandi’s recaps the next day…
You guys have got to start getting over the whole, “they changed this, they changed that” thing. I was bugged to read the series for the entirety of 2009 by my sister, and I finally read the first two. I refuse to read any more. How can you idiots really like these books so much more? They’re total crap.
Slow clap. I read the 3rd book, and it was terrible. Alan Ball is frankly a genius for doing what he’s done with this source material.
Is this Queen Mab taking the place of Sookie’s great grandfather Niall the fairy Prince? That won’t be to my liking if so! I’m going to have to re-read the books because for some reason I don’t remember much about Hallow, or any mention of someone named Marnie. Hmmm….We shall see what AB has in store for us next season I suppose!
as long as eric and sookie f*ck out their minds I’m ok with the changes
Marnie was in the books
Portia is not supposed to be hot!! at all haha
Portia’s hot, but buttoned down and about as prudish as they come. She suffers from Southern Belle from rich old Southern family faded and fallen on hard times syndrome. Definitely not kosher or Bon Temps sex kitten in the nude. The heavens forfend.
Darn, I was kind of hoping Missy Pyle would get the gig. Feminine but not.
Some guidance on the age range and or race of most of these characters would have helped b/c other than Portia I don’t remember them in the books. If the character of Portia was following the books, I would have suggested Camryn Manheim. But since they are going another route, how about Porti de Rossi? Other ideas – Sonya Walger or Amy Ryan. For Marnie, Constance Zimmer or Jewel Stait. For Naomi, the actress who played Sierra in Dollhouse. How old will the like Real Housewives character be? Perhaps someone like Mary McDonnell? Queen Mab – Angela Bassett.
I can definitely see Dichen Lachman (Sierra on Dollhouse) as Naomi — She’s such a fantastic actress and it would be cool seeing her on True Blood!
i think your choices for characters would be awesome!! I wish dollhouse hadn’t died such a cruel & inhumane death (so quickly too
) but I would love to see Naomi played by that same actress, she had great potential 
You mean Tommy, not Mickey.
Who’s Mickey? Do you mean Tommy?
Emily Blunt, Brooke Langton and Zooey Deschanel would be awesome in the cast!
Zooey WOULD be great. I could see her as the palm reader.
I love True Blood, I really do, but Emily Blunt and Zooey Deschanel wouldn’t touch the show with a ten foot pole.
How do you know that? Who the hell are you, their agent?
It’s really too bad Alan Ball isn’t really sticking to the story in the books. They’re so much better than what he’s putting on screen – Sookie is likeable in the books and on the show, she’s just a shrill jerk.
I’m not thrilled with the direction they took Sam in either. Or Bill. I just am keeping my fingers crossed they don’t screw this show up, it’s one of my real favorites.
I am really disheartened by how far off track they have gotten from the books.
THIS SHOW IS IN NO WAY MEANT TO BE AN ADAPTATION OF THE BOOKS. You guys need to get your heads out of your arses. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only reason Alan Ball is using ANY of the original source material by this point is because he’s afraid to suffer the wrath of the reader.
Mary q – that would be why the credits say “BASED ON the Sookie Stackhouse novels”…wouldn’t it.
Saying this show has nothing to do with the books is quite frankly laughable. It’s like saying Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter have nothing to do with the books.
The fact is, the core characters and the core stories are the same. At the end of S3, the main characters are in pretty much the same place as they were at the end of book 3. This book series had a devoted fandom before Ball ever came near them. It’s no coincidence that HBO are running focus groups for Game of Thrones with readers of the book series on which it is based, in an effort to avoid a repeat of the severe bookie backlash they’ve experienced with this show.
The feedback received from that focus group has been interesting to say the least. When asked what the worst thing they could do their show would be, the overwhelming response was that messing with the basic character traits, relationships and core motivations of the main characters would upset the book fans the most.
Many book readers feel that is EXACTLY what has happened on True Blood.
I’m a fan of the Sookie book series first and foremost, and I’m actually OK (now!) with most of what Ball has done on True Blood. But the fact remains that there are many book readers who aren’t, and regardless of what you think of these books they are incredibly popular. At one point last year, all of them were on the NYT bestseller list.
Fans of a book series are a built in, guaranteed viewership of a television show…but only if it’s done right. HBO suits aren’t stupid, and they aren’t going to thumb their nose at that level of discontent…even if Alan Ball does.
Well said, Aaine!
Well said Aaine. I couldn’t have put it better myself. And I am a fan of both the books and the show.
I agree. Well said Aine. Hopefully, this means that they will think about “True Blood’s” future in relation to how they are adapting the books and not just “Game of Thrones.”
And to Mary q, it is just a plain fact that the tv show is an adaptation of the books. To say otherwise is absurd. I am perfectly okay with departing from the books as long as it stays true to the spirit of the books. That said, even if the only similarity between the books and “True Blood” were the characters names it would still be an adaptation. Not a faithful one mind you, but still an adaptation.
Also, at this point HBO has to know that season 3 did not go over well with many of the fans (book readers or otherwise) or even critics. So, if they want the show to keep up its critical acclaim some changes will need to be made. For example, the overabundance of characters that have no purpose, too many boring sub plots which do not connect to the main story, characters acting, well, out of character, etc…And all of these things don’t necessarily have anything to do with the books. But these changes are necessary and hopefully they will have had enough time to fix/rewrite any of this for the upcoming season 4.
The books aren’t that spectacular anyway. And as mary q said, it’s an adaptation. Do you hear anyone crying that Dexter doesnt follow the books? please move on
Do you know that an adaption is word for word? Rent is an adaption because they completely translated it from stage to film. TB is inspired by or based on, not an adaption because if it was bookies would not be complaining.
“. . .puking up his dukes for money. . .”
Do you mean “putting up his dukes”, or was this some sort of pun I missed?
nvm, since edited. an amusing image though.
Ugh, more Alan Ball BS. Looks like I’ll just be watching the Eric scenes again.
heaven forbid an ensemble show not focus on one very uninteresting character. aww, poor frustrated housewife pining over the “bad boy with a heart of gold”.
insulting much?
Hey, it’s not my fault that AB has made nearly EVERYONE on this show unlikeable. Plus the RIDICULOUS “plot twists” that could be spotted by a 4 year old.
shut up bill lover
Fixed! Yay!
Yea! For every change that Alan Ball makes from the books.
I just keep praying he makes Sookie more sensible than she was in the books and I hope she doesn’t get whorish like she was in them. Sookie was the least likable character in the books and it seems she might be going that way in True Blood too.
How is she whorish? In the whole series she only sleeps with three guys!
Jen – it’s the double standard. Get’s women every time. A woman isn’t allowed to admit that she gets hor*ny or she’s a who*re
i feel as if we are watching a different show and reading different books.
Whorish? Try inhibited. She admits to sexual stirrings, but is careful about who she sleeps with and when. She holds Quinn off for most of two books. And she is too sensible and a lot more intelligent and funnier than Show Sookie. Anna Paquin’s bad Louisiana accent aside, Ball needs to actually read the books and understand the characters instead of introducing and combining characters willy-nilly in some kind of Ball Blender.
I like Tara, Lafayette and the red-headed new vampire, but come on. Where’s the fun and where is the wit?
There is wit in spades on True Blood, but c’mon, do you really think that if Alan Ball stuck religiously to the stinking pile of cheese that is Charlaine Harris’ series, we would still be talking about it 2 years later? Nope. It would have been canceled, because the books are crap, plain and simple.
Hey Mary q! There wouldn’t be a show without the books.
I have to say, I’ve read nearly all of the Sookie Stackhouse books and I’ll readily admit that the books aren’t destined to be classics. They are guilty pleasures. Having said that, I actually think their strength is in the characters. You can’t help but root for them. Having read them after seeing True Blood, I am not as wildly devoted to the books as others here. I do like some of the choices made by Alan Ball characterwise and understand some calls made regarding what material to include and how much. I do have to say though…I think he does miss the boat on quite a few of the characters.
@Mary Q
Your logic is flawed because the books have long surpass anything AB will hope to have with TB. I am not a fan of the books really but at least they were cohesive. If AB did not mention the books every season do you think this show would still be on? Around season 1 only 5% of the audience had read the books but since then it seems that over half of the audience has now. Critic no longer applaud the show like they did season one. With AB 180 of character traits, abundance of new characters, lack of cohesive plots and lies; I doubt he will last longer than season 5.
I really like Sookie more in the books because she is a lot less self-righteous. She needs to get off her high horse and quite thinking she is so much better.
Juliet Landau as Hallow please! Make it happen AB.
that would be epic. perfect casting
I don’t watch True Blood but I would start if Juliet was on it!
I have long ago given up on this series to be remotely as good as the books. I just now watch for the pretty boys.
Just what True Blood needs. More characters! They seem intent on ruining it.
Stop complaining! geesh! True blood is the best show and with these changes it will still be a great show..
Yeah, because it really needs more original characters that offer nothing to the main plot and whose stories go nowhere.
I really don’t see the problem with adding new characters. They do it in the books too. Every show on TV brings in new characters and takes them out. If no one has noticed the main theme of True Blood, they like to bring in the bad guy and get rid of them on the finale. Marnie is a bad guy in the books but I wonder if she’s gonna be an “innocent” since she gets possessed in the show.