Image Credit: Will Hart/NBC

Chris Meloni has booked his first post-SVU gig — and it’s a bloody good one.

The former star of the Dick Wolf drama will join HBO’s True Blood  in season 5 as an “ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill and Eric in his hands.” He will be a series regular.

Meloni’s role on Alan Ball’s drama marks a homecoming, of sorts: The actor previously played Chris Keller on the pay cabler’s gritty drama Oz from 1998 to 2003.

Earlier this year, Meloni decided to step down from playing Detective Elliot Stabler on the long-running NBC drama.

Though no official return date has been set, True Blood is expected to bow in June.

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Image Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

As the producers promised, True Blood is introducing several new characters in season 5 — and EW got the early word on two of the roles.

Creator Alan Ball and his team of scribes have put out a casting call for someone to play Nora, a beautiful and intelligent 25-to-35 something who plays a double agent within the Vampire Authority. What’s even better than that? She’s got a big history with Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) because she’s a progeny of Godric. Nora will be a series regular role that may (or may not) involve a little nudity. (It IS True Blood, after all).

Meanwhile, Co-Executive Producer Raelle Tucker told EW that they’ll include a “very significant, strong, mysterious woman at the center of one of our main stories next year … a very familiar and compelling character. It may be someone you’ve heard of before.” Especially if you’ve read the Bible: The True Blood team also put out the call for someone to play Salome, as in THE Salome, daughter of Herodias, from the good book. She’s a powerful ancient vampire (hmm, don’t remember that part from the New Testament) and a world-class seductress who’s also a little mad. So she’ll fit right into Bon Temps.

Any suggestions for Ball and his team?