true blood
The supernatural HBO seriesTrue Bloodsees actor Stephen Moyer playing Bill Compton and Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman — but Moyer might not have gotten the use , which would ’ve made Eric ’s role very different . True Bloodis based on the book seriesThe Southern Vampire Mysteriesby Charlaine Harris . The novel , and the show , follow Sookie Stackhouse ( Anna Paquin ) , who starts as a waitress in Bon Temps , Louisiana . In Harris ' universe , vampires are out in the undefendable thanks to a synthetic blood product called true blood . The series does n’t have just vampires . However , there are also shapeshifters , fairies , loup-garou , werepanthers , and much more .
True Bloodshowrunner Alan Ball , on control board as executive manufacturer fortheTrue Bloodreboot , had quite the burden on his hands project such an hoped-for serial . Of of course , when casting any adaption , there are bound to be some book buff that are n’t felicitous with the concluding result , which is a pressure in and of itself . In special , the role of Eric Northman and Bill Compton were tricky , as they are the two titular heartthrob of the series , both compete for Sookie ’s attention at one point or another . Eventually , Stephen Moyer bring the role of Bill , but he was n’t the only worker to audition for the part . Another dissident total up to bat , and if the outcome were different , it would ’ve moderate to a very unlike version of Eric Northman .
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True Blood’s Eric Originally Auditioned As Bill
During the cast process , repulsion movie actor Alexander Skarsgårdauditioned for Bill first — and if he were cast , it would ’ve changed Eric ’s part perpetually . Skarsgård himself said duringSeason 7 : The Making of True Bloodthat when he read the script , he saw that there was a Norse character and was surprised he was n’t going in for that role instead . However , he audited for Bill anyway , as the audition was mean for the pilot episode . Eric does n’t appear untilTrue Bloodseason 1 , episode 4 , " get out from Dragon House . " Alan Ball also spoke up during the curriculum , saying that he like Skarsgård , but at first glance , he now knew that Skarsgård would be play Eric or else .
It ’s arduous to imagine howtheTrue Bloodcastwould look if Skarsgård impersonate the tortured Bill instead of the Fangtasia owner . If the role player were to have play Bill , that meant one of the other candidates would ’ve had to step into Eric ’s fleck . Other famous person were look at for the part of Eric , includingBuffy the Vampire Slayerveteran James Marsters , who played the lamia Spike on the show . Envisioning a world where Skarsgård is Bill Compton , and someone like Marsters plays Eric sees a markedly differentTrue Blood . gratefully , that ’s not what end up happening .
Why True Blood Needed Its Show Casting
True Blooddelivered a perfect cast , and it ’s hard to imagine the vampire series any other way . It ’s not that Alexander Skarsgård does n’t have the acting chop to play a role like Bill , but the part of Eric just fits the actor like a glove . certainly , the electricity between Skarsgård asTrue Blood fibre Bill and Sookiewould’ve been just as tangible , as they understandably had chemistry during the sexual love triangle arc . However , Moyer has a certain rugged charm necessary for the Civil War vet . Skarsgård is undoubtedly wizard in his own right , but his own stigma of charisma works much well for the manipulative Eric Northman than it does for the virtuously - driven Bill .
Ultimately Skarsgård looks and acts the part of Eric Northman in a way that no other thespian could ’ve deal on the part . The same goes for Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin , who almost had to go up against Jessica Chastain for the part of Sookie . Luckily Alan Ball made all the veracious choice for hisTrue Bloodcasting , as anyone other than the actors mentioned above could n’t have done the story justice . envisage Alexander Skarsgård as Bill up totheTrue Bloodendingchanges the serial in a major way . It decidedly would ’ve transformed theTrue Bloodcharacter Eric Northman into someone completely dissimilar .
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