25 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About True Blood

23. You're Just A Phony! Hey Everyone! This Guy's A Phony! A Big Fat Phony!

The actors in True Blood do a remarkable job of maintaining their Southern accents throughout, but did you know that Sam Tramell (Sam Merlotte) is the only member of the cast who is actually from Louisiana? Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse) is originally from New Zealand, Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton) is British, Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman) is Swedish and Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse) hails from Australia. Series creator Alan Ball is from Georgia himself and writes each actor's dialogue in a Southern dialect to help them master their accents. However, as he plays a vampire born in 1835, Moyer had one of the most difficult challenges to overcome. To make his Southern accent authentic to the era his character originates from, Moyer listened to proprietary recordings of older gentlemen from the South. He's still a phony though...

22. College Roomies

Everyone knows that the short order cook Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis) and Sookie's best friend Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley) are cousins on the show, therefore sharing the majority of their scenes together, but did you know that they were actually friends years before they joined the cast of True Blood? The two met at Juilliard, where Ellis wrote a semi-autobiographical play called "Ugly," which later won the Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. The play was based on the horrific murder of Ellis's sister while she was pregnant, exploring the issue of domestic violence within the family home. After the success of "Ugly", Ellis spent a number of years working in theatre before finally achieving breakout success with True Blood in 2008.

21. It Must Run In The Family

Holly Cleary was the first witch to appear on True Blood, initially starting out as a recurring character in the third series before she was promoted to major character status in subsequent seasons. The Merlotte's waitress is played by Lauren Bowles, who appeared in a number of TV shows before True Blood, including Arrested Development, CSI and Private Practice. That may not be news to some of you, but did you know that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is Bowles's real life half-sister on her mother's side? The pair have appeared in some of the same shows together, including Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Watching Ellie, but Dreyfus is of course currently most famous for her Emmy winning role in the political comedy Veep. Maybe Bowles should get in on that action now that True Blood has met its true death...

20. Awkward...

Rutina Wesley is one of the most popular performers on True Blood, due to her phenomenal work in the role of Sookie's sassy best friend Tara, but it could have been a lot different, as she wasn't actually the first actress cast as the character. Tara Thornton was originally played by Brook Kerr, who had previously appeared as Whitney Russell Harris on the TV soap opera Passions. When that program ended, Kerr won the role of Tara and actually began filming the part, but was then replaced by Wesley after the pilot episode had been shot. All of Kerr's scenes were re-shot with Wesley now in the role. During the casting auditions, series creator Alan Ball asked the actors to perform a scene where Tara loses her job, as it showed off both the characters intelligence and her temper. Ball says that, €œOther actresses played it for laughs, like something on the CW, but Rutina was the first person who showed her vulnerable side.€