The shape of things to come

Trammell,of course,stars as the shape-shifter Sam Merlotte alongside Anna Paquin as the telepathic barmaid Sookie,Stephen Moyer as the vampire Bill Compton,Marshall Allman as Sam’s younger brother,Tommy,and several other actors and actresses who portray the series’ assorted people and creatures. “There’s so much I want to tell everyone and so much I’m not allowed to say,” Trammell says cautiously. “Usually we’re allowed to talk about things,but this season there are just a couple of big things that I’m not allowed to even bring up. We’re always reinventing ourselves as a show,so there are a lot of new characters this year,and,yes,there will be plenty of skin,and I’m sure we’ve already gone through gallons and gallons of blood.”

“Last season,by the end of it,Sam was in a real state,” the actor continues. “His buttons had been pushed by many people,and it ended in this eruption where I beat up that were-panther,started drinking,and I had a flashback to when I killed a couple of people and was betrayed by a girl I was seeing and committing petty crimes with. Hung over,still kind of reliving that flashback,I went to Tommy’s house,saw that he was gone,suspected that he may have stolen the safe with all of my money,and chased him down.’ Viewers then saw Sam fire his gun … and nothing more.

“What you didn’t see is whether or not I shot Tommy,” Trammell says,“and what had happened with Sam is that he took two steps back. He’d gone to Bon Temps to start a new life and no one knew about this side of him,where he had a criminal background and these anger issues. So in Season 4,I’m dealing with that eruption that happened at the end of Season 3 and also with Sam’s past catching up with him,” he says.

Even better,Sam will be getting a love interest during Season 4—and,no shocker,she’ll be a shape-shifter. Janina Gavankar,late of The Gates (2010),will play the character of a schoolteacher named Luna. “Luna is a very interesting character and Sam is very attracted to her,’ Trammell says. “She’s not just beautiful,but also mysterious.”

“So what you’ve got is that Sam has given up the danger of being around the birth family you saw in Season 3 for this new danger of being around this community of shape-shifters,and especially Luna,” the actor continues.

Back when True Blood debuted—and ever since,really —everyone involved with the show has worried that pretty much any character could be killed off at any time. With a nervous laugh,Trammell admits that,even after four seasons,he’s not sure he has a long-term,steady job. “Bon Temps is a dangerous town,” Trammell says,“and no one on this show is 100 per cent sure of anything. Every season that you last,you feel a little more confident that you’ll return the next season,but you never know what will happen and there are definitely going to be some surprises in that department this year. I’m just happy each year that I get.”