"True Blood" just debuted a new female character, who may know more in the way of supernatural things then she lets on at the moment.
The new "vampire-rights" activist, Nicole, who is played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell, has some secrets including knowing that Sam is a shifter. At this point, we don't know whether she is human or not on the sexy show starring Alexander Skarsgard, but the character seems to be on the vampires' side so far.
Smollett-Bell, a former child star who recently starred in "Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" recently shared some insight on the vampire vs. human dynamic, surprises and suspense that come along with being on the show with Entertainment Weekly.
"I read an episode recently and I was just like, 'What?'" she said. "I did not expect that. Didn't see it coming."
The actress, who played the best friend of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's character Michelle Tanner on "Full House," has garnered a fan base over the years, but was truly impressed by the legions of fans behind the show's fang-rocking crew.
"It's amazing because the 'True Blood' fan base is awesome," she said. "After HBO announced [my casting,] I got all these people hitting me up on Twitter with these amazing user names. And they were all so excited, welcoming and warm. Every time I post something about 'True Blood' they were so enthusiastic. It's amazing the loyal fan base that the show has."
To win the role was quite a funny experience for the married actress, who was visiting her in-laws when she got the call to meet with the show's producers.
"And [I thought,] Dude," she said about her first thought after her manager called to tell her the "wrong-time" news, "this is ridiculous..."
But casting suggested that she just make a home audition tape, which Smollett-Bell and her husband pulled off in her mother-in-law's basement complete with "loud water heater sounds and a crying baby upstairs."
"It's so funny," she joked. "[The water heater] was so loud in the audition tape [laughs.]"
Her first scene on set was with Sam in Merlotte's Bar, and she said the cast welcomed her with open arms. But, of course, working with fake blood everywhere is interesting.
"It's funny because you're just walking to the stage sometimes and you'll just see someone covered in blood just eating some chicken as if it's nothing! [laughs]," she said. "For me, the blood can be a lot of work to reset. I noticed take after take after take, it's a lot of work on the special effects crew."
She added that the makeup artists are "brilliant" and she has so much fun on set that it should be "criminal."