In the second book of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse Series, Lafayette is killed. However, towards the end of Season Two of True Blood, the character is back to being alive and well onscreen. “Lafayette is very small in the book,” Ball says. “Nelsan Ellis, the actor we cast, channeled something from somewhere that is kind of amazing.

I definitely knew Jason had to be a great character actor [Ryan Kwanten plays the role]. I think all the major characters I knew were going to be really, really strong and really, really compelling, but I think Nelsan is the one [who was most surprising] – I had no idea that that would happen.”

The supernatural elements are treated in a fairly naturalistic way in True Blood. Ball shares his thoughts on this subject. “Certainly the supernatural element of the show is a character in the show. We didn’t want to make it seem like something that is outside of nature, we wanted to make it seem like it was something that was a more primal aspect of nature.

However, some of the fans of Harris’ book are startled by the True Blood series. The series is more violent and sexual than the books. Even if it is tender romance between Moyer’s vampire Bill Compton and Paquin’s Sookie, Ball relates, “Certainly, the first time that they get together, we made it pretty bloody.” Unlike the Harris’ prose, these episodes are surely harder-edged, he adds. “It’s a little more violent.

The books are violent, but I think it’s one thing to hear about it and another to see it.” So far, he says, HBO has not objected to what has been depicted on the show. “I have never had a situation where they’ve said, ‘You can’t show that.’ Obviously, there’s a lot of sex in this show, but it’s never going to be pornographic. But I’m sure if I did something graphically pornographic, they would say, ‘Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?

Josephine Lim writes about Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse on her website. You can keep up to date with the gossip and goings on by clicking on one of the links.