Men's Health

Q&A With True Blood's Stephen Moyer

As sexy vampire Bill Compton in the hit HBO series True Blood, actor Stephen Moyer has earned heaps of praise and thousands of fans. Though he started his acting career on stage in his native England, he's truly come into his own as a film and television actor, appearing in more than a dozen movies and more than 20 television series since 1996. The award-winning actor sat down with WebMD the Magazine and dished about his feelings about love, children, middle-age, fitness, and how he's learned to love blood.

Your hit HBO series True Blood returns for its fourth season in June. WebMD wants to know: Do you know your own blood type?

Noooo! That's awful -- I should! That's crazy! I don't remember! My doctor knows, because we've talked about it. Even Bill Compton [the 175-year-old vampire Moyer plays on TV], whom I'm really, really close to, I don't even know what his favorite type of blood is.

Are you squeamish at the sight of real blood? Or even at the fake stuff used on set?

Not at all. But I used to be. This show has erased any fears. Once upon a time I would have run a marathon rather than, you know, look after my kid's skinned knee. I probably would have fainted. Now I kind of relish the sight of blood after four years on the show. You learn to enjoy it after awhile. Especially when it's the sort of syrupy, strawberry, sugary stuff we have to eat!

Fangs are gory but still fun. What scares you in real life?

Something happening to my kids. My family being hurt. My daughter is terrified of tsunamis. I've said to her all these years [living in Venice, Calif., before the recent tsunami in Japan]: "Come on, the chances of there being a tsunami ...!" You know, all the things one says to one's children to make them feel better. I worry about the things that will take away the people I love. Or that could take me away from them.

You've been quoted as saying you once considered yourself an atheist, but that you've had some experiences that changed your views. What happened? Something supernatural?

It was before True Blood -- it wasn't True Blood-related. I did a show in England five years ago about a character with a real inner life. The strange irony is that the character was kind of like Sookie, the telepathic waitress is True Blood. This character, when he touches you, feels the emotion you are going through at that moment. I loved the part, it was beautifully written, but I had no belief in that stuff. But during my research, I met with a number of people who changed the way I looked at life. It made me re-evaluate. I just stopped not believing.