Stephen Moyer Directs

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“Look, I’ve still got my blood on,” says Stephen Moyer, stretching out his deep crimson nail beds under the glare of midday sun at HBO’s offices. “We all have blood under our fingernails. It was my stupid idea from Season 1, and it never comes off.”

It’s his last month shooting Season 5 of True Blood, which pulled in more than 5.2 million viewers during Sunday’s premiere. The season opener saw vampires Bill Compton (Moyer) and Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) silvered and dragged to The Authority’s chambers in retribution for killing the governing vampire group’s public spokesperson.

The season marks big firsts for Moyer, 42. His wife and co-star, Anna Paquin, 29, is pregnant with their first child. (Moyer has two children, Lilac, 10 and Billy, 12, from previous relationships.) And Moyer directs for the first time.

The actor began lobbying creator Alan Ball for a shot at directing during Season 1.

After Moyer shadowed True Blood directors last year, Ball decided the actor was ready. “It’s a very strong episode,” says Ball. “He directed a sex scene that might be the hottest sex scene we’ve ever had on the show.”

“I didn’t get the easiest of episodes,” concedes Moyer, who was charged with Episode 8, which involves complicated flashbacks. “I was terrified — not of being able to do the job, but I was scared of how the other actors would react to me telling them what to do.” But “they were so supportive. It is a giant family, and there were times when I knew they had my back.”

Of course, “I got a bit of sass from the wife,” he says with a grin. “She was like, ‘Oh, my God, this director is such a diva.'” (USA Today)

5 Questions with Stephen Moyer video