Ryan Kwanten on How the New Season of True Blood Blows His Mind

True Blood is one of television's most audacious shows, and it has Ryan Kwanten to thank for helping to set the tone. Sure, the 33-year-old Aussie's role as Jason Stackhouse requires him to go nude a lot -- and in the third season, premiering this Sunday, he's back to his old tricks right away -- but he can't just be credited for the fact that he helped establish the show's sexual daring. What the new episodes confirm more than ever is that Kwanten is the funniest person on the show, and he's able to pull off his dimwitted character without ever once winking at the audience. There are times that True Blood veers close to knowing self-parody, but Kwanten's smart enough to play those lines like Jason has no idea.

On the eve of the season premiere, Kwanten called Movieline to discuss working with series creator Alan Ball, True Blood's habit of splitting its characters up, and the healthy state of Australian film.

Last season, you guys set a new ratings record almost every week -- which is pretty unusual. I know the suits at HBO were happy, but is that something the actors keep track of every week, too?

Definitely! I mean, we finish shooting the whole season before it premieres. You're almost looking for any hint of success -- it doesn't matter how good it felt on set, because if the audience doesn't respond, it can't help but chip away at the happiness of making it. Seeing the audience embrace it the way they did was a nice caveat to a fun shoot.

Does that make the shooting experience kind of like living in a bubble? Unlike a show on CBS or ABC, where the actors shoot at the same time as the show is airing and they get to hear that feedback from the audience, you guys basically have to wing it.

You put it very well: it's very much like living in a bubble. You get a response from the people who are there at the time of shooting, but even so, they're already so encapsulated in that world. The real test obviously comes when it gets released. HBO has given us less and less notes for the show -- not that they ever had a lot, but they've definitely given us less and less as the series has progressed. I think that just means that they're happier and happier, and the show almost runs itself, almost.

How much contact do you have with Alan Ball over the course of the season? Does he give you a general idea of what your story arc will be or do you basically find out from script to script?

It's pretty much script by script. The writers will sort of break most of the stories during their hiatus period, and then go off on their own and come back together. We have a team of five or six writers and Alan, and really, in terms of my face-to-face time with Alan, it's not that much. He's on set for his two episodes, but other than that, he's in the writers room breaking stories and editing current ones.

Has that ever bothered you, that you don't quite know what's coming?

I personally don't mind it. I like to think very much on the spot. Also, without sounding too actor-y, it kind of suits Jason's mentality to be spontaneous like that. He's not much of a thinker, let alone someone who can forecast the future, so the fact that I don't know it helps as well.

It's a pretty ballsy show. How often do you get a script and think, "They're not actually going to film this, right?"

Oh, every script. There's at least one scene or moment in every script -- it doesn't even have to be for my character -- where it blows my mind. It's one thing to read it, but then to actually go and film it is crazy! The amount of "firsts" that the show has undertaken...this season, there's a whole host of them.

So last time we saw Jason, he and Andy had killed Eggs. Can you give our readers a taste of what's next for him?

When you kill someone, it's no small act -- you kind of have to go to the bowels of who you are to figure out something like that. Meanwhile, he has to deal with the fact that Andy is sort of stealing the glory for killing Eggs. Jason doesn't take that too kindly. Also, there's a mysterious woman who sweeps Jason off his feet, so there's a lot going on.

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