True Blood's Ryan Kwanten (Jason) in GQ

Ryan Kwanten trades his Bon Temps football tee for a sexy photoshoot with GQ Magazine in a feature titled "ROUGH, TOUGH, AND RUGGED".

Click to see more *hot* photos of Kwanten and the article.

EW Vampire cover issue preview

This week's cover: Vampires!

by Entertainment Weekly staff, EW.com

This week’s Entertainment Weekly delivers the ultimate guide to vampires. You’ll find interviews with the authors behind Twilight and True Blood, our list of the 20 greatest bloodsuckers ever, and Anne Rice’s pick for the best new vampire — as well as a talk with her about how she revolutionized the vampire legend decades ago with Interview with a Vampire.

With Twilight a phenomenon, True Blood attracting converts by the millions, and hordes of new vampire projects looming in the shadows, bloodsuckers are haunting every corner of our lives: bookstores, television, movies, and more. Why has pop culture thrown open its door and invited them in? “The traditional vampire story, with monsters and victims, chases and chills, is more plain fun,” says True Blood’s executive producer Alan Ball. “But they can often reveal the general state of the cultural psyche.”

Vampires are such versatile symbols now that they can express both conservative and liberal views. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels are steeped in her Mormon values. But True Blood speaks in part for gays and, as Ball puts it, “eight years of institutionalized demonization of pretty much any group that wasn’t on the bus with Mr. Bush.”

It may come as a surprise to learn that Meyer – reigning queen of pop culture’s vampire coven – has an uneasy relationship with them. Back in 2003, when she was writing the first draft of Twilight, she refused to show it to her husband. “I was embarrassed,” she said. “It was about vampires.” In fact, last year, she told EW that her great wish was to reclaim some time to write something new. “Look, I’m not just a vampire girl,” she said emphatically. “I can do other worlds.”

Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books, has her own thoughts on the Twilight phenomenon. “Stephenie Meyer has come and she’s taken the genre that I sort of pioneered. Her original audience was 11- and 12-year-olds, so she – very rightly – sanitized the genre. She took out a lot of the sex and violence, especially for the first book…I ask people, Why has this really captured you? What I heard from all ages is that it was very romantic that he was willing to wait for her and that there was no sex. They like the idea that [Bella] was like the fairy princess and [Edward] is the handsome prince that rides in and saves her. The fact that women are so attracted to that idea – that they want to wait for Prince Charming rather than taking control of their own life – I find that frightening.”

When asked why people find vampires so appealing, Anne Rice (author of the series The Vampire Chronicles) says, “I think people are intrigued by what they would do if they were offered the opportunity to be a vampire. Would they be willing to drink human blood in order to be immortal? Maybe they would.”

For more about vampires, including our list of the 20 Greatest Ever and Anne Rice’s pick for the coolest of the new crops, pick up the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly onstands as of July 31. And be sure to check out our 27 hottest TV/movies vampires gallery, online now.

Deborah Ann Woll (TB Jessica) on becoming a Vamp

'True Blood' Star Deborah Ann Woll On Becoming A Vamp: 'I Watched A Lot Of Animal Attack Footage'

by Amy Wilkinson MTV Hollywood Crush

Bon Temps has seen a lot of changes during the second season of "True Blood." Jason left town to bunk at Jesus camp. Sam has a potential love interest in fellow shapeshifter Daphne. And orgies are all the rage thanks to mysterious Maryann. But one of the best additions to the small Louisiana town has got to be newborn vampire Jessica, played by Deborah Ann Woll.

The 24-year-old Brooklyn native spoke with H Magazine(see her full cover after the jump) about preparing to play Jessica, on-set antics and her favorite horror flicks.

For Deborah, portraying a sheltered-teenager-turned-mischevious-bloodsucker took both mental and physical preparation. "Research is a great tool," she said. "The more I know about my surroundings and the situations I am in the more creative I can be. So there is the culture of Louisiana, the primal vampire animalistic qualities, the awkward home schooled teenager syndrome. Even sometimes looking up precisely what a word means can be very eye opening."

Wildlife footage was also a great tool for mastering the "alien/animal" movements of a vampire. "I watched a lot of animal videos and often attack footage. Stalking and attacking and killing are practices lost in most humans, so I needed to teach myself to do them."

The HBO series isn't all blood, guts and gore though. Deborah described the set's vibe as comical, even revealing that hunky Ryan Kwanten, who plays Jason, is quite the prankster, inciting a bit of revenge from the crew. "I heard they filled his car to the brim with tiny styrofoam balls," Deborah said. "I don't believe he will ever get them all out!"

So what horror flicks does a vampire (or a gal who plays a vampire) watch to give herself the willies? "Well, at present I would say Neil Marshall's 'Descent.' That really terrified me and it was shot so creatively," Deborah said. " 'His Dog Soldiers' is great too. But growing up I always loved 'Alien,' 'The Exorcist,' and the original 'Haunting' with Julie Harris. 'The Haunting' would keep me up at night."