True Blood's sixth season debuts in the UK tonight courtesy of FOX and the sexy horror drama's latest cast addition is Rob Kazinsky - from EastEnders to Pacific Rim to Bon Temps, the 29-year-old English actor has had an eventful few years...
Digital Spy spoke to Rob about the pressures of joining an established series, True Blood's next season - the show's last - his steamy scenes with co-star Ryan Kwanten and his long-held desire to be a superhero...
Was it nerve-racking joining a show like True Blood in its sixth season, when the cast already have a set dynamic?
"It can be intimidating - I joined a show that was in its fifth year, Brothers and Sisters, [and] I only did two episodes, but it was the same story - I was going into an established partnership.
"Odette and Dave [Annable] - they were in a real-life relationship and the cast and crew were very well established. It was very well-received and here I am doing the exact same thing again!
"So I felt pretty comfortable and I'd just done Pacific Rim so I'd kind of got used to working with big names by this point. I was fairly relaxed going in - I went in there, did the read-through and Stephen Moyer took me aside at the end and walked me round and made me feel very welcome... and they never stopped making me feel welcome."
Were you pleased with the reaction that your character and this season got in the US?
"Yeah. There are always things you wish you could've done better and there are always things that you wish would've turned out a different way in terms of storyline, which you're not in charge of.
"However, I think the character does what he needs to do. I think he evolves brilliantly over the course of the season. I've been really thrilled by the response of the public and the response of my peers.
"It's been an incredibly gratifying experience because I haven't worked solidly on a TV show since EastEnders. It's really nice to be back in something that has a reasonably quick turn-around and a well-established, passionate fan-base."
BrIan Buckner was the new showrunner on this season - you were also new to the show, but did you get the sense there was a fresh energy and impetus on set?
"Well, Brian actually came in midway through the season so there was a double [boost] - there was a fresh impetus going in when we first started and then Brian went in another direction, with all this new gusto and new energy.
"Brian made a choice very early on of what we were going to do next season. We lost half the cast this year, so we're going back to having one storyline and everybody under the same roof and making it a more familial unit.
"That's absolutely the right way to go so this entire [sixth] season was about getting there. That's Brian's dream and what he's doing is brilliant for the show."
Your character did seem very popular with fans - in particular your scenes with Ryan Kwanten seemed quite popular!
"It's the best reaction you can get. That scene was one of the most fun things I've ever filmed in my entire life. I've never done a scene like that ever before. It would've even been better if we had kissed or something like that, but because we just had to get really close it was impossible to not laugh!
"Ryan and I had the best time filming that and the crew were in hysterics and it was one of those things that just got pushed everywhere, because it was just so damn funny and so well-written and well-shot. So yeah, I'm really, really proud of that scene. It's probably going to go on my reel!"
The next season of True Blood will be the show's last - did you know that shooting this sixth season?
"Some of us knew. I knew half-way through the season. It was never confirmed but it was kind of expected. That was what Brian was aiming at.
"It's very important - shows can outstay their welcome, you can run out of storylines. I think that happened with True Blood over the last couple of seasons - they kind of ran out of ideas and now they've got an idea again and they're trying to finish stronger than ever... which they're going to do next season!
"I think it's incredibly brave what they're doing - finishing in their strongest position and leaving a legacy behind for people to really treasure the show."
You went to Comic Con this year - how was that experience?
"Well, I'm a geek - I read fantasy novels, I play World of Warcraft, I'm a massive gamer, I have Star Trek outfits. I'm a massive, massive nerd, so to go there as not just an observer but as a part of it was more than a dream come true.
'It was just being around people who are really passionate about the subject - people that have an opinion other than 'You suck'. It was really fantastic and it was probably the second best week of my entire life."
What was the best week of your life?
"The Pacific Rim premiere. I've had the two best weeks of my life this year. Coming to London for a Hollywood move premiere of a film that I'm in, and I take my parents to, in my home town... amazing."
Speaking of Pacific Rim and Hollywood movies, is that still something you're actively pursuing?
"Well, everybody does. You just don't get them! Everybody wants to be in the next Marvel movie. But Pacific Rim came out of left-field - I certainly wasn't expecting it and Guillermo [del Toro] came for me at a time when I really needed help... he saved my life essentially.
"Guillermo was fantastic and the film was amazing - I've never been more proud of a job in my life and I've never had more fun shooting anything. I honestly don't know whether I can ever top the experience of Pacific Rim."
What was Guillermo like to work with? He's such an interesting, unique filmmaker…
"I've worked with a lot of big-name directors now - [saying that] makes me sound like an idiot, but it's true. I've had the good fortune to work with the luminaries of this industry and he's the only one that didn't disappoint me in any way whatsoever.
"You meet people who are super-talented but can be short-tempered. You meet people who are super-nice but make mistakes sometimes. I've worked with every kind of director you could meet, but Guillermo is the nicest human being I've ever met and the most talented director.
"He has endless patience, cares about everybody, he's so creative, so collaborative. I would work for him for free for the rest of my life. I would be the teaboy on set!"
You mentioned Marvel - do you want to be in a comic book movie?
"Don't we all?! I keep hoping in the new X-Men that they're going to bring back Sabretooth. I think I'd be brilliant. I'm ginger for a start, I'm big, I think I could do that - I would love to be Sabretooth!
"I would love to be the Flash from DC and dust him off. There are lots of characters I would love to play because I've always wanted to be a superhero. I'm lucky enough in this industry to have done a bunch of cool s**t. I've saved the world by piloting giant robots, I've been a World War II fighter pilot, I'm a vampire - now I want to be a superhero, man!
"Let's be honest, we all sit there, and when we're alone, we try and use the Force to move things. Let's not lie, we all do it! I still do it and I'm still convinced that one day it's going to happen! We all want to be superheroes in some way, so if I could ever actually be one, I'd go for it in a heartbeat."
More and more British actors are landing major roles in US dramas - do you think it's just coincidence or is it happening for a particular reason?
"There's no right or wrong answer. Personally, I have an opinion on it, which is, when I trained, I went to drama school, I did my three years there, I trained for a life in repertory theatre, I trained to earn £200 a week, doing eight shows a week.
"If you'd told me when I was 18 years old and starting to train, 'You're never going to be on TV, you're never going make a movie, you're never going to be rich', I'd still have done it because I love what I do.
"A lot of the people who are doing that - the Gary Oldmans and so forth - they've trained. They trained because they love it. It's not like in America where a lot of people don't have the patience or the professionalism or whatever.
"You know that if you're going to hire an English actor, you're going to a get a professional person who's never late, who always learns their lines, is always going to be respectful and they're always going to be grateful, and that's the most important thing. Being a professional is the one thing that guarantees you're going to get employed."
True Blood season six begins tonight (September 30) at 10pm on FOX.
