Johanna

'True Blood' season 2 film crew takes over Clinton, La., then heads for New Orleans

by Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune

Monday July 13, 2009, 11:38 AM

Clinton, La. -- Standing in for fictional downtown Bon Temps, La., the blocks surrounding the East Feliciana Parish Courthouse looked like they'd been hit by a lusty tornado over the weekend.
The steamy HBO drama "True Blood" came to Clinton for several days of location shooting, and the town's streets (and trees) were strategically strewn with trash but mostly clothing, for a saucy storyline to play out in a few weeks on the show's 10th episode of the current season.

Saturday, shooting started at about noon and concluded after 2 a.m. Sunday. Wilting heat and humidity prevailed, broken occasionally by light rain.
Series leads Stephen Moyer (who portrays vampire/heartthrob/173-year-old Confederate Army veteran Bill Compton), Academy Award winner Anna Paquin (who plays Sookie Stackhouse and is Moyer's love interest on and off screen) and Ryan Kwanten (Sookie's brother Jason) were on hand for scenes as several dozen curious locals watched on from an out-of-frame.
The Louisiana-set drama, based on a series of popular vampire novels by Charlaine Harris, is mostly shot on back lots and soundstages in the Los Angeles area. Some location work for its first season was done around the Shreveport area. Scenes for three upcoming season-two episodes were shot over the weekend.