Millions of True Blood fans were shocked to find out that Anna Paquin is bisexual when she announced it back in April 2010. Stephen Moyer, her on and off screen love, was not shocked by the news.

“It wasn’t something she kept from me,” Stephen tells Playboy. He goes on to tell the mag that Anna was extremely forthcoming about her past. Read more about Stephen and Anna’s honesty here.

In an online public service announcement for the Give a Damn Campaign, which is aimed at promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender equality, Anna says, “I’m bisexual, and I give a damn.” Paquin, an Oscar-winning actress, hasn’t elaborated since her unexpected disclosure.

“I condone what she has done 10 percent,” Stephen tells playboy of his fiance. “It’s her business to talk about it, not mine. It doesn’t change anything. I’m proud of who she is.”

In the interview, Stephen also opens up about his own sexual awakening. “I was quite young when I started doing all right, below legal age and with somebody I knew very well,” he teases about losing his own virginity.

Nude scenes? That’s a breeze, says True Blood star Anna Paquin. But having to drink vampire blood — well, that just sucks.

“I get a kick out it, but the actual blood makes me want to gag!” Paquin tells Self in its July issue on newsstands Tuesday. “It’s kind of a sweet corn syrup, I think, with an aftertaste that’s less than pleasant after the 10th take,” she adds of filming scene for the popular HBO series. “In season one, they asked me if I wanted sugar or sugar-free. I was like, ‘Sugar-free blood? Sounds great!’”

Big mistake: “It only tastes like the latex tubes it’s coming through,” says Paquin, 27, who, in one particular scene had to feed “ravenously from Bill’s arm so I drank probably a gallon. Never again.”

Kissing a vampire, says the actress, is “sharp [and] dangerous” and those famous fangs are top-quality props they’re not allowed to take home.

“Those things are actually really expensive and quite fragile! They are not toys,” she says.

As for why she and fiancee Stephen Moyer, 40, kept their relationship a secret for the first 10 months, Paquin explains the the two costars simply “had a job to do.”

“You don’t want to bring personal stuff to work,” she says. “I’m of the opinion that if it’s nobody’s problem, it’s nobody’s business. But who knows who knew what and when? Clearly Alan Ball, the show’s creator, cast us because we had chemistry!”

By Eunice Oh

Gallery link:
Magazine scans > 2010 > Self – July

Kiwi beauties Anna Paquin and Anna Hutchison have united in a celebrity battle against a killer beast – cancer.

True Blood babe Paquin and Underbelly hottie Hutchison are among a galaxy of stars who will appear in The Beauty Book, compiled by Australian celebrity photographer Darren Tieste.

Tragedy struck Tieste in 2008, when one of his best friends, fashion designer Natalie Sattler, lost her fight with brain cancer.

Inspired by her courageous struggle, the 35-year-old decided to raise funds for cancer research by doing what he does best – getting behind the camera.

Tieste chased down every major star he could get his hands on and committed them to a photoshoot to appear in the 260-page coffee table book, to go on sale worldwide in August.

Famous Kiwi faces in The Beauty Book include Outrageous Fortune and Ugly Betty hunk Grant Bowler.

Tieste said getting Paquin involved was a real coup.

“Anna’s a great girl, we had three hours with her. She was a big one to get, and the sweetest girl, so down to earth and easy in front of the camera.”

All of the proceeds from the book will go to charity including Snog, or Sydney Neuro-Oncology Group, and Abta, the American Brain Tumour Association.

Tieste told Sunday News it took a lot of hard work fitting into the schedule of the celebrities.

“We’re talking about some of the busiest people in the world here, so finding time was really difficult.”

He said his efforts got a boost when Hugh Jackman, his first A-list star to sign up, agreed to be involved in the project.

Tieste got his big break with a cover shot for Dolly Magazine when he was just 20 and has since then travelled the world shooting pictures for clients such as Coca Cola, Samsung, Nokia and Visa.

In 2003, the Sydney born-and-bred photographer relocated to Los Angeles, where he has since worked with Christina Hendricks, Rosario Dawson and Sam Worthington.

Pre-order at www.thebeautybook.org

Team Todd, Plum Pictures, Benaroya Pictures and Four Of A Kind Productions announced today that Paramount Famous Productions has picked up all U.S. and Canada rights for “The Romantics.” The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, was written and directed by Galt Niederhoffer, and produced by Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd, Michael Benaroya, Ron Stein and Daniel Hendler. Featuring an all star cast including Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, Anna Paquin, Malin Akerman, Adam Brody, Dianna Agron with Candice Bergen and Elijah Wood, “The Romantics” is about a tight knit group of college friends who reunite for a wedding of two of their own.

Daniela Taplin Lundberg said, “The response to the film has been extraordinary and I am delighted to have Paramount Famous Productions as our domestic distribution partner.”

“We are thrilled to be in business with the talented team at Plum Pictures and their partners. We have been tracking several of Plum’s projects and “The Romantics” is a great way to start,” said Louis Feola, president of Paramount Famous Productions.

The film was repped domestically by John Sloss of Cinetic Media.

The finished version of the film will screen in Cannes. Simon Crowe of SC International will sell the remaining territories.

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom ( VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.

I feel kind of stupid saying that music inspires me,” says Anna Paquin, during her morning commute to the set of HBO’s vampire drama True Blood, in which she stars as Sookie Stackhouse, a big-hearted waitress with a thing for the undead. “I love music, but when I try to narrow it down, to describe it, I feel dumb.” The 27-year-old Oscar winner recently acquired a new outlook on the power of the playlist. “I just learned to drive, and I’ve discovered the pleasure of good driving music,” she says, “especially now that I’m confident enough to have noise around me when I’m behind the wheel.” Fully immersed in True Blood’s third season, which premieres next month, Paquin admits that she has been too busy to search out new songs, so it’s helpful that Stephen Moyer—her real-life fiancé and love interest on the show—came into her life with a large music library. “A lot of the music I listen to comes from him,” she admits. “I think he has half of iTunes on his computer.”

Lady Gaga’s “Teeth.” I’m sure that everyone else on the planet jumped on the Lady Gaga bandwagon long ago, but I was just introduced to her music last month. She has this amazing voice and, honest to God, it sounds like this song was written about our TV show. It’s great workout music.

Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People.” This one is a throwback to my sad, little goth-girl adolescence. It’s been on my playlist since I was 14, when I dyed my hair black and wore kneehigh Doc Martens. I went to a Marilyn Manson concert about two years ago, and there were no teenagers in the audience.

Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host.” This is embarrassing, because my taste in music hasn’t changed much since I was a kid. This was on the soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, and it wasn’t on any of Radiohead’s albums at that point. Stephen and I got tickets for the Haiti benefit they did a few months back, so I finally got to see them in concert. It was a tiny, amazing gig. I’ve missed hearing them perform so many times that I’d stopped trying. I’d get tickets and then get a job far, far away, almost to the point where if I were superstitious about it, I’d have started buying Radiohead tickets just to get the jobs I really wanted.

Johnny Cash and June Carter’s “Jackson.” This was my theme song when I was auditioning for the role of Sookie. June Carter has a sassy Southern galtype
voice that my coach and I worked with to get Sookie’s accent just right. I love their banter at the beginning of the song, him saying naughty things and her being cute and flirty about it.

Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire.” I love bands that still make rock music.

Anna Nalick’s “Wreck of the Day.” She’s a singersongwriter in the vein of Aimee Mann, very sweet and slightly melancholic. When I’m trying to get into the mood for a scene, I’ll listen to a song like this. Sets are noisy places and if you’re trying to get into a less happy place, it’s good to have some way of tuning all that out. I usually put together a playlist of songs that make me cry, and this is one of them.

Mark Ronson’s “Toxic.” This is a cover of a Britney Spears song. Mark Ronson and Ol’ Dirty Bastard covering Britney is pretty funny.

Modest Mouse’s “Bukowski.” I have to plead complete idiocy because I’ve never actually read any Charles Bukowski. I may seem it, but I’m not particularly book-smart. I don’t sit around reading important philosophical texts. There’s a perception that if you’re not someone who smiles all the time, then you’re someone who sits around reading tortured literature. I’d rather ride my bike to the beach.

The Puppini Sisters’ “Crazy in Love (The Real Tuesday Weld Remix).” They’re an electrosinging trio, a throwback to the ’60s and they remixed the Beyoncé song. I was obsessed with this one for quite some time.

Fiona Apple’s “Parting Gift.” I’ve loved her for so many years. She’s an icon for sad-girl singer-songwriters everywhere. I don’t think you’re allowed to be a tortured teen, in the most on-the-nose pretentious way possible, without having listened to Fiona Apple. This song has interesting insight into relationships—but not the one I’m in right now.

The website showing Anna Paquin declaring her bisexuality has crashed – after fans rushed online to listen to the star’s big revelation.

The actress, who is engaged to marry her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer, announced her sexual orientation as part of a Public Service Announcement taped for Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund, which fights for the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

In the clip, Paquin declares, “I’m Anna Paquin. I’m bisexual, and I give a damn.”

She also urges viewers to: “Imagine going to work every day and not being able to share your life with your co-workers out of fear of being let go.”

The online PSA has become such a hit, bosses at the website were forced to carry out maintenance after they were “overwhelmed by the enormous traffic”.

New servers have now been added to website to allow more users to log on.

by Reuters

Despite gathering storm clouds before the ceremony, literally and figuratively, this is a pretty light genre film with the occasional juicy confrontation to spice up the party. Theatrically, “Romantics” will be embraced by the over-25 set primarily, though wedding movies seem to play across many age groups. Box office potential appears to be modest.
Read more at the source.

by USA Today

The tone is a little more subtle than (500) Days of Summer, but you could imagine them as a double feature. If The Romantics found its way to the right studio, it could make a great date movie. Teenagers may be bored by it, but those who are a little older, perhaps ready to take the next step in a relationship, will find a lot to like.
Read more at the source

True Blood star Anna Paquin was spotted sipping a Synergy drink on her way to a meeting in Venice, CA. Can this drink replace the get-up-and-go effects of a cup of joe?

Synergy beverages are made with mostly raw organic kombucha and five percent real fruit juice. Sometimes referred to as a tea, kombucha is not brewed from mushrooms; it’s a colony of bacteria and yeast, which is added to tea or, in this case, fruit juice and allowed to ferment. Kombucha has been used for centuries throughout the world as a health tonic since it contain beneficial probiotics, enzymes, and antioxidants. According to Mayo Clinic, “health benefits attributed to Kombucha tea include stimulating the immune system, preventing cancer, and improving digestion and liver function.” The thing is, though, there isn’t any scientific data performed on humans to back this up, but that also doesn’t mean it won’t benefit the body.

So while kombucha won’t necessarily “restore and rejuvenate” Anna’s body, I guess it’s worth a try. Tell me, do you drink kombucha for health benefits?

Anna Paquin tried on 100 dresses before settling on her Golden Globes gown.

The True Blood actress was so determined to find the perfect frock for Sunday’s prestigious award show, she climbed into dozens of designs before settling on a glamorous Stella McCartney gown.

She said: “I tried on about a 100. I’m probably exaggerating.”

The 27-year-old beauty also had a battle choosing her accessories, before deciding on vintage Stephen Russell jewellery and a handbag designed by British designer Alexander McQueen.

Anna took preparations for the glitzy showbiz event so seriously, her fiance Stephen Moyer was banished to the other side of the house while the actress’ “team” got her ready.

He revealed to Us Weekly magazine: “I’m very good at leaving madam alone when it comes to these things. The team is working, and I’m upstairs by myself.”

Although they work together on the vampire series, the couple loved attending the ceremony together because they don’t spend much time together on a day-to-day basis.

Stephen, 40, added: “It is rare because at the moment, a lot of the stuff that we are doing is not together on the show. So in that respect, yes, we kind of have to introduce ourselves to each other once every week.”

The only female director to receive a top prize at Cannes, Campion’s classic ‘The Piano’ is a truly breathtaking film
There’s a striking photograph taken at the Cannes film festival in 2007. It shows 35 of the world’s leading directors, almost all in black suits and bow ties, standing on a podium. In their midst, if you look closely, you can see just one woman: Jane Campion, her greying blonde hair a sobering contrast, a white horse on a dark male sea. Campion, now 55, was among cinema’s auteur elite because her 1993 film, The Piano, was the first directed by a woman ever to win the coveted Palme d’Or (although it shared the prize with the Chinese film Farewell My Concubine, directed by Chen Kaige). Holly Hunter, playing Ada, the film’s mute heroine, who finds expression and identity through the piano she plays, took the best actress award.

Nine months later, Campion received a best director Oscar nomination for the film, becoming only the second woman ever put up for cinema’s ultimate prize. She didn’t win. In fact, no woman has ever won the best director Oscar — although Campion’s latest, Bright Star, a tender study of the doomed but enduring love between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, is in the frame for nominations this year. It was at least some consolation that The Piano, which received eight nominations in all, including best picture, won three Oscars: best actress for Hunter, best supporting actress for Anna Paquin (who was just 11 when she appeared in the film) and best screenplay for Campion. The film was an international box-office hit, taking more than $100m worldwide.

Read the rest of the article at the source.

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