‘True Blood’ Star William Sanderson: ‘Shouldn’t we support our soldiers?’

William Sanderson says he likes to fly under the radar. The in-demand character actor’s resume just won’t let him get away with it. Sanderson‘s career has brought him to the past (“Deadwood“), the future (“Blade Runner“) and a few surreal points in between (the long-running “Newhart“).

The actor is currently co-starring in HBO’s vampire drama “True Blood,“ set to begin its second season at 9 p.m. EST June 14. Sanderson plays Sheriff Dearborne, a character whose normalcy stands apart from the show’s menagerie of shape shifters, neck biters and mind readers. “You can hide when you have beards and mustaches. I don’t have a lot of that,” he says of the straightforward sheriff.

What he and his colleagues do have is the respect of HBO’s higher ups. HBO executives “trust the creators of their show,” he says. “They set the tone. If they’re under pressure, Lord, it’ll reach us,” he says.

The 65-year-old actor is at a loss as to why the vampire genre cannot be killed, adding even show creator Alan Ball (“Six Feet Under”) can’t break down the appeal of the undead. (more…)