Ahead of a ‘True Blood’ Reboot, Let’s Look Back at Some of the Series’ Iconic Gay Moments

Are we getting more gay True Blood vampires and witches?

According to Variety, HBO is in the early development phase of a True Blood reboot. Original series creator and showrunner Alan Ball has signed on to executive produce the project with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Jami O’Brien (NOS4A2) joining him. Aguirre-Sacasa and O’Brien will also write the script for the True Blood reboot. 

The original show was based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries novel series by Charlaine Harris. The show ran on HBO from 2008-2014 for seven seasons. As for the story, it followed a waitress living in the American South named Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who found herself suddenly neck-deep in the world of vampires. As the show continued, its supernatural aspect expanded to include other fantasy beings: werewolves, fairies, witches and more.

After hearing news of a True Blood reboot, we can’t help but wonder how the new True Blood will represent LGBTQ characters. The original show certainly wasn’t shy when it came to gay content, from its crafting the fantastic character of Lafayette to giving the gays what they wanted with Alexander Skarsgard’s full frontal scene.

So now, with the True Blood reboot on its way, we thought it’d be fun to relive some of our favorite gay True Blood scenes. Enjoy!

1. “Tip Your Waitress”

Perhaps the most iconic gay True Blood scene, it was a brilliant way to be introduced to Nelsan Ellis’s Lafayette. Very early on in the show’s first season, we’re brought to the diner where Lafayette and Sookie work. We see three guys sitting at a booth, mocking Lafayette, the diner’s openly gay cook. When they try to return a hamburger because it “might have AIDS,” Lafayette makes them regret their words.

2. “Oh, yes, daddy!”

It may be an unfortunate, typical example of the “Bury Your Gays” trope, but we can’t deny this gay True Blood sex scene was hot … before the staking. Poor Talbot (Theo Alexander) thought he was getting himself a little fun, while Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) had other plans in mind for his big finish.

3. “I hear the water in Arkansas is … very hard.”

In the True Blood universe, when a human drinks a vampire’s blood, one of the more exciting side-effects is rather sexual dreams about that vamp. Watching shape-shifting bartender Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) get undressed had already been a blessing for the show’s gay viewers. But then watching Sam dream up some delicious sexual tension with Bill (Stephen Moyer) was icing on the gay True Blood cake.

4. “There’s a lot of pervs in this town.”

When Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) needs cash, Lafayette convinces him there are plenty of people in Bon Temps, Louisiana, who would pay good money to him shimmy. Lafayette’s dom confidence mixed with Jason Stackhouse in tighty-whities, shaking it in front of a camera? What’s not to love?

5. “Take a shot, you dumb shit fanger!”

While vampire Eric and werewolf Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello)  may have been puffing up their chests over a woman like immature boys, seeing these two leading men completely nude out in the wilderness left us all a little hot and bothered. It’s just too bad those cameras didn’t tilt down a little further.

6. “I’m crazy about her … but I can’t get you out of my head.”

Yet another of the show’s vampire blood-induced dreams, this one saw two of gay audiences’ favorite characters, Jason Stackhouse and Eric Northman, get it on. We’re talking full-on neck kisses and what has the makings to be a blowjob from a vampire — ouch! — before, sadly, Jason wakes up … in church. No one can say this series didn’t have a sense of humor, and here’s hoping the True Blood reboot does, too.

7. Finally … Eric bares all!

In a Season 6 scene clearly written for gay True Blood fans, we finally saw Alexander Skarsgard bare all while nude sunbathing in the Sweden snow. Sure, it didn’t work out too well for him, as you can see, but viewers everywhere felt they’d been given a gift. Such few Hollywood projects allow their male characters to bare all (though you can check out this roundup of 30 films that had the “balls” to include male nudity on-screen), but True Blood went there!

Which of these gay True Blood scenes was your favorite? And what did we miss? Stay tuned for more info on the True Blood reboot, which we can’t help but expect to have a ton of gay storylines!

This article was originally published on January 20, 2021. It has since been updated.