Alan Ball, the creator of “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood,” revealed over the weekend that the long-rumored musical version of his vampire series is “pretty good.”
Ten years have passed since “True Blood” premiered on HBO. Its cast has gone on to do many things — but the basic plot has been fashioned into a musical by composer Nathan Barr, who worked on the original series among many others.
“It tells the story of vampires coming out of the closet,” Ball told his audience at the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles.
“Ultimately it really departs from the book, because people aren’t ready, and they’re too bigoted and they end up going back into the closet.”
The planned musical has been in the works for four years. It’s not clear whether Ball will be involved. His most recent series for HBO, the disastrous “Here and Now,” was canceled after its first season earlier this year.
Ball, who also has an Oscar for writing the screenplay for “American Beauty,” also delighted fans at the festival with casting outtakes from the “True Blood” almanac.
Among the stars who tried for roles on the series: Benedict Cumberbatch, who auditioned for the key role of Bill, the vampire ultimately played by Stephen Moyer. Jessica Chastain tried out for the role of Sookie Stackhouse, which went to Anna Paquin.
Hollywood darling Jennifer Lawrence read for a Season 3 role as a “were-panther,” but producers decided she was ultimately too young — Lawrence was only 17 at the time — to play the girlfriend of Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten).