From serious to sassy

Actress Anna Paquin says she was the “most serious 15-year-old ever” but she has certainly grown up with a vengeance. “Oh, [True Blood] is a really full-on sexy show,” Paquin agrees easily, taking a sip of latte and fixing me with brown boot-button eyes. We are at Cafe Rouge in Highgate, north London. To play Sookie, Paquin, 27, has transformed herself, bleaching her brown hair and sporting a spray tan and a series of sexy outfits. It suits her, though; with her strong cheeks and mouth, and lack of vanity, she doesn’t come across as remotely Baywatch – more Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich. Her work days are often 18 hours long, on location at the Warner Bros sound stages in West Hollywood, or Louisiana, and almost all her scenes are with co-star and fiance Stephen Moyer, 40. Paquin also stars in horror film anthology Trick r’ Treat as Laurie, a “22-year-old virgin” who turns into a werewolf.