True Blood star Anna Paquin has opened up about how it felt to have her real-life husband direct her in scenes which involved her getting hot and heavy.
Paquin starred for six years in the steamy HBO drama series, bringing to life the character of Sookie Stackhouse.
It was through the series that Paquin actually met and eventually married now-husband and co-star Stephen Moyer, who played Bill Compton - but it wasn't Bill who Sookie found herself getting cosy with in later seasons.
Moyer actually ended up directing episodes of the show later in its run, and as a result he was behind the camera when it came to filming some of Paquin's explicit scenes.
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A decade on from the end of the show, the couple reflected back on how it felt to work together as director and actor in an interview with The New York Post.
Paquin explained: “Steve started directing me when we were on True Blood. And in Season 7, our final season, he directed the season opener, which had Sookie in love with the giant beautiful werewolf Joe Manganiello.
“Steve directed us in a rather explicit sex scene,” she continued, “so when you ask if it is awkward to shoot a movie with your husband, the bar for awkward is set terribly high in our household, not to mention on that show in general."
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Paquin went on to claim that by the third or fourth season of True Blood, Moyer was essentially able to approach her with the question: "Hi honey, who are you f**king on camera today?"
Even when the pair weren't working together, they had a professional approach to the explicit scenes that formed part of the show.
Moyer recalled: “There was actually a day where we were walking from our trailers, Alex Skarsgard and Anna and another actor, and we were all working in dressing gowns going toward our stages.
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"It got to a point where I was about to go to one stage and Anna and Alex to another and I was just like, ‘Go for it, guys, good luck, have a good time, make it look good.’
“In that Season 7 sequence with Big Joe, there was just a funny moment where I’m going, ‘Joe, you can do it, mate. It’s OK, grab it, you can do it.'”
While working together in such a capacity might not be for every couple, it obviously didn't put Moyer and Paquin off collaborating in a professional setting.
Moyer is now directing Paquin in upcoming indie drama titled A Bit of Light, and the pair also said they'd be up for working together again on TV if the right opportunity presented itself.
Topics: HBO, Film and TV, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Emily Brown