Before he was Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Strange, popular British actor Benedict Cumberbatch could have been a vampire. The creator of HBO’s popular vampire drama True Blood, Alan Ball, revealed in a recent interview that Cumberbatch auditioned for the role of Bill Compton when the series was still in the pilot stage. He also shared some of the other notable actors who auditioned for the show.
“I read Benedict Cumberbatch. He came and read for Bill,” said Ball before revealing that Jessica Chastain read for Sookie and that Jennifer Lawrence read for werepanther girl, character which appeared in season 3. According to him, Lawrence was great, but the problem was that she was only 17 at the time.
Stephen Moyer got the role of Bill instead, while Benedict Cumberbatch went on to star in BBC’s drama The Last Enemy as mathematical genius Stephen Ezard. This performance introduced Cumberbatch to the mainstream audience and gave him the opportunity to star in several high-profile projects which ultimately launched him to stardom.
Premiering in 2008 at HBO, True Blood tells the story about a world in which humans and vampires can co-exist thanks to the invention of a synthetic blood substitute which eliminated the need of vampires to hunt humans. The series met with widespread critical acclaim and had won several awards including an Outstanding Casting for a Drama award at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards.
