“True Blood” fans will still see a lot of Alexander Skarsgard in the upcoming seventh season, showrunner Brian Buckner confirmed. The cliffhanger final season six episode of the show (aired Sunday in the U.S. and Monday in Australia) has had fans clamouring for answers as to whether or not their beloved Eric will be returning next season.

In the last episode, the Viking vampire Eric Northman, played by Skarsgard, was basking fully nude in the sun atop a Swedish mountain when his new ability to endure sunlight was stripped suddenly off him. The result was both fascinating (it was a full frontal nudity after all) and shocking (he burst into flames) at the same time.

The questioned remained, though. Will he survive?

He will. TB fans can now breathe easy.

Buckner has revealed in an interview with TV Line that fan favourite Eric is still a series regular and will be seen in the show when it comes back for the seventh season in 2014.

“I can tell you that Alexander Skarsgard is going to be a part of the next season of True Blood. He will be a series regular,” he told the Web site, adding that taking Skarsgard out of the show would be an “incredible cheat.”

“Pam [Kristin Bauer van Straten] has gone off in search of Eric, maybe she’s going to be the one to find him, y’know?” the TV boss uttered what fans have been hoping for.

Buckner also shared how hard it was to convince Skarsgard to do full frontal nudity for the very memorable scene (hint: it wasn’t at all).

“”Alex Skarsgard was the coolest camper in the world. There’s no conversation with him. He’s Swedish. They’re naked all the time. As a matter of fact, when I saw what he had on camera, I sent him an email that said, ‘We’re going to lock picture. Are you OK with this?’ He said, ‘No problem.’

“That was the conversation. It couldn’t have been easier.”

It didn’t surprise Buckner that Skarsgard couldn’t care less about his nudity, but he was “impressed by how much people care.”

“But I don’t think that people care was a surprise. He knew the gift he was giving everybody.” Buckner laughed.

With Eric “gone off on his own story going forward” and Warlow [Rob Kazinsky] dead, the show has made way for an Alcide-Sookie-Bill love triangle [Joe Manganiello, Anna Paquin, and Stephen Moyer respectively].

Buckner promised the fans that although the show jumped six months ahead in the last episode, which means the courtship between Alcide and Sookie was not covered in detail, fans still won’t be deprived of the love scenes between the two.

As for Bill now that his Billith powers are gone, the show has somewhat reset his character.

“We don’t want Bill to be an a**hole,” he simply said.

As shown in the last episode [#10 titled “Radioactive”], vampires will be pairing up with a healthy human for blood in exchange for protection. The Hep V has also mutated, causing some vampires to turn into vampire zombies.

But, as Buckner reiterated to TV Line, “they’re not zombies.”

“They’re just hunting-killing machines. So what was meant to come across there was that they’ve organised, they’re in a formation, they’re hunting, they’re sentient, they can talk. They still have intellect.”

And these still-unnamed infected vampires are what will drive the humans into vampires into relationships. Season Six might be about vampires against humans, but, as hinted, it would be about their alliance this time around.

Eric’s shocking nude and burning scene (Warning: Contains frontal nudity):

Related:
‘True Blood’ Season Six Finale: Bill Saves Sookie + Eric Nude And Dead? [Read]

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