William Sanderson: Soft-Spoken Sheriff of True Blood's Bon Temps

William Sanderson is like the bell pepper in the gumbo. He may not be the crawfish or the crab or the andouille, but the mix is made all the better for his presence; he's the familiar face from shows like "Lonesome Dove" and "Blade Runner" -- not to mention his unforgettable role on Newhart and his trademarked line, "Hi. I'm Larry. This is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Daryl."

These days Sanderson is enforcing the law in the HBO hit series, True Blood. As Sheriff Bud Dearborne, he's a plainspoken, grounded southern gentleman -- much like Sanderson himself. The catch: in the town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, the latest minority group is starting to make itself known: vampires.

True Blood is set, by author Charlaine Harris, in the deep south, and at it's core is a tale of intolerance. There's a new minority in the world, that being the vampires, and on one level the story is about violent discrimination against them. Speaking as an Arkansas boy to a Tennessee gentleman, why do those kind of stories have to be set in the south? Haven't we grown past that?

That is a great question. The author lives in Arkansas, and she went to college in my home town. I think for years show business has depicted southerners as stupid or provincial -- and I guess I've benefited a little, but... it's a tough question: "Why?" I don't think the south has any monopoly on narrow-mindedness. Maybe we're easy targets. I've realized I'm not that smart, but I did get a law degree, and I think I have average intelligence for an actor -- but it raises questions about it to even pursue a career as an actor, though, so...

Throughout the first season of True Blood, your character -- though we didn't see an awful lot of him -- seemed to evolve from a character a bit like your "Larry" character in Newhart, to someone who's a lot more wise and competent than we were first led to believe. Was there talk of developing the character as the season wore on?

I'm grateful for the time I got on it, and not to be arrogant but I'm keeping the money. I think the second season will even be better with some new vampires and more craziness, if you will.

But, no, that was all on a need to know basis, and I'm still learning. When I get to work with Alan Ball, the creator, I really try to be a sponge, but, for me it was a thrill to play what was -- at least ostensibly -- a normal person: I'm clean shaven and I don't wear dirty clothes. But if you read the books, there's not a lot on Sheriff Dearborne, but people have told me he's a voice of reason (and that's another irony with me). But it's fun to play a normal person.

And this is on a series filled with vampires and, as we later learn, other sorts of beasts, and Bud Dearborne seems to somehow ground the whole series in reality, while everyone else is interacting with the supernatural. Is this your first role in this kind of show?

No... but it's the first one anybody will see without staying up 'til 4am, I guess. The supernatural [element], it's set in the near future, if you can imagine, where the vampires have "come out of the coffin." But, I can't recall -- I've done a number of sci-fi projects, and one was a great thrill and still a cult film. But I've never done anything like this. I look at it as providential, or a gift from God. I'm a greybeard, and lucky to get this job.

I guess you'd call me working on Bud Dearborne, his character name's "Insecurity" because that's the way I walk around set. It's a real task. He's a guy that carries a .357 Magnum, but he loves his grandchildren, and -- you don't see this in stories, these are things told to me -- taught Sunday School to the kid Jason who shows his rear end a lot. Ryan Kwanten from Australia, he's a really great young actor -- as of course are Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and all of them.

It's kind of nice not to see yourself as Charles Jesus Manson or a complete buffoon. Because, when stage ends, I used to not know -- I'd carry home those angry thoughts and so forth.

Sheriff Dearborne seems to have his hands full riding herd on Detective Bellefleur.

Oh, he's played by Chris Bauer. He went to Yale Drama School, been on Broadway, got some great movie and TV credits. He's a thrill. His part really grows this season, and he's nothing like the character he plays. He was an all-state football player, he's a dad. He's fun to work with.

But I -- You know how far that is, me telling someone to straighten up? Usually I'm on the other side of the bars. Well, in my characters.

Bon Temps is one of those kinds of small towns in Louisiana where everybody knows everybody else's business, and everybody else's business seems to be about getting busy with everyone else in town.

It's almost incestuous, isn't it?

Yeah. And yours and Chris Bauer's characters are the only one's seeming to be missing out on all that action, so... what's keeping you?

Well, I think Bud... He's just older, and he's probably made the mistakes a lot of those young people made himself. When Alan whispered in my ear on the pilot and said, "This guy taught Ryan Sunday School when he was a kid," so I didn't want to see him get in trouble.

I don't want to give the story away, but Chris Bauer character really goes through a lot of changes, and I hope I'm there to see them, or chastise him, either way.

You have a history of playing the cowboy and the civil war soldier -- all of which seems to lay a nice foundation for the character of Sheriff Dearborne. There's a lot of those characters in him. What was the audition process like for you getting that role?

Compared to some, pretty easy. The casting director had known me from Deadwood, where I was lucky enough to be in every episode. So she brought me in, and I thought, "Well, maybe I've got a shot." She kept calling the agent, saying, "This is the only time that we can see him. Is he coming?" and that doesn't happen that often.

So I got in there, and Alan asked me to read the scene. Then he tweaked it a little bit and I read it again, and before we knew it, I had the part. A lot of times they'll make you go to the network, which I've done years ago, and either got it or didn't get it. Hopefully some of my previous work helped, but when I walked out, I said something about prejudice or something [in the characters]. I said, "It doesn't matter, because they don't see themselves that way," and he said, "Right, right."

The interview was painless, I got it, they paid me fairly well, and when somebody says I don't do much, I just say, "I'm keepin' the money." And I don't mean that in a conceited way. I just look at all the actors out of work, the tragedy in the world -- racism, poverty, cancer, war -- and thank God that I have a job.

Are all the episodes of the second season of True Blood in the can?

No, they're not. In fact some of them still need to be finished in Louisiana. It's not uncommon to be shooting two at once, or in portions. We've got a couple more to shoot, at least, and some fine tuning. They'll be finished shooting in less than two months.

Do you shoot on location a lot?

All over L.A. and Longbeach (for the Fangtasia bar), out in Chatsworth. And out in Louisiana. They try to get that spanish moss and the locale -- the people are so warm and friendly down there... they probably have another side, don't you think? (laughs)

With what's already been filmed, are there any hints you can drop concerning Sheriff Dearborne's future and how busy he's going to be?

Well, I'll say he's not busy enough. It all takes place over just a matter of days, so I'm wondering, when's he going to solve something? But HBO says there's romance, suspense, mystery, humor... I can say there's sex and violence. But Bud has his hands full with Andy (Bellefleur), his own detective, if that's enough of a clue.

I don't know what else I can say. There's great music -- I happen to like Bob Dylan, and he just did a new song for the show.

When I researched your resume to get some background on your career, I was surprised at the number of things you were in, and that I knew you were in, once reminded. You're like the Burt Mustin of the modern era.

I just did a documentary for Starz that comes out the ninth of June, called "The Face is Familiar." It's related to what you said. Stephen Tobolowsky, Danny Trejo, Joan Cusack -- a lot of us that won't win any beauty contests. But Sam Jackson's in it! And I was thinking, "Why is Sam Jackson in this? He's a star!" And they were like, "Well, he started as a character actor."

Any other projects lined up we should know about?

That's it. I'm just going on a handshake tour over in Hawaii and Guam, Korea and Okinawa, Japan...

That sounds like a USO tour.

It's not the USO, but they're very similar. I'm a vet, and my brother was a vet (and a much better soldier than I was).