“To learn how to bite somebody, there should be a school,” she tells PEOPLE of using the sharp fangs the vampires wear. “We should have teeth school.”
Even talking with the chompers is tough. “I find Alex or Stephen Moyer, who plays Sookie Stackhouse's vampire beau Bill Compton, and say, ‘How the heck do I do this? ... How do I not lisp?”
Moyer’s advice: “He said, you just have to take the pain,’ ” says Bauer with a laugh. “They’re so big and sharp that they go into your bottom lip. He was exactly right. If you try to avoid and find a place to make these comfortable in your mouth, it’ll never happen. You look like evil Bugs Bunny.”
So, is she worried she might actually draw blood when she nips a costar? “No, my fear is I don’t want to drool on this poor person!”
As for the show, Bauer’s character takes on the role of mentor to new vampire Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll). “It’s Pam’s view point that Jessica has a really crappy maker,” Bauer reveals. “She thinks Bill is a horrible maker because he doesn’t teach her how to be a real vampire. He’s teaching her how to be a PG vampire.”
But that will never do for Pam, who is known as a sarcastic – and deadly – sidekick to Eric. “Pam had to give Jessica the lowdown on what it’s like to be a real, you know, basically serial killer,” says Bauer. “She gives her some advice on the nitty-gritty of having be your food.”
Asked what else she can reveal about her plotline in season 3 of True Blood, which premieres Sunday (9 p.m. EST) on HBO, Bauer is coy. “I’ve tried to figure out what I can say," she says, "and the only thing I’ve come up with is we get to see Pam’s PJs."
In fact, Bauer finally gets to partake in some of True Blood's famously steamy sex scenes – she just won’t say who her partner (or partners) will be. “She does get some action,” Bauer says of her character. “There’s some hot action!” –Marla Lehner
