Outrageous Wolf reveals his inner beast

There must be a full moon because Wolf has transformed into a werewolf.

Telly stud Grant Bowler has joined Kiwi Oscar-winner Anna Paquin on the cast of hit TV vampire show True Blood. He will play Coot, the menacing ringleader of a biker gang, and werewolf.

"It's the chance to work for an Oscar-winner [series creator Allan Ball] and alongside an Oscar-winner [Paquin]," delighted Bowler said of his new role.

Critically acclaimed True Blood centres on a small fictional Louisiana town and telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin) who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton, played by Paquin's real-life love Stephen Moyer. Bowler has signed up for the third season of the show.

The 41-year-old was born in Auckland but moved to Australia as a child. He graduated from Melbourne drama school Nida in 1991 and got his first big break on Australian cop show Blue Heelers, where he played Constable Wayne Patterson between 1994 and 1996.

He's also known across the Tasman as the narrator reality on TV show Border Security: Australia's Front Line.

Bowler shot to fame on Kiwi TV playing Wolfgang West in Outrageous Fortune. Now his career is taking off in the US, in hit shows Lost as freighter skipper Captain Gault and as Ugly Betty love-rat Connor Owens.

The show has also signed up-and-coming actor Theo Alexander who will play Talbot, an "intensely beautiful" vampire, and boyfriend of Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare), the vampire king of Mississippi.

Talbot has a cutting sense of humour and loves to cook despite vampires' inherent lack of culinary talent. The third season of True Blood, on Prime in New Zealand, is expected to premiere in the US next year.

- © Fairfax NZ News