Casting Couch: Stephen Moyer to Sample "True Blood" for HBO

True Blood has found its leading man in British actor Stephen Moyer.

Moyer will play the 166-year-old enigmatic vampire Bill Compton, opposite Anna Paquin, who plays telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the drama created by Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, who wrote and will direct the HBO pilot, which is based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire book series.

Moyer, of course, was cast earlier this season in FOX drama pilot NSA Innocent, which has since be refashioned as Company Man. Moyer's role was recently rewritten and the part recast, with Jason Behr now starring.

It was only a matter of time before some other production snatched Moyer (NY-LON) in a season where British actors seem to be all the rage. The casting isn't Moyer's first US casting gig; he recently starred in USA's limited series The Starter Wife.

Also cast: Brook Kerr (Passions), who will play Sookie's best friend, the outspoken Tara Thornton.