Stephen Moyer lands two movies to sink his teen into after 'True Blood'

Stephen Moyer is trying to use his "True Blood" fame to land bigger movie roles and, so far, it's working.

Credit: AP Photo

"True Blood" fans everywhere are getting excited at the prospect of a return to Bon Temps, Louisiana Sunday night for the continuing melodramatic adventures of Sookie, Bill, Jason, Eric, Sam and the rest of the gang. In the meantime, the show's stars are booking work as the series wraps up shooting season three.  One of the leads, Stephen Moyer, is already making noise with two new movie roles.

The first project is "The Double," a new thriller which will find Moyer playing a Russian spy in a conspiracy to kill a U.S. Senator.  Richard Gere and Topher Grace will play a retired CIA officer and a newbie FBI agent trying to stop the assassination in what will be the directorial debut for screenwriter Michael Brandt ("3:10 to Yuma").  Production on the film begins June 21 in incentive-friendly Detroit, Michigan.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the second flick is a big screen adaptation of the 1960s TV series "The Big Valley."  Moyer will star alongside Jessica Lange who plays the matriarch of a family of California Ranchers in the late 1800s (a role originated by Barbara Stanwyck).  The "True Blood" mainstay's role is Jarrod Barkley, a local attorney who stands up for families fighting to keep their land taken over by aggressive railroad companies.  "Valley" will start shooting in, um, Louisiana (another tax break state) this July.

Before "True Blood" season 4 debuts next summer, Moyer will appear in a different vampire-themed flick, "Priest."  That thriller opens nationwide on March 4.