Stephen Moyer

Stephen John Emery, known professionally as Stephen Moyer, is an English actor and film director. Born on 11 October 1969, he is best known for portraying the vampire Bill Compton in the HBO television series True Blood.

Raised in Brentwood, Essex, Moyer attended St Martin's, a comprehensive school located in Hutton, Essex. He later trained in acting and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Following his graduation from LAMDA, Moyer worked in theatre for five years. During this period, he performed with the National Theatre Wales, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Oxford Stage Company. His stage work included touring and playing the role of Romeo in productions of Romeo and Juliet, before he made his transition into television and film.

Moyer made his feature film debut in 1997 after securing the lead role in the film adaptation of Hal Foster's comic strip Prince Valiant, performing alongside Ron Perlman and Katherine Heigl. In 2004, he co-starred with Rashida Jones in the transatlantic romantic drama series NY-LON.

In 2007, Moyer was cast in the HBO series True Blood opposite Anna Paquin, who played his character's love interest, Sookie Stackhouse. The show ran for seven seasons. Outside of acting, Moyer became the first patron of the Brentwood Theatre in October 2007. In this role, he supported their Reaching Out, Building On campaign to help fund the completion of backstage facilities in 2008, an effort that received backing from True Blood fans globally.

In his personal life, Moyer has two children, a son born in 2000 and a daughter born in 2002, from a relationship with journalist Lorien Haynes that lasted from 1999 to 2006. He began dating Anna Paquin in 2007 while filming the True Blood pilot. The couple became engaged in 2009 and married on 21 August 2010 in Malibu, California. They have fraternal twins, a son and a daughter, born in 2012.

Moyer has spoken publicly about his past experience with alcoholism, stating in 2015 that he had been sober for 14 years. He works with the CLARE Foundation, a southern California non-profit facility, to assist others with sobriety and rehabilitation. Additionally, he is a supporter of West Ham United F.C.