True Blood Stars Rally Behind "Sexiest Thing Ever"

Joe Manganiello and Mariana Kloveno praise Alan Ball’s ironic creation

By Ted Casablanca, Taryn Ryder Aug 31, 2010 4:26 PMTags
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Vampires, fairies, and werewolves stick together.

Amid the controversy surrounding the most recent Rolling Stone—with a naked and bloody Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Alexander Skarsgård—stars of the hit show are defending the cover and Alan Ball's fab creation.

"It's funny and smart," dished True Blood's delectable werewolf Joe Manganiello, but he doesn't stop there:

"If it was simply gratuitous, it would be a different story. But the writing is very clever and Alan [Ball] is a creative genius."

Obviously, we agree with Joe who, sorry ladies, was accompanied by his adorable girlfriend during all the Emmy bashes this weekend. Thank horny heavens the muscled dude (who we can only hope has his own R.S. nudie cover in the future) is defending the show against its conservative detractors.

Even if the controversial cover was a tad gratuitous, Mariana Klaveno, who played (or perhaps plays, but more on that later) Lorena thinks there's nothing wrong with that.

"I personally thought it was the sexiest thing ever," Klaveno told us at the Emmy Nominee party. "Three people that look as gorgeous as they do? I say splash them and photograph them. It's ironic, it's funny, and it's right with the tone of the show. They're all fantastically good looking, I say why not?"

Take the words right out of our mouth why dontchya, babe? But just as Joe did, Mariana thinks Alan Ball is doing his job. 

"I think HBO and Alan Ball always try to push the envelope to keep people guessing and to not ever play it safe," the True Blood star dished. "That's something I actually love about HBO and Alan Ball. He really likes to pick up the rock and see what's underneath it—whether it's pretty or not, or shocking or not. And I think that's important in art, to show some of the surprising or controversial things."

Ball's in your court T.B. haters.

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PHOTOS: 2010 Emmys: Fashion Police