Stephen John Emery (born 11 October 1969), known professionally as Stephen Moyer, is an English actor and film director. He is best known for portraying the vampire Bill Compton in the HBO television series True Blood.
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Early life and career
Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex and attended St Martin's, a comprehensive school in Hutton, Essex. He graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
After graduating from LAMDA, Moyer worked in theatre for five years. He worked with the National Theatre Wales, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Oxford Stage Company, work which included going on tour and playing Romeo in productions of Romeo and Juliet. He then made the transition to television and film.
In 1997, Moyer made his big-screen debut landing the lead role in the film adaptation of the long-running comic strip Prince Valiant by Hal Foster, working alongside Ron Perlman and Katherine Heigl.
In 2004 he co-starred with Rashida Jones in the transatlantic romantic drama series NY-LON.
In 2007 he was cast opposite Anna Paquin, who played his character's love interest, Sookie Stackhouse, in the HBO series True Blood. The show ran for 7 seasons.
He became Brentwood Theatre's first patron in October 2007, especially supporting their "Reaching Out, Building On" campaign to help fund the 2008 completion of backstage facilities that was supported by True Blood fans from across the world.
Personal life
Moyer has two children from his relationship (1999-2006) with journalist Lorien Haynes — a son named Billy, born in 2000 and a daughter, Lilac, born in 2002.
In 2007, during the filming of the True Blood pilot, Moyer and Anna Paquin began dating. They became engaged in 2009 and married on 21 August 2010 at a private residence in Malibu, California.
Moyer and Paquin have fraternal twins Charlie and Poppy, who were born in 2012.
Moyer has dealt with alcoholism in the past. In 2015, he said that he had been sober for 14 years and that the addiction stemmed from his roots in British theatre, emulating the public images of personal heroes like Peter O'Toole. At a dinner at the CLARE Foundation, a southern California non-profit facility, he stated, "There's this rush that happens from doing our job, this whirring buzz, and you want to continue that buzz." He works with CLARE Foundation to help others with rehabilitation and sobriety.
Moyer is a supporter of West Ham United F.C.
