'True Blood' fills Alcide role

By Nelllie Andreeva

And the most buzzed-about new role on HBO's "True Blood" nextseason goes to ... Joe Manganiello.

The "How You Met Your Mother" hunk has landed the recurring part ofAlcide, a hot and sexy alpha male werewolf.

Meanwhile, it's been a parents casting week on Alan Ball's vampiredrama.

The latest to join the series for an arc is Cooper Huckabee whowill play Sam's (Sam Trammell) dad Joe Lee Mickens.

This follows the Monday castings of J. Smith-Cameron as Sam'sestranged mother Melinda Mickens and of Alfre Woodard asLafayette's (Nelsan Ellis) mom.

Manganiello also had a memorable arc on "One Tree Hill" playing abartender dating Brooke (Sophia Bush).

The actor, whose credits also include a recurring role on "ER" anda part in "Spider-Man 3," is repped by BRS.

Major new cast additions to "True Blood" for season three includeDenis O'Hare, Marshall Allman, Theo Alexander and GrantBowler.

There has been a slew of bit part casting on the show over the pastweek, including actors Shannon Wells, C.C. Sheffield ("The and theBeautiful") and Natasha Alam.