Maybe it’s my imagination, but True Blood seems to have a casting bonanza every year. We’ve already told you about five new placements in our favorite fictional vampire-ridden Louisiana town, but now we have two more. A slightly bigger surprise is that there will be yet another new showrunner; more about that below.

TVLine is reporting that Karolina Wydra, whom you may recognize if you watched House as his married-for-the-green-card wife, will be joining the gang as “badass vampire” Violet, whose strength, smoldering sex appeal, and potentially dangerous attitude are likened to stalwarts Eric Northman and Bill Compton.

TV Line has also reported that Luke Grimes has been brought on board to play James, a vamp who was “made” in the sensitive 1970s and is deeper and more spiritual that any other vampire we’ve yet met on the show. Oooo, dark and brooding, okay! In case you’re wondering why he looks familiar, you have now outed yourself as a Brothers and Sisters viewer. Don’t worry, we don’t judge. If you prefer, however, you could say that he just reminds you of a cross between Johnny Depp and Evan Peters,  because he kinda does.

You may recall that the showrunner for True Blood Seasons 1-5 was Alan Ball, a mighty presence on the show. We reported to you last February that he was stepping down to work on other projects, one of which turned out to be Cinemax’s Banshee. We also told you when his position was filled by another from the True Blood writer’s room, Mark Hudis.

Now THR has reported that Hudis has stepped down in the midst of production, to be replaced by a with-them-since-Season-1 writer, Brian Buckner. We’re not going to speculate on the circumstances, we just wanted you to be able to recognize the name when it comes up during your True Blood viewing parties. We look out for you.

We still have no official word on the premiere date for Season 6, but I’m sticking to my prediction of June 9 at 9/8c. For now.

True Blood Season 6, starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Alexander Skarsgård, Chris Bauer, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Nelsan Ellis, Todd Lowe, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston, Deborah Ann Woll, Rutger Hauer, Rob Kazinsky, Arliss Howard, Amelia Rose Blaire, Jurnee Smollett, premieres this summer on HBO.