Michael Steger will shed his romantic
90210 image to play a gay prostitute on HBO's vampire drama
True Blood.
According to Entertainment Tonight,
Steger will guest star on the show's August 12 episode.
Steger, who plays romantic Navid
Shirazi on the CW's nighttime teenage drama 90210, will take
on the role of Tony, a gay prostitute who gets picked up by one of
the show's regular gay characters, King of Mississippi Russell
Edgington (played by openly gay Denis O'Hare). Edgington is drawn to
Tony because he reminds him of his partner of 700 years, Talbot
(played by Theo Alexander).
Steger might return to the role on a
recurring basis in season 4.
90210 producers say one
man will come out gay this fall. Steger's character of Navid is
among the men in the running. Also being considered are Trevor
Donovan's all-American character Teddy and bad boy Liam, played by
Matt Lanter.
True Blood is the creation of
openly gay director-writer Alan Ball. Ball is best known for penning
the 2000 Oscar-winning movie American Beauty and more recently
HBO's gay-inclusive Six Feet Under.