Interview: Mehcad Brooks Has a Thing For Rachel Maddow. Seriously. He's Her #1 Fan.

Mehcad Brooks as Terrence "TK" King

A character named "Eggs" hardly seems the sort to turn an actor into an overnight sex symbol. But that's exactly what happened to Mehcad Brooks when he landed the role of Benedict "Eggs" Talley on the second season of HBO's True Blood.

To be fair to Brooks, he wasn't exactly unknown before True Blood, either as an actor or a sex symbol. After all, he'd already been a fashion model, including working as an underwear model for Calvin Klein. Fans of Desperate Housewives knew him for a season as Matthew Applewhite, and he also had a role on the series The Game, as well as a part in the movie The Valley of Elah.

But few would disagree that it was the role of poor Eggs, caught up in the supernatural clutches of Maryann Forrester on True Blood, that put Brooks on a whole other level. The actor was only supposed to be on the show for three episodes, but TB creator Alan Ball knew a good thing when he saw it, and signed up Brooks for thirteen episodes.

Brooks as Eggs on True Blood

If you feel bad for Brooks over the untimely end met by Eggs, don't. The actor was actually pleased with how that turned out. And don't feel bad for him over the abrupt cancellation of his next series, My Generation, which only aired two episodes. He doesn't feel bad for himself because, well, he's just that kind of guy and he thinks all of this has led him to exactly where he should be right now -- playing NFL star Terrence "T.K." King on USA Network's Necessary Roughness.

AfterElton.com caught up with with Brooks in the bar at the Beverly Hills Hilton where the smartly dressed actor opened up about all sorts of topics including the ups and downs of Hollywood, being a sex symbol, as well as his obsession with ... Rachel Maddow, which he was discussing before I'd even turned on my recorder. Rachel, if you're reading this by chance, Brooks would really like to come on your show to talk politics.

AfterElton: So I take it you’re a Rachel Maddow fan?
Mehcad Brooks: I’m a huge fan. There’s not a bigger Rachel Maddow fan. I’m a Maddowphile. [laughs]I’m a definite Maddowphile.

AE: Why is that?
MB: Cause I think that she is probably the most assertive, politically motivated and accurate voice of my generation.

AE: Wow. High praise.
MB: By far. She’s a national treasure. I think that we need honest voices like that and we need journalism like that. My mother’s a journalist, so I have a high respect for the craft. So I applaud when there are so many opinionated men on television... because there are 24-hour news sites... are really just made for news events. They aren’t made for politics. Somebody’s kid fell in the well. Who cares? I mean, of course we care but really who cares. Really we’re supposed to care but you know what I mean, right?. [laughs]

She really digs in there and she does real investigating reporting, even if it’s not going to get her ratings. And I think we have to support and foster that sort of environment and I really respect her.

AE: Let's start with True Blood. At what point did you realize Eggs was becoming a big deal and was such a fan favorite?
MB: You know what? [laughs] I get embarrassed about that stuff pretty easily, so I have to get over it sooner or later. But the thing is literally women sometimes chase me down the street. [laughs] And little frenzies of 14-year old girls going “Oh my god!” I’m looking behind me like “What’s going on? Is Justin Timberlake here?”

That’s been an interesting thing to watch, but ... having had to struggle for so long and worked so long for what I have achieved, it’s not that I buy that. I don’t buy that. That’s not me. Its Eggs. I really appreciate that I touched you, and I understand that you love what I did, but you might hate my next role. [laughs] You might think I suck the next time, so that’s not for me to own.

AE: When girls started chasing you down the street was that when you were like…
MB: I knew there was a shift. Definitely a shift when women came up to me and said “Please bite me.”

AE: [laughs]
MB: And after I bit them…

AE: [laughs]
MB: We had coffee…

AE: Did you know when you signed up what Egg’s arc was going to be?
MB: I went in and auditioned for Alan Ball for a guest-starring role for a three-episode arc. I had just finished a film called Fencewalker and it was my first lead role, and I really wanted to continue in films. [But] Alan Ball, huge fan. HBO, huge fan.

I went in and there was a guitar scene that they had, so I brought in one of my guitars, my favorite one, a blue one that was actually the one on air and her name is Simone. At the time, I had two guitars. One was Nina and one was Simone. [laughs]

I brought Simone in and I played a little guitar and did the scene, and we kind of went from there. As soon as I got to my car,, I got a phone call from my agent and my manager, which was strange, and they said “They’d like you to join the cast.” I was like “Oh. so I got the role.” And they were like “No, no, no. They said forget the three episode thing. They want you to join the cast” and it was great.

I had a really creative call with Alan Ball and we talked and he said, “Listen, this guy doesn’t really exist much in the books so we got to just play it by ear and go from there. It will probably be a one-season commitment. It’s going to be a lot of fun and something you can really sink your teeth into. Excuse the pun.

AE: Now what did you think when you got that script when it revealed Eggs’ fate?
MB: I knew a few episodes before, so I knew like a month before. The original creative call with Alan, he said it was “most likely a one season character.” That was fine with me because if I stayed on True Blood, yes, it’s a huge success but then I’m just kind of somebody’s boyfriend.

AE: Fair enough.
MB: I didn’t argue. I didn’t want to plead my case to Alan. I was like you know what “Thank you for the opportunity I appreciate it. I came here for three episodes and I did 13. That’s fantastic.

AE: It was a great stepping-stone for you.
MB: Yeah, that’s a victory. A huge victory and from that I did a few shows and now I have [Necessary Roughness] and I’m not somebody’s boyfriend. I’m not the eye candy.