Evan Rachel Wood dropped by 'Chelsea Lately' (Weeknights., 11PM ET on E!) and gave host Chelsea Handler the scoop on working with her 'Mildred Pierce' co-star, Kate Winslet. Particularly what it's like to shoot nude scenes with Winslet, who's famous for her willingness to do just about anything on screen.

Wood says compared to Winslet's on-screen experience -- apart from her numerous nude scenes she's also urinated, vomited and made out with Harvey Keitel -- her first full-frontal nude scene was small potatoes.

However, to make her feel comfortable, Winslet gave Wood a nice cup of tea during the nude scene, and then poured her a vodka tonic to celebrate afterward.

Mare Winningham, fresh off playing alongside fellow "brat packer" Kiefer Sutherland this season on '24,' has landed a plum role in HBO's upcoming adaptation of 'Mildred Pierce.'

The five-part miniseries, based on James M. Cain's classic novel, stars Kate Winslet as the titular character, a depression-era woman caught in a dead-end marriage who sets out to make something of herself. Guy Pearce and indie darling Evan Rachel Wood co-star as Winslet's lover and daughter, respectively.

Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen has landed a lead role in the ABC comedy 'Southern Discomfort.' Steenburgen will play the matriarch of the series, about a father whose adult children suddenly move back in with him. Steenburgen was last seen on the big screen in 'The Proposal' and 'Did You Hear About the Morgans?', and won 1980's Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 'Melvin and Howard.' [Hollywood Reporter]

More casting news after the jump.

(S02E12) "You may be the strongest, oldest vampire in my queendom, but if I wanted, I could own your fangs as earrings." - The Vampire Queen to Eric

We've come to the end of season two of True Blood, and I'm glad to see the Maryann storyline end (this is no spoiler; Alan Ball talked about it in my interview with him; and yes, Michelle Forbes is a fantastic actress). On the other hand, I'm sad to see True Blood ending and will wait impatiently for season three to start.

But this finale brought an end to a few storylines and set things up nicely for new ones in season three. After the jump, the episode review and your comments. Don't click through if you haven't watched the episode yet!

(S02E11) "I am gonna kick that bitch's evil ass out of my gran's house, and then you are gonna shoot her." Sookie to Lafayette, about Maryann

Well, they didn't make us wait, and picked up with True Blood right where we left off last week, with Bill walking in on the vampire queen, played deliciously by Evan Rachel Wood. And ... is the vampire queen a lesbian? There were certainly some sexual overtones with her sucking blood out of the girl's leg, and then later saying, "I haven't enjoyed sex with men since the Eisenhower administration." Then again, she did ask Bill if he wanted to have sex, and he politely declined. He also declined her suggestion that he feed on the girl.

"What gives you the right to say no to the femoral blood of a good woman?" she asks. "You know what your problem is, William? You're a snob. Tiny, tiny souls. Or penises. Or both."

Now here's some news I can sink my teeth into. Aside from my Buffy fixation, I spend my days and nights awaiting the return of Alan Ball's True Blood on June 16. I'm on a vampire roll.

The HBO show has just picked up Evan Rachel Wood, who will play a vampire queen in the second season. You know, she sort of has that vampire look to her. Or rather, the goth look I imagine a female vamp might have. I think she'll be great in the role.

Wood's character is the Queen of Louisiana, a 400-year-old vampire who rules over the undead residents of the Bayou State. She's a pivotal character in Books 2 and 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels on which the series is based (loosely, some would say).

Way back on September 30, 2005, the web site TV Shows on DVD announced that the third season of one of my favorite TV shows, Once and Again, would be available for sale in a 19-episode, multi-disc set, complete with actor commentaries and a blooper video. They even released an image of the DVD box.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to the DVD shelves. Disney pulled the plug and indefinitely suspended the release of the award-winning show's (premature) final season.