Sam Trammell: I don't believe in the supernatural

True Blood star Sam Trammell has confessed he doesn't believe in the supernatural.

But the 38-year-old actor, who plays bar owner Sam Merlotte in the hit vampire drama, admits it's fun to be a part of the spooky show.

Sam said: "Well, I'm not really one who believes in ghosts, I mean, I don't have a whole lot of supernatural bent in me, no, but it's fun to be part of it."

He went on: "I love the fantasy and the imagination and the world of it, I mean I love it. It's so much more fun than just doing a by-the-book series and playing a lawyer or doctor or fireman."

Sam may have a supernatural element to his character - who sporadically turns into a dog - but the actor prefers to focus on the other sides to him.

"I really like that he is damaged person, I came from a very normal American family which is great.I don't want to put it down, but Sam's parents abandoned him when he was 14 because he turned into a dog and that is a real scar on him.

"It's interesting to play someone like that, who has had to fend for themselves on streets and who didn't have parents and who knows how he found the money to buy the bar? That to me is the most interesting thing about Sam. More than the fact that he's a shapeshifter, just the fact that he had a difficult childhood."

The second series of True Blood is on FX on Fridays at 10pm.