How Does Sam Trammell Stack Up to His 'True Blood' Co-Stars (Shirtless)? [Exclusive Video]

How Does Sam Trammell Stack Up to His 'True Blood' Co-Stars (Shirtless)? [Exclusive Video]

If you want to be a vampire these days, you'd better be hot! And that can be a lot of pressure for the stars of HBO's nude-fest "True Blood." Sam Trammell, who plays shape shifter Sam Merlotte, stopped by Yahoo!'s "The Yo Show" to chat about staying in shape for the popular drama and the amazing new fake blood being used on set.

[Photos: Vampires Gone Mad! 'True Blood' Cast Goofs Around On Set During Live Premiere]

According to Trammell, the biggest obstacle about those racy scenes is not having the guts to strip down. Instead, it's getting his bod lean and mean enough: "The toughest thing about getting naked is just trying to lose enough weight to where you just look passable. I mean, to look passable without your shirt on on TV, you have to really be thin." And being compared to co-stars Joe Manganiello and Ryan Kwanten -- who Trammell calls "supermen" -- isn't helping.

"The bar is so high on our show. When I first started out ... I was just like, 'Yeah, I'm a bartender. I'm just a dude. I'm not gonna go work out every day. Guys don't do that, you know?' And then I saw them, and I was like, 'Oh, I better go exercise a lot,'" Trammel said. He's even chatted about it with co-star Stephen Moyer, and they agree that they're just trying to keep up with hardbodies Manganiello and Kwanten. (If it's any consolation, Sam, you and Moyer both look hunky to us!)

[Related: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer's Babies' Names Revealed!]

"True Blood" fun fact: The faux blood used on the series has changed many times over the years, dished Trammell, who started the season covered in the stuff. "There's this new blood called Fleet St. that's out  — it's a great new blood for all you people out there who want to have fake blood — and it's pretty incredible. You can put it all over your face, and when it dries, it doesn't feel sticky. You forget you have it on." Thanks for the tip! We'll keep that in mind for Halloween.

"True Blood" Season 6 airs Sundays at 9 PM on HBO.