By Wonderwall.com Editors
9:34am PDT, Jun 18, 2009
Vampire mania is all the rage, but our heart belongs to "True Blood"'s sexy human, Sookie Stackhouse. Played by Anna Paquin, Sookie is a far cry from the 11-year-old who won an Oscar for her role in "The Piano."
More photos from Anna Paquins SELF photo shoot by Pamela Hanson
In the upcoming July issue of SELF, a bikini-clad Paquin appears in a fun beach shoot, showing us she's definitely all grown up. Click through to see more and pick up your copy on newsstands June 23.
On her sexy turn as Sookie Stackhouse in HBO's "True Blood":
"After I was cast and realized my body would be exposed all the time, I went out and bought some shorts — I owned none! — to help me get used to it."
Related: Get Anna's adorable summer look
On shedding her self-consciousness:
"You stop thinking, 'Do I look weird at this angle?' I've learned to feel very comfortable wearing very little. It's liberating!"
On her favorite footwear:
"I love being barefoot. I'm not going to lie — I love my high heels, too, so I'm completely bipolar in that regard, but growing up in New Zealand, I was always very much a barefoot kid."
