Last week, True Blood fans and characters witnessed the reach of the Authority, as its influenced stretched into Fangtasia and knocked Pam from her maker’s throne.

With just three episodes remaining in Season 5, I just got off the phone with Kristin Bauer, having asked her about that scene as well as some of her favorite moments of the summer and what we can expect from her headed toward the finale.

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The scene where Eric released Pam as his progeny had fans reaching for tissues. I read once you said Alexander Skarsgard likes to make fun of you all the time for crying on set. What was that scene like to shoot and did Alex poke some fun at you to lighten the mood?
Anyone who has known me for more than an hour quickly realizes that I just cry a lot. Alex one time asked me what is it that triggers these emotions, like a particular scene. Because he was trying to figure it out and I started crying before I could even tell him. It’s the triumph of the human spirit I finally was able to tell him.

At the table read I cried, at rehearsal I cried. Normally you save it up for when the camera is on your face but since I had been crying so much my nose was already all red and runny, but Alex assured me they would make my snot match the color of my blood tears. It was such a sad scene, though. Usually you need to keep a thought of your dead dog in your mind during those scenes, but this scene was just seamless. I’ve done a lot of guest stars and and a lot of acting and sometimes you just have to make the words work, but not on this show. The characters have evolved over five seasons in such a slow build, it’s been really great.

Has the news about Alan Ball leaving after this season affected things on set?
There hasn’t been a ton of gossip about it, but we do discuss it. In fact, at the last table read, I teared up and had to ask him to sign my script. There’s an enormous amount of preparation that goes on before we as actors are called in to hit our mark and say our lines so it’s hard to know what will be different if anything. I feel that we have got a really solid, amazing group of producers and writers who have been here for years and really care. I don’t think he would leave the show if he didn’t think it was going to be left in good hands.

One of my favorite aspects of this season has been the relationship between Pam and Tara. How has that new development been to explore for you and Rutina Wesley.
It has been super fun for both of us. I didn’t really know Rutina and she has been so great to work with because she really cares about the scene and the relationship and I think she is having so much fun being a super. For example, she was really excited about Comic-Con and I thought that seemed funny because she has been multiple times before but she said ‘yeah, but I’ve never been as a vampire!”

It was so, so cute. Comic-Con is such a great opportunity to put faces with our fans instead of just Googling our ratings. We are all just really grateful to all the fans out there. I think we probably have the best fans of any show.

I couldn’t help but notice the proud look on your face a couple of episodes ago after Tara told off her former classmate at Fangtasia.
I’m so glad that came through in the scene. Rutina and I really work to find those tiny little moments of connection.  I am looking for this motherly quality in the most untraditional manner and the respect and care for her is really growing based on the moments when Pam sees how similar she and Tara are. They both come from a rough background, as we got to see in Pam’s flashbacks this season.

I’m glad you brought that up. The revelation of how Eric and Pam met was one of the best moments of the season. Were you excited to delve deeper into Pam’s origins?
Alex and I waited years for that. As an actor I had so many questions as to how to play this character. I was always trying to make up this backstory in my head.

This past week we were forced to watch as Pam was thrown off her own stage at Fangtasia. What can you tell us about the aftermath of that scene and what it means for Pam going forward?
I’ve been asking all year if Pam was going to get sucked into this Authority thing and how would it affect her world. As we now have seen she and Tara are now being pulled in and it wreaks havoc on their lives. The new sheriff, Elijah, announced to her that Eric was history but she had no idea just what that meant for her maker.

The stakes are just getting higher and higher. Pam is a tough girl but doesn’t want to go forward without Eric so she takes action. Pam’s whole existence, her entire world, is in jeopardy but the bond between her and Tara will be strengthened in the remaining episodes as things get really intense.

Bauer is also set to produce a documentary about Africa and endangered species that reside there. I asked her about the cause and the ways in which she's hoping to illuminate it...

While filming this last season of the show, I’ve watched rhinos go extinct in the wild with the only remaining specimens having to be kept in sanctuaries under armed guard for their protection and I’m seeing the same atrocities happen to elephants at alarming rates. I just wanted to see what I could do to help these people in Kenya who are trying to prevent this. I had to make a real choice during this hiatus from True Blood: do I want to work on more acting and stay around home working on my gardening and playing with my fur-babies?

Or do I want to try to make a difference and know that if nothing else, I tried?

So I tried to make it really fun for everyone to try and help save a species, so on the Kickstarter.com site I continue to put up a number of True Blood giveaways. Everything from a Pam tee shirt to a dinner for a fan with me and Joe Manganiello.

Visit Kristin's Kickstarter site to learn more about her Out For Africa documentary - and, of course, tune in for new episode of True Blood this Sunday night on HBO.