Anna Paquin enjoying ‘adult’ roles after childhood as an actor

It seems Anna Paquin may given husband and fellow “True Blood” star Stephen Moyer a little, er, advice on who to cast in the lead role of his new film “A Bit of Light.”

“If you had cast anyone else, we’d have issues,” she shouted from the back of the theater during his speech before a screening at the Crosby Street Hotel this week. “If there was a really good role for a 40-year-old and then you didn’t cast me. . . Just saying, babe.”

Meanwhile, Paquin, a child actor who won an Oscar at age 11 for her role in “The Piano,” told Page Six she looks for “complex and unpretty” roles as an adult woman after years of playing a kid or teen.

Paquin won an Oscar at age 11 for starring in “The Piano.” ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection At 14, she starred in “Fly Away Home.” ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I have been working since I was so little,” she said. “I have always been waiting to age into the actual grown-up jobs.”

“You generally cast children to look a bit younger than they are so you can get the work hours [legally],” she said, “So if you were someone who looked 18 at 25 then you are still doing parts that are centered around people that age.”

Paquin stars in “A Little Bit of Light,” directed by her husband and former “True Blood” co-star Stephen Moyer. AFF-USA/Shutterstock

She told us that younger roles have given her some “amazing opportunities.” “But,” she said, “there comes a point where you say, ‘How many first kisses can someone be excited to do on screen?'”

“I’m not a 20-something year old with 20-something year old issues,” she said. “I am a woman in my 40s with a lot of life under my belt thanks to starting quite young.”

“True Blood” ran for seven seasons from 2008 to 2014. Paquin also starred in Amazon Orime’s “Flack.” ©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I find complex human relationships and family dynamics to be fascinating frankly,” she said, “And that is where I am up to in my life. I want to explore that.” 

Paquin and Moyers, who directed the movie, wed in 2010.