The real reason why Luke Grimes left 'True Blood' is quite bizarre: "You quit your job because…really?"
Over the years, there has been a lot of debate about Luke Grimes' departure from 'True Blood'. Grimes, who essayed the character of a vampire, James Kent, in the HBO horror drama abruptly left the show in December 2014. According to Buzzfeed, Grimes' creative differences with the show's makers caused him to quit. For the seventh and final season of 'True Blood', the storyline of Grimes' character James involved a budding romance with a gay vampire Lafayette (played by Nelsan Ellis). As per reports, Grimes didn't want to play a gay character and that ultimately contributed to his decision to leave the show.
Grimes allegedly had certain objections with the first few scripts. Later when he learned that his character would get romantically involved with Lafayette, Grimes stressed that he would only play the character if Lafayette was attracted to him, not if the attraction was mutual. He wasn't comfortable when it came to doing same-sex kissing or love scenes. The writers, however, weren't into changing the script.
Grimes' publicist, Craig Schneider later addressed his exit from the show via an email to Buzzfeed. It read, "Luke always had an out clause as a means of pursuing other opportunities which arose in the form of features beginning with 'The Shangri-La Suite' followed by 'Fifty Shades of Grey', and most recently, Clint Eastwood's 'American Sniper' with Bradley Cooper...It had nothing to do with storylines, which he had not been privy to at the time of that posting."
During an interview with Vulture magazine, Ellis also talked about Grimes' sudden departure from the fantasy show. He specified that Grimes didn't want to continue playing James because he wasn't happy with the romantic storyline of his straight character. "I can say I'm not going to make a comment, but I just think that you're an actor, you're an actor on a show that's 'True Blood', we're all sitting there going, 'You quit your job because ... really?' I'm just...I'm over him. You quit your job because you don't want to play a gay part? As if it's...You know what? I'm going to stop talking," he told the media outlet at that time.
This prompted a flurry of reactions on Reddit. A person penned, "Does not sound like he has anything against homosexuals, he was just uncomfortable with shooting scenes like that. That's fine, you can't force someone to do something they are uncomfortable with." Another chimed, "You don't have to be against homosexuality to not want to make out with a dude." In a similar vein, a comment also read, "Nothing wrong with being uncomfortable with making out with a dude, doesn't seem like he's homophobic or anything, just isn't something he wants to do. It IS interesting, though, when you realize the guy who plays Lafayette isn't gay."
Nathan Parsons went on to replace Grimes in 'True Blood.' While having a conversation with Hollywood Reporter, Parsons shed light on filming sex scenes for the show. "Once you break the ice physically, then it all becomes easier, and you realize it is just two people. There’s another 200 people in the crew, of course. But in that moment, it’s really just about two people and a shared connection. That right there made the whole thing work out — that we’ll get to the physical stuff, that’s a given, but before that and after that, there are little moments of true connection that happen, and they just escalate and escalate," Parsons explained.