Kevin Alejandro Talks ‘True Blood’ Exit & Heading Back To Detective Roots For TNT

Kevin Alejandro said goodbye to his life as Bon Temps’ resident nurse, brujo and the love of Nelsan Ellis’ Lafayette Reynolds on the season finale of “True Blood,” and his exit produced an outpouring of emotions from the actor’s friends and colleagues.

“My phone’s been blowing up. The ones that I’ve worked with have been like, ‘Great job!’ and the ones that didn’t know [the twist] – it was another sort of ‘Southland’ effect,” Kevin told Access Hollywood on Monday, referencing the shocking death of his TNT character, Detective Nate Moretta, on the cop show. “A lot of people were actually kind of touched by it and surprised and shocked.”

It was around the time they began work on Episode 2 that Kevin heard from “True Blood” writer Alexander Woo and creator Alan Ball, that his character, Jesus, would be meeting his end in Season 4.

The actor, who joined the HBO drama just last season, after leaving “Southland,” confirmed what Nelsan recently told Access — it was Kevin’s idea to have Jesus die at the hands of his boyfriend, Lafayette.

“It was, actually. I thought it would be interesting. The direction that they put the characters in [was] so ‘in love,’ where we balance each other out,” Kevin explained of his idea. “What an incredible statement to go into the show, creating such love and having the one person that you love the most have to take your life.”

Filming the moment – with just the two men on screen – was emotional, not just because the characters were in love, but because the two actors have become very good friends in real life.

“It was really sad for me, ‘cause it’s the inevitable end. I know what’s coming, we all know what’s coming,” Kevin told Access. “Nelsan wasn’t exaggerating when he said that we’ve become extremely close. My family loves him. When we found out that I was gonna die, he was the first person out at my [home]. We were talking about it and trying to figure out if it was something that we did, just trying to figure out why exactly they were going in this direction with the character.

The decision actually had to do with creator Alan’s much-talked about idea that happy couples don’t make good TV, the same notion that led to Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse splitting up in Season 3.

“I think in a strange sense, I think it made Nelsan and I closer as friends, because we knew that our time as buddies on the show together was coming to an end,” Kevin said. “It sort of put our friendship into fast forward, in a sense, and became super set.”

While Jesus is no longer in the land of the living, Kevin is ready to come back when the Bon Temps powers that be come calling.

“I’ve talked to a couple of people who make those decisions and yeah, I think I will be back in some aspect of helping [Lafayette] try and figure out how to use his magic, or if he gets in trouble, I think there might be an easy way to see Jesus come back,” Kevin said.

On December 6 at 9 PM, fans looking for a Kevin fix can head over to his old “Southland” home on TNT, and catch him in the television movie, “Hide.”

“It’s a detective story. I get to play a detective again, working with the amazing Carla Gugino,” he said. “It’s just the two of us going on this journey together, trying to find this serial killer who kidnapped young women.”

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