What happened to the actress who played Pam on ‘True Blood?’

It’s been nearly a decade since the last episode of True Blood aired, but the fanbase is still just as passionate about it all these years later. Though plenty of series have tried to capture that vampire magic in the years since, there’s nothing quite like the sexy Southern drama.  

After all these years, fans are clamoring to know just what happened to their favorite characters. Joe Manganiello and Alexander Skarsgård are thriving in Hollywood, while Anna Paquin has taken a step back from the limelight. Joining her costar is Kristin Bauer Van Starten, the flawless actress behind the often sarcastic, sometimes cruel, Pam Swynford De Beaufort.

What has Kirsten Bauer been in?

After getting her first acting break in the 1995 television series The Crew, Bauer had a slew of recurring and bit parts across various TV shows. The actress’s roles include parts in Star Trek: Enterprise, LA Law, Everybody Loves Raymond, Dark Angel, Two and a Half Men, CSI, Desperate Housewives, and in Seinfeld — Bauer Jerry’s “man-hands” girlfriend in the classic episode “The Bizzaro Jerry.”

The actress has found herself plenty of success in films as well. She starred alongside Ben Affleck in Glory Daze before landing her role as Kelly Possenger in Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. Perhaps her most well-known movie role was as a dancer in Dancing at the Blue Laguna, which featured her in a lengthy nude dance scene.

Beyond screen roles, Bauer has lent her voice to several animated DC comics productions, like Justice League, and Suicide Squad. Much more recently, the actress portrayed an evil fairy called Maleficent (not to be confused with the maleficent) in the ABC series Once Upon a Time.

Of course, the reason you’re here today is because of her best-known role that of the often sardonic, and occasionally cruel, Pamela Swynford De Beaufort in True Blood.

What happened to Pam’s actress after True Blood?

Since True Blood wrapped in 2014, Bauer has been far less busy, it seems. Since 2021, the True Blood star has been relatively absent from the acting world. Her last project, Paradise Cove, was largely panned by critics. Despite the consensus that Bauer plays a solid psychopath, and her solid experience playing a somewhat unhinged killer from her time as Pam, the film sits at an abysmal 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rather than dedicate her life to acting, it seems Bauer is honing other skills. She has mentioned in interviews that she loves to oil paint. Wikipedia claims that Bauer is a working artist who specializes in portraits, but there doesn’t seem to be any actual art available for viewing on her website. There is, however, a way to tap Bauer for a personalized recording. Fans can request personalized cameo videos from the creative – at the right price, of course.

In addition to her side gigs, Bauer runs Truest Blood, a True Blood podcast. Fellow True Blood alum Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil) cohosts the podcast. But it seems the thing the actress concerns herself with the most these days is her activism. Bauer is an avid animal rights activist, and regularly posts about animal mistreatment. From Rodeos and mega-farms to animal adoption and declining biodiversity, Bauer’s Twitter feed is packed with eco-friendly calls to action. Bauer isn’t alone in her fight for animal rights, her husband of 13 years, South African musician Abri van Straten, is just as diligent as she is.

The pair met while van Straten was on tour in the U.S. in 2009, and he relocated to California to be with his actress wife soon after. The couple have multiple rescued pets, but no children just yet. She told Sheknows in 2014 that they had discussed kids, but Bauer says, “I’m such a rescuer, so that is more the area that I would go. It kills me that there are kids in foster homes and unwanted children, so [adoption] to me would be more up my alley.”