The cast of The Vampire Diaries spinoff, The Originals , has been promoting the potential new series like crazy ahead of tonight’s backdoor pilot. Check out what they have to say!
Tonight’s episode of The Vampire Diaries also serves as the pilot episode of the new Originals-centric spinoff, The Originals, which, if picked up by The CW, will begin airing this fall.
In this behind-the-scenes video released by The CW, the series’ stars Joseph Morgan (Klaus), Charles Michael Davis (Marcel), Daniel Gillies (Elijah) and Phoebe Tonkin (Hayley) discuss the premise of the spinoff and in what ways it’ll be different from The Vampire Diaries:
The cast has also done a number of interviews promoting the episode. Speaking to Zap2It, Joseph Morgan addresses whether The Originals will see Klaus – being the main character – as a hero, and has an interesting answer.
He calls Klaus an anti-hero, explaining, “He’s definitely not a hero. He does awful things in the pilot; he makes one of the most disgusting emotional choices we’ve ever seen him make.” But at the same time, “he’s not the villain of this piece. We’re rooting for him — I hope we’re rooting for him, or the show’s not going to work.”
Therefore, don’t expect any of the new characters to catch Klaus’ eye straight away. “They’re not going to introduce a new love interest and immediately go, ‘Hey, he’s with this girl now!’ They respect the fans enough to keep acknowledging Caroline and potentially work in some crossovers,” he says.
As for these new characters, he talks about Camille (Leah Pipes), who comes in as the only normal human on the show. He calls her, “very damaged,” explaining that she in a lot of ways symbolises the way this show is darker than The Vampire Diaries.
He also discusses Marcel, explaining why Klaus is so jealous of his former protegé. “What Marcel has that Klaus doesn’t is this army,” Morgan explains. “What he lacks in personal power, he makes up for in influence. Should things come to a head between the two of them, that’s where the challenge will be. Klaus is a one-man army, but Marcel actually has an army.”
In an interview with TV Guide, Morgan previews the Original family dynamic on the new show, saying, “Elijah really wants to bring the family together, and he’s come to a point where he’s realized that the strength they have is with each other. Rebekah and Klaus are very much at odds, so Elijah finds himself a little bit of a middleman.”
TV Guide has also released their Vampire Diaries Bite video, which shows a few new glimpses of The Originals:
Claire Holt (Rebekah) has spoken to TV Fanatic about her role in the spinoff – and why we won’t see her much in tonight’s episode (aside from the fact that when they filmed it, she hadn’t yet been cast).
She says, “Rebekah has such a strong sense of loyalty, [so when] she receives information about Klaus and his quest, she wants to go and help… but she feels betrayed.”
Holt also admits that while she wants Rebekah to follow her family to New Orleans, “I’d also like her to get it on with Matt,” because as she explains, “being immortal is pretty lonely.”
However, even if she’s off to New Orleans soon, we can expect some Matt/Rebekah before the season ends. “I think fans will really like where their relationship goes,” she teases.
And finally, Daniel Gillies shares his enthusiasm for The Originals with ET Online, saying, “I’ve never been so excited about an episode of The Vampire Diaries.. It’s such an exciting evening of TV – Julie Plec has done something really splendid here.”
He also previews Klaus’ and Elijah’s relationship in the episode. “I was deeply proud of the relationship between Klaus and Elijah,” he says. “Like most actors, I sort of despise everything I’ve ever done, but the moment I started watching his, I was gobsmacked.”
All this certainly has us very excited for tonight’s episode! Make sure you tune in live to boost those ratings!
The Vampire Diaries 4×20 “The Originals” airs at 8/7c on The CW.