Charles Michael Davis Interview On The Originals

 

What was your initial reaction to The Originals making it onto the CW’s Fall 2013 line-up?
I was pretty confident from the beginning that The Originals was going to be picked up because I watch The Vampire Diaries and think it’s just such an amazing show — but of course you can’t celebrate until you receive confirmation. But we were picked up to series the day right after the [backdoor] pilot aired so I was feeling great. To film a pilot and have it air and then you get a response so soon? I was overjoyed. I really was.

Did you do anything special to celebrate? We saw you and Leah Pipes tweeted about making a smoothie run.
Yes! That did happen actually. We got a chocolate peanut butter smoothie. Non-dairy. It was delicious. All my dreams came true. And here I am right now! (Laughs)

Will we get glimpses into Marcel’s past at all?
You’ll definitely learn more about how he got to this point in his life. He was a street rat, kind of came from nothing, and he’s crafty. And so I think we’re going to discover firsthand what that experience was like for Marcel — of growing up on the streets of New Orleans and making that turn; of becoming confident and transitioning from an Aladdin life into a leadership role.

What’s your secret confidence trick when slipping into character as Marcel?
I watch a lot of Ray Lewis videos. That swagger that he comes out with is so intense and incredible and me being a former athlete — I can relate to that. And it gets me going. I pound my chest. I jump and down. I scream. (Laughs)

What is at the top of your Originals wish list?
I hope that Kol comes back and lives. He’s a really interesting character and I think there are a lots of stories to explore there.

   Source

Spoiler From TV Guide - 22nd May 2013

Will we see a lot of Elena and Katherine facing off on The Vampire Diaries next season?

Maybe not facing off, but perhaps switching off? "One thing we're looking forward to so much next season is Elena on her own as a vampire and living her new life in college," executive producer Julie Plec explains. "And to see a vulnerable Katherine, who is able to be hurt and able to be killed and in need of the protection much like the first Elena we met four years ago." Oh, and get this — she says it'll be fun.

4x23 'Graduation' Rehash

Spoiler From TV Line - 21st May 2013

What’s in store for Jeremy next season on The Vampire Diaries, now that he’s back among the living?

As EP Julie Plec notes, “Nobody knows the truth” about his resurrection — specifically, that Bonnie essentially sacrificed her life for his. As a result, “There’s going to be some explaining to do and it’s not necessarily going to make his return to his old life very easy.”

Will Claire Holt (Rebekah) appear in any Vampire Diaries episodes next fall? Or is she going straight to The Originals?

“We do have the ability to use Rebekah on either show in the beginning,” says Plec. ” We will see when we start writing how much of her we’ll see before she heads off to New Orleans.” One scenario has the new season of TVD picking up at the tail end of Rebekah and Matt’s European vacation. “When we get back, we might see [them] still on their trip,” shares Plec, adding, “When Matt gets back to Mystic Falls, his whole world will have changed. I can’t wait to see what comes out of that adventure and how he re-adapts to life at Mystic Grill.” 

The Orginals - Cast Teasers

1. Witches’ Revenge:
“Klaus needs Sophie. She’s going to start practicing magic, which she hasn’t been able to do for the the longest time and I think I can protect myself. Witches aren’t nearly as powerful as vampires, but they are essential.” – Daniella Pineda

2. Power struggles:
“Klaus and Marcel are going to be butt heads, definitely. There’s that friction there. I just really want to see Marcel evolve. I want to see different sides of him open up. That’s definitely going to happen I think with how competitive and ambitious they both are.” – Charles Michael Davis

3. New friendships:
“I hope that Klaus gets Cami as a friend. Because Cami believes that everyone is truly good and I hope that Klaus has someone in his life that believes he’s a good person.” – Leah Pipes

4. Sibling rivalry:
“It’s just going to be that ultimate dynamic of Elijah in pursuit of making certain that the family is reinstated as they once were, which is sort of this pursuit of a fantasy, almost. And Klaus is a lot more malevolently in pursuit of power. It’s no less of a fantasy. And it’s sort of watching those two dynamics intersect.” – Daniel Gillies

“We ended the backdoor pilot in a good place, moving forward together, a tentative partnership between us. But as things complicate, as the series pans out, there’s room for throwing that up in the air. As far as the baby is concerned, I can’t imagine that we both have identical plans of how this child should be raised. So I imagine we’re going to have a conflict of interest.” – Joseph Morgan

5. More Surprises:
“I don’t think they know how it’s exactly going to play out either yet, so I think that’s what is going to keep it really fresh. But there are a lot of other surprises beside the baby. I think that’s really the cliffhanger, but it’s all going to be really exciting.” – Danielle Campbell

“I didn’t for the life of me see [the baby surprise] coming and I’m so happy with the potential it gives us for exploring these characters. The Originals have always revolved around this idea of family and I think the baby storyline really gives us a chance for that to escalate, way beyond what it would have done just keeping it the three of us.” – Joseph Morgan

Julie Plec On Season 4 Finale And Season 5 - Part 2

Holy s--t, Stefan is a doppelgänger, Silas' doppelgänger to be exact! When did you make the decision to bring in another doppelgänger and why Stefan?

Last year after we wrapped season three, some of the writers and I stayed on for an extra five weeks talking about story for season four. We knew that we wanted to give Stefan and give Paul Wesley specifically an opportunity to sort of spread his wings a bit more. He did such a good job playing Ripper Stefan, so we wanted to play a long-foiled plan into motion that we weren't sure if we'd get to it before the end of the season or not; we always had it in our back pocket to reveal it right around the time it felt right. The way it played out we chose not to reveal it until the last beat of the last episode basically teeing up what season five would be.

We can only imagine how excited Paul Wesley was when he found out about this twist.

Yes, Paul loves to play the bad buy and unfortunately for him, Stefan, more often than not, is a true-blue hero. Obviously, he had this wonderful arc as the Ripper and he's plagued by his own demons, but when all's said and done he's still very much the straight man. Getting the opportunity to dig into this and really stretch and exercise his muscles as an actor I think just made him really happy; it's exciting for him as an actor to play with a new character.

So will we learn more about the Salvatore family history in season five, maybe about the brothers' mother?

We've just gotten started talking about season five, but one of the things we're talking about is definitely learning more about the history of the Salvatore family. I would say that at this point the things we don't know yet are fair game.

Can you tease what Silas will be up to when he's posing as Stefan in season five?

Silas is going to come roaring into season five with an agenda. His mission has been singular from the beginning, which is he wants to take the cure and die and get rid of the other side so he can pass on and be reunited with his one true love. However, the cure's off the table, the other side's off the table, so he's going to have a pretty enormous plan B for how to deal with that.

As for the other brother, he didn't get to be a doppelgänger, but he did get the girl! So what's next for Damon and Elena?

Next for them as a couple is a long-distance relationship as Elena heads off to her new life at college and Damon sticks behind In Mystic Falls to hold down the fort. We get to see them happy, believe it or not, for a little while before of course circumstances and other supernatural influence comes in to drive an obstacle in their path. There's something that we rarely get to do on TVD, is see a couple enjoy being a couple and we're definitely going to have our fun with Elena and Damon, who have taken so much time to find their way to each other really and truly. So we're going to be able to enjoy that for a while.

Katherine being the one to take the cure was also a huge shocker and we heard you originally planned on giving it to another character. Can you say who it was and why the switch?

Interestingly enough, when Kevin Williamson and I, back in season zero, when we first launched the series and started talking about knowing that one day we'd make Elena a vampire and with that move would come the realization that there was a cure; I think in the back of our heads we always intended to heal Elena. But the instant that we actually made the decision to move forward with Elena the first thing we realized was she would of course be the one person we couldn't cure because it was just too easy.

Instantly, we decided that the person that needed to be cured, that made the most sense from a story point of view, that would be a great surprise, would be Damon. We believed that because of all people he's the one that said he missed being human, but he's also the one who relished the most being a vampire. Well, about five minutes into the season, right after the cure was revealed to be in existence, I think I read instantly someone was like, ‘Oh, they're going to cure Damon.' I thought, ‘Oh shit!' [Laughs.]

Ultimately, the person that we cured we wanted to get really great story out of it and I think part of Damon's delightful charm as a vampire is that he is a vampire and I'm not so sure outside of the novelty of turning him human that we'd be able to get as much as we would have wanted to dramatically. We played around with a lot of other ideas for a little while before realizing the answer was so clear and so obvious and so right in front of us.

We're excited to see a human Katherine in season five; how will that play out? 

Katherine is the one person on the planet who would hate to be human more than anything, who's always been a survivor and so fierce and such a fighter and now she is having to be vulnerable and killable, yet all of her evil deeds of the past coming home to roost. It's going to be great opportunity for story. Not only is she on the verge of getting her ass kicked every single episode, she's going to need protection and who better to seek out for protection than the brother Salvatore who have been so good at caring on and off for her over the centuries?

And finally, what will The Vampire Diaries' college years be like? With Bonnie's death seemingly permanent, is Kat returning a series regular? 

Kat will still be a regular, business as usual. She just now has the mother of all obstacles preventing her and Jeremy from being able to have the physical relationship that we've danced around for so long.

The best part about it is that we've got a town that we've very firmly established and the university that we've established with Whitmore College, which is not in Mystic Falls, but certainly close enough than you can roll home on a Saturday and do a load of laundry. What's exciting is to create a whole new world and new characters and new friends and new foes for those who go to college and also be able to integrate what's going on at college back into what's going on home, so we never feel like we've left behind the Mystic Falls universe we know and love so much.

Source

Julie Plec on Season 4 Finale And Season 5

"The Vampire Diaries" has done it again. 

Going into the Season 4 finale, "Graduation," we knew a few things would happen: The gang would graduate, in a poignant scene that celebrated their history together. Elena would, once again, make a choice between Stefan and Damon. One character who had previously died would return from the dead. And, of course, we knew that someone would take the cure for vampirism and turn into a human. But while we were busy asking who would get the cure and who would spend the summer making out with Elena, we kind of forgot about another season-long mystery: Why won't Silas let anyone see his real face?

The slight of hand gave us one of the most jaw-dropping finale twists ever... and it was just one of many. We spoke with executive producer Julie Plec about what sort of fall-out to expect from some of the most surprising finale reveals when the series returns in Season 5.

1. Silas has a doppelganger -- and it's Stefan. Yes, the Petrova women aren't the only ones with the doppelganger enchantment in their blood. All of the convoluted twists regarding the legend of Silas, his goals, and his abilities came together. Thanks to a loophole, Silas came back to life, revealing that the immortality spell itself had a loophole: doppelgangers. Silas and Stefan share the same face. Stefan is Silas' doppelganger, and now he's trapped in a safe at the bottom of an ocean. 

This is a storyline that has been in the works for about a year. "Last year, when Season 3 was over, we kept a small group of writers and we stayed for five weeks, to try to break the broad strokes of Season 4. Last year, right around this time, we came up with the doppelgänger pitch," executive producer Julie Plec tells us.

There were some complications to introducing another doppelgänger character. In Season 2 and early in Season 3, when Nina Dobrev was playing both Katherine and Elena regularly, she grew worn out, physically. Some of the decision-makers behind "The Vampire Diaries" were concerned that playing two characters could take a similar toll on Paul Wesley.

"We had to convince a lot of different people of how it could work and what could make it work," Julie says. "So that we didn't end up in a similar situation as with Katherine and Elena, where we exhausted Nina to the point of being unable to get out of her bed, because we accidentally overworked her so much. Creatively, everybody was very excited about the Silas doppelganger, it was just a matter of how long it took us to cement it, knowing that's fundamentally what we're going to do."

At the moment, Paul's not concerned about working too hard -- he's just excited to face a new challenge on the show. "He is so happy," Julie laughs. "Playing the straight man hero is not always the most exciting job for an actor, and Stefan, of all our heroes, is the straightest on the show. We get to go deeper into his ripper side sometimes, but for Paul, those moments are just pocket moments of opportunity to dig deeply into his craft, and a lot of other times he feels like he's just grooming his hero hair. So obviously, he's very enthusiastic about this, and has been supportive of it all along. He's been dying for something; to be a jerk, to be evil, to be the bad guy, to be able to stretch his muscles."

And in Season 5, he definitely will.


2. The resurrection of Jeremy Gilbert: "Vampire Diaries" fans are used to characters dying -- and occasionally, they pop back up later, whether it's as a vampire or as a ghost. Still, we were (pleasantly!) surprised to learn that Jeremy was coming back from the grave permanently, particularly because his goodbye episode was so heart-wrenching. Didn't the writers worry that resurrecting him would dull the impact of his beautiful, memorable send-off?

"It's something that we talked about a lot," Julie says. "Our intention, originally, was to say goodbye to Jeremy permanently. But then a lot of questions came up about the power of this girl losing her only living relative. It was so important to her journey at that moment. The global, eternally reaching tragedy attached to that is really sad, and really depressing."

Though Jeremy had to die in order to push Elena into the next phase of her life as a vampire, the writers quickly realized that it'd be impossible to bring her back from that dark, desperately tragic point in her life unless they revived Jeremy. Without him, Elena was looking down a long, black tunnel of depression -- and that wouldn't make for a particularly lively Season 5.

"We argued a lot, in the writer's room -- could we successfully bring this character back in a way that wouldn't feel cheap? Ultimately, I think that the way that it plays out, it does feel like the natural gift at the end of the season for this character that has been through so much," she explains.

Now Elena has a chance at some happiness in Season 5. "Getting Jeremy back resets her, in a way, where she can now get on with her life and live like the Elena that we know," Julie says. She is cautious, because she knows that some viewers might not be pleased with the loophole Jeremy steps through to return to the land of the living. "Critically, you can look at something and go, 'Well, that's a take-back, it's not fair,' but emotionally, I think, it's a positive. We might get hammered for it. We'll see. I'm hoping people will be so glad to see our Elena pull her life back together, they'll accept it."


3. Bonnie will still factor in to the storylines. Jeremy didn't exactly get a free ride back to the land of the living. Bonnie sacrificed herself in order to bring him back for Elena, and now she's trapped beyond the veil -- invisible to everyone, except for Jeremy.

It's certainly a tragic loss, but don't worry, Bonnie fans. Kat Graham will still be a big part of the show. "Here's what I'll say about Bonnie: I haven't personally seen 'Being Human,' but I do know that they have a ghost character that operates pretty successfully on that show," Julie says. "This is not the last we've seen of Bonnie. If anything, she will be right there in the middle of story next season, just with a few new complications."


4. Delena goodness! By giving Jeremy his life back, Bonnie essentially gave Elena her life back, too. Unencumbered by the sire bond, her grief, or a gaping hole where her humanity should be, Elena finally got to evaluate her love life with a clear head -- and she chose to be with Damon. "In death, you're the one that made me feel most alive," Elena told him. Cue the mouth touching! Now, with her vampire boyfriend at her side, she might just be able to enjoy college. 

It's been a rough few years for Damon when it comes to his love life -- but Julie tells us it's finally time for him to have some legitimate joy in his life. "Yes. Absolutely," she says. "We're going to get to see Damon trying to be a good boyfriend, and while it's not going to be easy, he's going to try like hell to make it work, and they're going to have a real opportunity for happiness."


5. And what about Katherine? This season, we've seen a much more vulnerable side of Miss Katerina Petrova. She spent most of the year on the run. When she finally opened up and fell for Elijah, he rejected her in favor of a new beginning with his family. And then, in a moment of weakness, she allowed Elena to get the upper hand in a major showdown in the high school hallways. Elena, driven by very human emotions, shoved the cure down Katherine's throat. The thing that Katherine fears most is mortality. Elena gave it to her. 

Just don't expect Katherine to go all Elena on us now that she doesn't have to drink blood to stay alive. "As a human, she's still very, very bad," Julie laughs. "If anything, she feels silly for letting herself get vulnerable, and she's taking out that frustration of her own vulnerability on Elena. If Elena goes after her, Katherine's still ready to kick that puppy."

Source

4x23 'Graduation' Song List

Bon Jovi "You Give Love A Bad Name"
Delta Rae "Dance In The Graveyards"
Olivia Broadfield "Gone"
Cary Brothers "Belong"
Liz Lawrence "When I Was Younger"
S. Carey "In The Stream"

Spoiler From EW - 16th May 2013

Vampire Diaries finale!!

Last minute juicy scoop! Nina Dobrev tells us that at the end of tonight’s season finale, Elena “finally breathes a sigh of relief.” “It may not seem like a lot right now but it will make sense quite literally what I mean afterwards,” she teases. CAN’T. WAIT.

The Originals 1x01 Webclip

The Vampire Diaries Season 5 Official Description

In the tumultuous fourth season of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, the world of Mystic Falls was turned upside down when the beautiful and compassionate Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) came face-to-face with her worst nightmare – life as a vampire. While Elena struggled to control her new powers and the overwhelming thirst for blood, the astonishing news that a cure for vampirism may actually exist reached Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) Salvatore, the two vampire brothers who love her. Their search for the cure leads the brothers, along with Elena’s brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and her best friends Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Caroline (Candice Accola), to a horrifying confrontation with the ancient and all-powerful immortal, Silas, who has been entombed with the cure for more than 2,000 years. But Elena isn’t the only vampire who longs to return to life as a human, and the question of who will take the cure is resolved in the heart-stopping season finale, along with moments of unexpected joy, unspeakable sorrow, and a confession of true love. The series heads into its fifth season with some characters headed off to college, a newly cured vampire trying to survive as a human, and a shocking Salvatore secret. Based on the series of books by L. J. Smith, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Outerbanks Entertainment, Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. The series was developed by Kevin Williamson (“The Following,” “Scream”) & Julie Plec (“Kyle XY,” “Wasteland”), who serve as executive producers along with Leslie Morgenstein (“Gossip Girl,” “Pretty Little Liars”) and Caroline Dries (“Melrose Place,” “Smallville”).

The Originals Season 1 Official Description

Family is power. The Original Vampire family swore it to each other a thousand years ago. They pledged to remain together, always and forever. Now, centuries have passed and the bonds of family are broken. Time, tragedy and hunger for power have torn the Original Family apart. When Klaus Mikaelson, the original vampire-werewolf hybrid, receives a mysterious tip that a plot is brewing against him in the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, he returns to the city his family helped build. Klaus’ questions lead him to a reunion with his diabolical former protégé, Marcel, a charismatic vampire who has total control over the human and supernatural inhabitants of New Orleans. Determined to help his brother find redemption, Elijah follows Klaus and soon learns that the werewolf Hayley has also come to the French Quarter searching for clues to her family history, and has fallen into the hands of a powerful witch named Sophie. Tensions between the town’s supernatural factions are nearing a breaking point as Marcel commands his devoted followers and rules with absolute power. For Klaus, the thought of answering to his powerful protégé is unthinkable, and he vows to reclaim what was once his – the power, the city and his family. While they wait to see if their sister Rebekah will leave Mystic Falls and join them, Klaus and Elijah form an uneasy alliance with the witches to ensure that New Orleans will be ruled by THE ORIGINALS once again. The series stars Joseph Morgan (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Immortals”) as Klaus, Daniel Gillies (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Saving Hope”) as Elijah, Claire Holt (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Pretty Little Liars”) as Rebekah, Phoebe Tonkin (“The Vampire Diaries,” “The Secret Circle”) as Hayley, Charles Michael Davis (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Switched at Birth”) as Marcel, Daniella Pineda (“The Fitzgerald Family Christmas,” “Homeland”) as Sophie, Leah Pipes (“The Deep End,” “Sorority Row”) as Cami and Danielle Campbell (“Starstruck,” “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection”) as Davina. THE ORIGINALS is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with My So-Called Company, Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. Julie Plec (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Kyle XY,” “Wasteland”), Leslie Morgenstein (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Gossip Girl”) and Gina Girolamo (“The Lying Game”) are executive producers. Plec wrote the pilot episode, which was directed by Chris Grismer (“The Vampire Diaries”).

The Vampire Diaries & The Originals Fall Schedule

Tuesday 8pm - 9pm

The Originals

Thursday 8pm - 9pm

The Vampire Diaries

The Originals Premiere Promo

This happens to be the same promo as TVD's 4x20 'The Originals' only it's been changed to 'The Originals' rather than TVD so unfortunately we have no new footage.

Vampire Diaries Bite - 15th May 2013

Julie Plec Teases Season 4 Finale

Elena's Choice, Take Two: While season three's finale also featured Elena making a choice between the Salvatore brothers, Plec previews that our heroine isn't the same human girl who chose Stefan (Paul Wesley) just before dying and coming back as a vamp. "I think that in last year's finale it was very clear that Elena was struggling with feelings for both brothers and needed to make a decision about what she wanted her life to be and who she wanted to share that life with," she explains. "This year, she's had a very traumatic roller coaster of life experience and it's changed her irrevocably—and at the center of it all was the diehard belief that she loved Damon, that she loved him more than she'd ever loved anyone.

She continues, "Her struggle has been with the realization of the sire bond that she couldn't even trust those feelings to be true. So it's more about answering the truth of those feelings and as a result does that mean her distance from Stefan was also not real and not true? She handles that realization pretty well and it's a great, great, great scene."

Doppelgänger Dragout: Fans who have been salivating over the possible Katherine and Elena fight will not want to miss the finale, with Plec teasing, "Ever since we introduced Katherine, we've been waiting to have a knockout, dragout Alexis and Crystal Dynasty-style fight between these two women and it definitely doesn't disappoint. There's no ball gowns and swimming pools, but otherwise I think we do it justice!" Can we get an amen?!

Crossover Lovers?: "There's a moment between them in the finale that basically makes it clear where Klaus stands and where Caroline stands," Plec teases of the fan-favorite couple before  Klaus heads off to New Orleans for The Originals. "Rather than completely shutting any doors, it actually, if anything, opens a new one. We've never wanted to compromise the Klaus-Caroline with the idea that there would be this other show she wouldn't potentially be on, so we're making decisions as though we would continue their journey in perpetuity, for better or for worse, whether she ever cared for him or not, and if we need to cross over between the two shows than we will."

As for Caroline's beau Tyler (Michael Trevino), Plec says his future in Mystic Falls will be addressed. "That is definitely resolved. We'll understand what Klaus' intentions are as they relate to Tyler and we'll get a sense of what we might see in the future," she previews.

Death Can Wait, I Need to Graduate: After her shocking death in last week's episode, Bonnie the ghost is on a mission in the finale, to bring the veil back up...even if it means crossing over to the other side for good. "It's a bittersweet journey for her and she has to prepare to make that sacrifice knowing that it will be the thing that separates her from her friends forever," Plec says. "But in the midst of it all there's graduation. [Laughs.] And there's her friends together and she's going to make damn sure she doesn't miss that!"

Slow Burn: In a departure from the first three seasons, TVD played it slow and steady with season four's big bad, Silas, a conscious choice made by Plec and the writers.

"We definitely knew that we wanted to slow-play the beginning of the mythology this season and rather than instantly set up a bad guy and an agenda, it would be a mystery not only to our characters, but to the audience as well," she explains. "Being able to unfold the mystery of Silas over the course of a season had its pitfalls and also its benefits, and I think ultimately, when the audience sees how it ends in this episode, they may start to understand the choices we made and why we made them."

Source

Spoiler From TV Line - 15th May 2013

Any hints about who takes the cure in the Vampire Diaries finale?

Three, actually. 1) It’s not who I thought it would be. 2) Julie Plec is a genius. 3) Julie Plec is a genius.

Spoiler From TV Guide - 14th May 2013

What's coming up on The Vampire Diaries season finale?

It's no surprise that in The Vampire Diaries finale, many of our heroes will be in mortal peril. Remember the picture above? Well, the wound that Elena is tending is similar to the one that once almost killed Damon. Good thing there's a cure lying around Mystic Falls.

4x22 'The Walking Dead' Rehash

4x23 'Graduation' Webclip 2