The Originals has never been a lighthearted show — when you take the villains from The Vampire Diaries and spin them off into their own show, you know exactly what you’re getting. But when The CW’s vampire drama returns tonight for season three, things are going to be darker than ever.
Nerdist got Daniel Gillies, aka the “noble” Original Elijah, to spill all about what fans can expect from the game-changing third season of The Originals, and he didn’t disappoint. Check out all the scoop he dropped in our full Q&A below!
Nerdist: What are you most excited for viewers to see this season?
Daniel Gillies: This season we really find our own voice. Fans are going to be excited to see that we really step away from The Vampire Diaries and become our own show like never before this season. That’s important for us, to find our own uniqueness and voice. And it’s the darkest season yet.
Lucien is going to be the first of the Trinity, aka the first vampires sired by Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah, to come to New Orleans. How does Elijah feel about him all these years later?
His presence there can only mean something troubling to Elijah. He hasn’t seen any evidence of the Trinity in a very long time. If they’re suddenly in our home territory it’s disturbing to say the least. For Elijah, that can only spell that they are up to no good. Things are going to be tense.
The Original siblings will quickly find out there’s a war brewing between their sire lines. How will Elijah react to that news?
The fact that the sire lines are trying to eliminate each other altogether is really dark and cataclysmic news to Elijah. But he’s not threatened by it. The only thing that can eliminate their species is by knocking out one of the figureheads of the sire line, either Elijah or Klaus, and I don’t think Eljiah lacks any confidence in the ability to protect himself. You see that pretty definitively in the premiere.
Who is going to be the next of the Trinity to come to New Orleans? Did Elijah sire any of them?
Yes, there’s a magnificent actor by the name Oliver Ackland who plays Tristan, and he’s the maniac who I first sired. He’s from the same era as Lucien, and his sister Aurora rapidly follows suit, and they make up the Trinity. We will meet him and it’s not pleasing to Elijah that he’s back, let’s just say that.
How violent are we going to see Elijah get in regards to protecting Hayley as she’s cursed to spend all her time in wolf form except for the full moon?
Honestly, violence to him is just violence. For Elijah, who has been around for thousands of years, he does what he has to do. He’s more vicious than Klaus, and he’s scarier because of that. Just because he’s the “noble” sibling, that doesn’t mean he won’t kill to protect the ones he loves. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe from new dangers that present themselves in the premiere.
What is Elijah’s dynamic with Hayley going to look like this season, when she’s not stuck in wolf form?
Your guess is as good as mine. I haven’t had much to do with her so far in filming the show. She’s trying to figure out this new dynamic with her and Jackson while maintaining a relationship with Klaus so he can be near his child, and there are so many balls in the air that I don’t think we’re going to be able to see anything between Elijah and her for a while. It’s been rather fleeting so far. But any time we share a scene, there’s an electrically-charged atmosphere, and the writers see it and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of them in the future.
Elijah and Klaus couldn’t be any further apart at the start of the season. Are we going to see things get even worse between them?
These two are hopelessly committed to one another. They’ve surrendered to the fact that they’re doomed long ago, and that’s the fabric of the whole show. It’s the entire narrative. There’s a terrible sadness that lingers around them. They can’t leave one another. Will it get darker? If those two are sharing the same story, then you can bet on it, unfortunately.
—
IMAGES: The CW
The Originals premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on The CW.
