Could I get some scoop on The Vampire Diaries‘ Caroline Forbes? Possibly about Klaroline or Steroline?
Amy, I found you something behind Curtain A. Or, more accurately, show boss Julie Plec did. “Caroline will find herself stuck in the middle of the terrible tensions between Klaus and Tyler,” Plec says in response to your query, “leading her to put her own life on the line to try to resolve their issue.”
So Damon finally got his girl, and there's this sire bond mucking it all up for him! What was your reaction when you read the script that revealed the sire bond? Were you bummed?
I think it's a classic case of karma. I think Damon did something kind of gnarly in his past life, you know. This kid was born in Mystic Falls, and in 1864 he was just a 22-year-old dude. He would've lived his whole life -- maybe to 65, they didn't live that long back then -- and croaked. But this poor sucker, he just got an infinite lifetime of bad luck. It enriches him. It makes him rich as a man, because there's a lot of s*** that happens to this guy.
That phone call when she finally told him she loved him made me so happy, though. At least he got one moment of joy out of it!
I think that moment is so sweet that it almost makes up for the fact that he just gets screwed over right after. It was very, very sweet.
Stefan and Damon are really at odds right now, and I don't like it! Is there any chance that they can move on and repair their relationship while Damon is with Elena?
Then it wouldn't be fun to watch! We do see some stuff with them where they're just kind of brothers. I personally think it's cool; I do like seeing them not at each others' throats and being a unit with one another. I dig that. I think it's cool to see. But it has the benefit of being great drama when the boys are at each others' throats. It's for pretty serious reasons, you know. They're in love with the same girl.
Does Damon want the cure for himself? Or does he only want it to, potentially, cure Elena of the sire bond?
He doesn't want it! You know this! The last f***ing thing that Damon wants to do is take this cure. There is no point. Why would anybody want that? No way, man. Why would he ever want to be a normal human being? To him, that's just like 'Who would want that?'
You guys are headed to an island, soon, to find the cure. I'm sure you loved all the outdoor filming in the middle of winter.
Basically, I missed "Lost," and I asked to relive my glory on "Lost" and do a "Lost" episode. I'm just joking! We were actually lucky, it was a bit of a warm spell in Atlanta, so it wasn't too brutal.
Is there any time for Damon and Elena to get some romance in, or are they just constantly trying not to die? How does their relationship evolve on the island?
The island is a representation of a lot of interesting stuff ... Living only for Elena's well-being, security, happiness, and all of that stuff, is starting to become very difficult and dangerous for Damon. He's starting to see that it's really not a good thing for her to take the cure.
Does she still want to take it?
She wants it. But do I want it? Hell no. We can live happily frickin' ever after. I've got a big house, we can party, and travel, and whatever, man. Damon and Elena could like, go buy a building in New York with an art gallery in it, and then go live on an island in the Caribbean. They could have a pretty badass life. He's thinking the cure is bulls***. There's no reason for it. The big difference between Damon and Stefan right now, is that Stefan thinks Elena needs to have it. If she gets it, then Stefan can take it, and he'll live happily ever after with her. The last frickin' thing that Damon wants is this cure, and he'd be the first one to tell you that.
Why hasn't Damon murdered Shady Shane yet? He keeps letting him live.
You know why? Because he's such an amazing, convincing character. I love David Alpay. He's brought so much life to Shane, man. Not only is he handsome as hell, but he just brings it, he brings it every time. This guy intrigues Damon. He makes Damon sick, I want to just rip his head off, but there's just too many things preventing him from doing that.
Is there anything good coming for Damon and Elena? They released all these photos of you looking all bloody and bruised, so I'm just guessing there are more bad days coming.
I get my ass kicked, basically. When I first signed up for this character, I thought I'd be working two days a week. Damon's like dessert. He's one of the best parts of the meal, but you can't have him all the time! So here I am, thinking, four years ago, I'd just do a couple days a week in Vancouver, go back and forth to Los Angeles, and then I realized that it's five days a week of getting my ass kicked left and right! But, I'm surrounded with great people, and every once in a while I get to make out with Nina Dobrev on screen, and it could be worse.
How do you feel about the spin-off news? Would you be bummed to see Joseph Morgan go do another show?
I think it's frickin' amazing! They're my friends, everyone involved. What I'm thinking is that they use some of their time and efforts and resources on "The Originals" backdoor pilot, and maybe, we'll get some time off!
I can't believe they're doing a New Orleans spin-off and you're not in it.
Right? It's unbelievable. I didn't even get invited to go down and tech scout or something. I should be a producer for the New Orleans stuff. I'm going to get on that.
I think you're busy enough. Speaking of which, do you have any updates on the ISF Sanctuary?
It's all happening! The first agreement is physically being drawn up ... fans have been so insanely supportive. We won the Mozilla Firefox Challenge on Crowdrise, with a total of $120,000, which was incredible. That's huge ... so, what we're doing is, is we're putting together the sanctuary. It's coming together. We've got it all under control. It's going to be awesome.
The sire-bond storyline has been hotly contested in TVLine’s comments section. What did you think of the twist and how it affects Elena and Damon’s relationship?
Well, I thought, “Hey, cool! He can do whatever he wants.” Three years of trying to get the same girl, who looks like your ex who you thought was in love with you for 150 years, has to do whatever you say. Could be worse. Actually, no, I thought, “Poor guy”… Here’s the thing: At the end of the day, Damon does not want to take this cure, nor would he in a million years want Elena to take it. He’s thinking, “Why would I want to do this? Why would I want to become a normal, boring human being susceptible to everything?” It’s just not in his wheelhouse to have that thought… It really is a tragic thing. You want this character — even though he does really awful things — you want him to win. You want him to be happy in life… There’s something big in the cards for Damon soon.
You say he doesn’t want Elena to be cured, so why is he going out of his way to find this cure for her? Is it purely about him knowing whether she truly loves him?
No, it’s not that self-serving. That would be like Damon. But I think ultimately, it’s that it’s what she wants. It’s really what she wants.
Elena made a pretty big confession of love recently, and Damon told her to come to him. But then they got distracted by the hunter/cure business. Will they address that conversation soon?
That’s the idea. One would hope. She did come to him, and it was a really cool moment for him. There’s got to be conflict there between them. There has to be. Now, this cure is really not something Damon wants, and so he’s forced to do all this stuff for her. It adds tension because she’s saying, “Look, I love you, man. You have to believe me. I really do.” And he’s just saying, “No, no, no. It’s not possible.” It’s tough for her, and it’s tough for him. It’sVampire Diaries, it sucks for everyone. It’s hard.
An an actor, was there any frustration about your character finally getting the girl and then there’s this asterisk that it might just be because of the sire bond?
I just thought, “Ooh, Salvatore, you poor bastard.” Leave it to life. It’s Murphy’s Law. That’s the way it goes.
So what’s the next step for Damon and Elena in their relationship?
To move to an island in the Caribbean that Damon buys and start a colony. In all seriousness, it’s kind of like instead of a whodunnit storyline, it’s a who’s-gonna-get-it? Honestly, I think that Damon right now is wishing he wasn’t in this situation, and he has an exorbitant amount of trepidation about getting this cure because he has a pretty clear idea that once she gets it, she’s going to go back to feeling this way for Stefan. This circumstance is really not great.
Stefan and Damon’s relationship has also been through quite the ringer as a result of the Elena story. Stefan’s gotten kind of spunky recently. What’s their interaction like coming up?
Stefan spunky? I like that!
He’s got a bit of an edge.
We like edgy Stefan. Stefan likes edgy Stefan. Stefan, just like his brother, has a lot to go through in the near future. He’s got a lot riding on this cure. Stefan wants it. This is a chance for him… Stefan’s hoping that they can find it and make it work and ultimately she’ll go back to feeling this way for him. And Damon’s thinking, “Ooh, this sucks!” Really not happy about it.
On the way to this cure, Damon has a bloody run-in with a hunter.
I like that storyline. It’s a lot of fun. The character’s great. Charlie Bewley, the actor who plays Vaughn, is awesome. He brings a lot to the role. He and David Alpay, who plays Professor Shane, they’re both really talented and they’re a lot of fun to work with. Damon and Shane, while they’re wanting to kill each other, they really work well together.
Damon’s been really suspicious of Shane. What are the odds that we’re headed to a big “I told you so” from Damon?
[Joking] There’s a scene where Damon and Shane kind of cuddle. Look, this Shane guy has a lot of shit going on, excuse my language. He’s got a lot of stuff he’s hiding. He’s a master manipulator, and that’s really why I like him. He and Damon, they’re not too far off. Again, he has ill-intentions, but they’re for righteous reasons. That’s what Damon had for really the first two seasons of the show. So I have to respect him for that. But I will say that Damon is praying that he’s wrong about this guy, that he’s not as bad as he thinks he is. There’s good stuff there between them.
