The Vampire Diaries: Joseph Morgan -
Keeping Klaus Bad

Joseph Morgan on the tricky distinction between making Klaus a well-rounded character without softening him.

Talked about for quite a while before we met him, Klaus has proven to be a formidable enemy on The Vampire Diaries – a nearly indestructible, 1000 year old vampire/werewolf hybrid who uses those around him as pawns, as he himself becomes increasingly more powerful.


IGN: You've mentioned how you really hope your character doesn't get softened - that he pretty much stays the bad guy.

Morgan: Yeah, I think we're all on the same page, the writers and the creators of the show. We certainly want to bring in a more human side to him. I feel like the character's got to evolve, and as the show moves on we've got to see more layers to him, more levels and more of his insecurities coming out and things [like that]. But I think to have him hanging out at the Mystic Grill with Jeremy and Matt, and it's "All is forgiven!", that's a little bit of a stretch for me. [Laughs] And I think it would become less interesting. I feel like even with the idea of bringing in a romantic interest for Klaus, I feel like he's still going to be Klaus. He still has all of this angst and rage and all of these things and this dysfunction, bred from his family. I think it's more interesting if you add in the humanity on top of that, but he's still this guy, you know? It's more of a struggle. Yeah, I really hope that they don't kind of substitute one for the other, that they just keep adding these things.


IGN: What do you think about Klaus' new interest in Caroline?

Morgan: I think initially it's more of an infatuation – "Who's this opinionated, blonde, feisty vampire?" But also, one of the things I've been working with from the beginning is his loneliness. I feel like the bottom line for him is he's lonely, and he feels abandoned by his family. He feels rejected by his father. There was supposed to be unconditional love there, and there wasn't. So that's had an effect throughout his whole life. He's found it very difficult to form relationships based on trust. So bringing her into the mix now, I think he feels something, but he doesn't know how to go about it. For a guy who's been around for a thousand years to come up against something that he doesn't know how to deal with is a big thing for him, and it's also incredibly enticing. It's intoxicating for him to suddenly feel like, "Here's a challenge I haven't had for a thousand years."

IGN: But as you've also said, he can change on the flip of a dime. So it's obviously a dangerous scenario for Caroline.

Morgan: There's always that threat, yeah, and I think she realizes that. That's hopefully something where he'll make those mistakes and then be able to learn from them, you know? It's such an interesting thing because I feel like he's sort of a self-saboteur in a way. He'll do all the right things, and then he'll muck it up for himself in a minute, in a heartbeat. It'll have turned around, and he'll have ruined it for himself. He'll be back to square one and try to kind of get back to where he was before. So it's a really interesting thing. It's him trying to sort of work through his issues, in a way.


IGN: Have you been intrigued to find out exactly who is inside those coffins?

Morgan: I have, and I've been asked a bit about it as well. Yeah, absolutely. And I was so intrigued to find out who would be the other siblings, and who would we meet of my family, and what's in the fourth coffin, and all of those things. I know a little more about it now. We're on episode 16 now, I think. A lot of it has started to come to light now. I really do feel like, "Oh God, they really did have a plan from the beginning! They really knew where they were going with this." That's very pleasing for me. It's like the suitcase in Pulp Fiction that they open up, and the gold shines out of it. You're like, "What's in that suitcase!? I need to know!" But at least in our show we are going to find out what or who is in these coffins. I feel like that's a huge, intriguing part of the show. I don't want to tease too much because it's sort of like telling you what's in your Christmas presents before you open them.


IGN: Elijah and Klaus have been a really great dynamic, kind of a fun sort of mirror image for Damon and Stefan. Going forward, might we see that again? Obviously we know Elijah can come back at some point.

Morgan: He can, and I think Julie [Plec] has said it would be a crime if he didn't. For me, I remember sitting in my hotel room in Atlanta before I was a regular, before I got a place [in town], watching the entirety of Season 2 and just thinking that Daniel Gillies is one of the best things on the show. He really brings a commanding presence to it. So yeah, I hope so. He and I decided quite early on when we were working the scenes, before I even shot my first episode, that the relationship was sort of like he would be a sort of consigliere to me; he was the voice of reason to me. We did one scene in episode 19 of Season 2 where I'm sitting on a throne-like chair in the 1491 flashbacks, and he's leaning over the chair to the side, and I feel like that is sort of their dynamic. He's there to whisper in my ear and to stop me from shooting off like a loose cannon. So yeah, I really hope so. I think he's a phenomenal actor, and I also think that the dynamic is a very interesting one.


IGN: You've gotten to explore, as you said, his loneliness and this strange dynamic with his siblings, including Rebekah – such as the fact that he brought her back for two seconds and took her away again recently. All of that stuff I'm sure has helped influence you along the way. He's got relationships, they're just all very screwed up ones.

Morgan: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it sort of echoes life, doesn't it? Nothing is polarized; there's nothing like "It's a good relationship" or "It's a bad relationship." It's complex, especially when we're dealing with the span of years that we're dealing with. I think that's one of the most interesting things about it. I think he loves all of his siblings, but he sort of hates them as well. He has this kind of wasp's nest of emotions going on there, which is so interesting. I love the Klaus/Rebekah relationship. I feel like of all of his siblings, she's the one he's closest to. In the '20s episode we did this season, she said she made a choice to stick with him, to be with him, to choose the right side. And I feel like that was a loyalty he didn't take lightly. I feel he's very protective over her, and I'd certainly like to see more of that explored in later episodes, yeah.


IGN: Are any more flashbacks coming up in the near future?

Morgan: Yeah, you know, they tend to do I think three or four flashbacks a season. So yeah, there will be. I think [episode] 16 is a flashback. I'm trying to think now. But yeah, there will be more for sure. They love to explore those. It's just sort of spreading them out through the seasons.

There isn't one at the moment, but I'd love to see a World War I flashback. The mud and the blood and the trenches... We haven't really seen that before, and maybe flashing back to Britain during the first World War would be interesting. The opportunities are endless. My lifespan is a thousand years. We can really go where we want to go.


IGN: I was going to say that it must be a really fun role, because most TV shows don't have the opportunity to say, "Hey, this week, you get to be in the 1920s."

Morgan: Right, yeah. You get to be period and modern. You get the best of both worlds, you know?


IGN: What's it been like joining the show this past year? It's got such a strong fanbase, who are so passionate about it. Has it been a lot to take in?

Morgan: Yeah, I knew the show was popular, of course, but I never really anticipated the extent to which the fans would warm to me. It's been incredible. I can really only gauge it by the response I've had in person and also by Twitter, which I'm a huge addict of now.

I was determined from the beginning. When I auditioned for the role, they told me it's four episodes as a guest with the potential to become a series regular. So I knew, "If I make a good enough mark here I'll be on the next season." So I really made an effort to connect with the fans and to treat it with the respect that it deserved. To read the books, to explore the genre more than I had. I was already a fan of it, so I was familiar with a lot of the stuff, but I really tried to push that and let them know I was serious about this and about giving this character the kind of reverence and the respect that he deserved. So yeah, I feel like they've been incredibly welcoming to me, and I hope that I've kind of earned their trust with the character.


IGN: Were you surprised by what they get away with on this show, in terms of some of the gore and such?

Morgan: I was, I was. And the episode that really did that for me was in Season 2, when Uncle Mason was tied to a chair, and Damon says something like, "The thing about Katherine is she'll just tear your heart out in the end. So allow me to do it for you." And he reaches into his chest and pulls out his heart. And I can remember going, "Oh my God! They can do that!? This is pretty dark!" I didn't realize how dark it is. They do get away with a lot, and that was really encouraging for me because my character is involved in a lot of those darker elements, and I'm fascinated with that anyway. So I really thought, "Okay, there's some potential here to go a little crazy." It's less of a teen show than I thought it was before I caught up with it all.

IGN: I imagine it must be fun to get to play those badass moments for Klaus, when he gets to just show how powerful and in control he is?

Morgan: Yes, I look forward to those moments. [Laughs] Let it be known. I do, yeah. I had a moment in the last episode -- Episode 15, which we were just filming -- where it's an action sequence. It all takes place [quickly]. 30 seconds and it's over, but you go, "Oh my God, I see why we're not going to mess with him." And it's those sequences which are particularly rewarding because I get to make believe and play like I'm this thousand-year-old guy who can't be messed with. So yeah, it is incredibly exciting to play those little moments of power.