Caroline Dries Teases Season 5

This is a pretty big year for you with the show. How are you feeling about taking on this new role?
It's really intimidating because the show is so hard to think of ideas for. It's so hard to break episodes and Kevin Williamson, EP and Julie have set the bar so high. At the same time, I've been working under them since season one when, for whatever reason, Kevin decided to invest his time in me. I just cherish that so much. I realized, they are their harshest critics, so when we break stories, I try to see things through their eyes. With such good teachers, I feel like my gut instinct is very close to what the right instinct is. I'm a fan of the show, I was a fan of the show before I started working on the show, so it's a matter of thinking about what the fans want to see because we want to reward them. It's easy to get bogged down in the mythology, so I just take a step back and think, what do the fans want to see? Do they want to see a moonstone or do they want to see Damon kissing Elena? Hello! [laughs]

OK, so, what do the fans want to see?
That's a good question [laughs]. With a show in its fifth season there's a bit of a sense of "What haven't we seen?" What's great about our show is that all of the characters have so many dimensions, so we can see multiple sides to the characters. In season three we had Stefan as Ripper Stefan, but it was still Paul Wesley. This year we have Stefan as Silas, but it's still Paul Wesley, so I think what fans want to see is familiar characters working in different dynamics. They want to see what I want to see: sexual tension, love, romance, heartbreak; that's what any fan wants to see.

Which storyline do you feel is the most heartbreaking this season?
For me, it's very obviously Stefan's storyline. And yes, Stefan does have a storyline even though he's trapped in a safe dying. It's so beautiful.

Logistically is it tough to write for a guy trapped in a box?
[laughs] Um ... yes. For a while we toyed with the idea of showing Stefan once and then not seeing him again. But then we remembered he's a main character on this show [laughs]. So we sat and wondered about the best Stefan storyline to tell, and I think we landed on a good one.

I remember watching a documentary about the movie The Bone Collector where the director talked about an on-set contest to find new angles to shoot Denzel Washington's character from. Anything like that going on with Stefan this season?
Are you saying we should have rewards for being creative? [laughs] Actually, I remember we had to name a group at the college and we couldn't think of a good, new name, so I just told everyone to start naming words [laughs]. That's the key, to see things from a different angle. Julie will often say that the reason we like an idea is because it was familiar. If that happens, she tells us to do the exact opposite, and that's such good advice. So if a scene or an idea or a line of dialogue feels too familiar, do the exact opposite with the moment and make it uncomfortable.

How integrated is the college atmosphere?
I feel like when Dawson or Buffy or 90210 went to college there was always a weird shift in the show paradigm, so I'm hyper aware of TVD not suddenly feeling like a new show, and so is Julie. Hopefully it unfolds in an elegant way, but doesn't take over the Mystic Falls storyline. Plus the first chapter of season five is a bit more Mystic Falls centric, and then as the girls get to know college better, we'll let that world unfold a little more. It's not college all the time at first.

This season also features a Damon we haven't seen before. What was it like writing for Damon in love?
When I sat down to write Damon happy, I was like, "Oh my god!" [laughs] I had no idea what he sounded like as a happy character. Damon's never been in a relationship; he's slept with girls and had girl/boy dynamics in his storyline, but he's never been overtly open about his feelings. But he's still Damon. That's what Elena signed on for. You don't start dating Mick Jagger and suddenly hope he becomes this other person. You get the rockstar. I think episode one is a good balance of him being loving towards Elena without giving up who he is.

What are you excited for fans to see in season five?
I really hope they like it, but I also hope they appreciate that these are the same characters they've been following for five years. We've earned their love stories, this isn't a show where they're in love, out of love, get back together, break up. I mean, I would watch that show too [laughs], but that's not what The Vampire Diaries is. Because we've spent so long earning these love stories, you feel like you're in their relationship, so the audience will feel like the love is earned. That's what I’m happiest about.

Source

Julie Plec Teases Season 5

Damon and Elena
So, what’s ahead for these two besides all that hot lovin’? Plec, who recently said the duo will be happy this year, explains that Damon and Elena will face real-life relationship conflicts “in which one is keeping a secret from another trying not to hurt their feelings, trying to make them happy, little things that any normal couple would fight about and then hopefully make up over.” Adds Plec: “The biggest hurdles in their relationship come from external sources, people, ideas, notions that are trying to say they’re not supposed to be together. It’s really going to be more about them fighting to prove that they should be together and it’s okay.”

Human Katherine
After a summer of trying to take care of herself, Plec says that Katherine will turn up in Mystic Falls looking to a Salvatore for some assistance. “Certainly her determined presence in Mystic Falls and in the Salvatore house itself will definitely be a little bit of a sore spot,” says the showrunner, who teases that Katherine will become very attached to the Salvatore.

Stefan
Don’t expect Stefan to come out of the quarry unscathed. Plec hints that when he finally emerges from confinement, he’ll be both the same and drastically different. “There’s a little bit of a riddle attached to that which I can’t really expand on, but it’s going to be a fun ride for Paul Wesley to play as an actor,” teases Plec.

Klaus and Caroline
Klaus may be in New Orleans, but that doesn’t mean it’s over for him and Caroline. Plec says that there is a chance Caroline will turn up in the Big Easy. “I think that there are a lot of complicated elements that go into trying to make this happen, but I’ve talked about it with Candice and I’ve talked about it with Joseph. There’s a million logistics to work out and you never know, but it’s something we’d like to do and hope to do.”

College
Mystic Falls’ finest will be attending Whitmore College this fall — the same school where Jenna pursued her graduate degree and Grams and Shane were professors. “We definitely did not want to have it be the college down the block that all of a sudden out of nowhere there’s a Mystic Falls University, but we knew we had to keep them close enough to home so that they could come and go as they pleased with a little bit of a road trip,” explains Plec. Though the group will be separated, Plec promises that the core will stay intact. “It’s so fun because you have this whole fresh new story at college, in the midst of which Damon has to show up there to solve a problem or Elena has to rush home to solve a problem or Caroline comes home for a holiday, so I think that we will have conquered the college curse pretty well.”

Deaths
No season is complete without the demise of a major character, and this year is no exception. Says Plec: “I think we’ve got some juicy villains that need some vanquishing and there’s always a possibility that one of our beloved heroes will kick the bucket. When, who, or how, I’ll never tell, but it’s definitely in the cards.”

Source

Spoiler From TV Line - 30th July 2013

Consider this a request for some general, non-specific Vampire Diaries intel.

The show is doing the time warp again. Exec producer Caroline Dries tells us that Episode 3 will be a flashback episode. “It is a decade we haven’t seen before,” she shares. “It’s going to be very good.”

Spoiler From TV Guide - 30th July 2013

Any scoop on Matt and Rebekah on The Vampire Diaries or The Originals? I heart them together!

While we won't rule out the opportunity for crossover episodes, Claire Holt seems pretty sure that the two are dunzo for now. "In the last episode, Matt told her, 'I have to keep my life vampire-free,' so she knew going into it that they would have a little fun, travel the world together and now she's ready to move on and take down more men in New Orleans," Holt says.

The Originals - Josh Has Been Cast

The Originals has cast actor Steven Krueger as Josh. Krueger will appear in three episodes as Josh, a young tourist whose night out in New Orleans takes an unexpectedly dark turn when he ends up at Marcel's bar.

New Premiere Dates

The official statement is as follows:

July 29, 2013 (Burbank, CA) ─ The CW Network has shifted some premiere dates of its 2013 fall season schedule, allowing for additional exposure and time to launch.  The series premiere of THE ORIGINALS will now debut on a special night and time on Thursday, October 3, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, the network announced today.   THE ORIGINALS series premiere will follow the season premiere of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, which is bowing one week earlier than previously announced, Thursday, October 3, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET, giving THE ORIGINALS the additional exposure of premiering behind the network’s highest-rated series.

The following week, THE ORIGINALS will then move to its regularly scheduled night and time Tuesday, October 8, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET, followed by the 9th season premiere of SUPERNATURAL, 9:00-10:00 P.M. ET, a week earlier than previously announced.   An encore of THE ORIGINALS second episode will air Thursday, October 10, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, again following an original episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.

The CW will launch the highly anticipated premiere of its Mary, Queen of Scots drama, REIGN, on Thursday, October 17, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, a week later than previously announced, allowing for even more time and opportunity to promote the series.

The schedule is as follows:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3

8:00-9:00 PM         THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (New Season Premiere Date)

9:00-10:00 PM         THE ORIGINALS (New Series Premiere Date)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8

8:00-9:00 PM         THE ORIGINALS (Time Period Premiere)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10

8:00-9:00 PM                 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Original Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM               THE ORIGINALS (Episode 2 Encore)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15

8:00-9:00 PM         THE ORIGINALS (Original Episode)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17

8:00-9:00 PM         THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Original Episode)

The Originals - Recurring Role Being Cast

A new recurring role is being cast for The Originals. The role is for Josh. The casting call states that The CW is looking for an early 20's male for the role. Josh is described as a “hot and naive but curious gay tourist partying with friends in New Orleans.” But like most people who cross paths with the supernatural world of “The Vampire Diaries,” Josh ends up in “the wrong part of the French Quarter” -- and unfortunately his trip has “dire consequences.” 

Caroline Dries On Season 5

What can you tell us about this season? What can fans expect?

This season, the theme of it is sort of “fresh start.” Elena [Nina Dobrev] is going to be going to college with Caroline[Candice Accola]; Damon [Ian Somerhalder]and Elena are trying to have a new, real-person relationship; and, of course, all of that is going to go terribly awry by the end of act one.

So they are happy for like one episode?

What we’re trying to do is keep them — you know how like, couples in TV shows you want them to be together and then they get together and all of the sexual tension is gone and they’re boring? We want to be hyper aware of that but we also want them to be happy for a little while because Damon has fought so hard to be with Elena. So we just want to go against the grain and make them a happy couple without bickering and fighting every episode but actually make the relationship suffer from real-life issues that come up in normal people’s relationships and make it less about the mythological conflict between them.

What kind of college student does Elena make? Are we going to mostly see her in classes or outside of campus? What kind of social life does she have?

She is going to school to prove she can be a functioning, normal vampire. She’s going to probably be pre-med, like her dad was a doctor. She just wants to go to college, go to frat parties, and hang out. And then when she goes there, of course her professor is super hot and maybe shady. But when she goes there she realizes something is going on at this college. So she becomes more embroiled in this vampire-college mystery that’s going on and it becomes less about her going to like math class.

Are we going to find out more about the doppelgänger mythology?

Yes, that’s another thing this whole season. So obviously it’s like, oh, Stefan’s [Paul Wesley]a doppelgänger! That’s kind of a huge bomb, so no, it was not just because we needed a cool episode out that was like a very interesting mythology. As Stefan is learning about himself and Elena is like, what is going on with me? Why do I exist? We’re going to realize that the doppelgängers are this awesome interesting mythology that dates back to the year zero.

How does Katherine [Nina Dobrev] handle being a human?

She is probably my favorite storyline; she’s my favorite character to write for right now because she continues to be this conniving, rude, manipulative bitch. But it’s like, now she can get paper cuts! So she is so proud, but now she’s vulnerable so she has to learn how to adapt as all of her victims have. So she becomes this weirdly lovable person that you kind of want to date every person on the show.

So, she misses being a vampire?

She is miserable, she is miserable.

So she is trying to find her way back to vampirism?

Yes, and so we address early on that no one has ever taken the cure before, so if I drank vampire blood and killed myself who is to say that I am going to wake up? So she’s not willing to risk anything.

So, becoming a human has made her more lovable?

I think that will ultimately be her arc, but I think she’ll continue to be Katherine the villain for the first chunk of the season because she just doesn’t know any other way.

Will we be seeing her a lot?

Yeah, you know she does kind of become this main character. So which is just to me really fun because you have Silas and Stefan you have Elena and Katherine. If you’re just getting into the show in Season 5, you’re like who are all these people. Do they not cast any new people?

What about Bonnie [Kat Graham]?

Bonnie has a really cool story this year. So we were like, what should we do with Bonnie last year because she had kind of climaxed in terms of her magical power. And it was like, do we take her to the next level and make her all evil which we’ve seen a million times or kill her and give her this new cool story from the other side. So she is going to deal with a lot of issues that are about death and stuff and coming to terms with her own death. All of her friends don’t realize she’s actually dead. So she’s keeping that her secret.

Source

The Originals - Directors Cut - Deleted Scenes

Spoiler From TV Guide - 23rd July 2013

Do you know when The Vampire Diaries will pick up this season?

"We're coming back three months later, so we'll touch base on what the characters have been doing all summer," says executive producer Caroline Dries. "We realize that poor Stefan has been drowning, dying and coming back to life. But everyone else has been having a totally fun time. Elena and Damon are a super-sexy couple and happy for once. Caroline is ready to start school. Nobody knows that Bonnie is dead, so it's bliss, but then there's Stefan just dying." Just a typical summer vacation!

The Vampire Diaries Season 5 - Brand new Promo

The Originals - What We Know So Far...

"The Vampire Diaries" is a fan-favorite at San Diego Comic-Con, and now its spinoff "The Originals" made its big premiere with its first-ever panel. Some new video was shown, but the bulk of the panel focused on introducing these familiar and new characters to the audience in attendance beyond what they saw in "The Originals'" backdoor pilot.

In addition to a sizzle reel, an alternate ending featuring a witch locked up in an attic by Marcel was screened that showed a different taste of the direction "The Originals" is taking. Plec promises this character is one of the big mysteries in Season 1 that will be dealt with right off the bat. The pilot was already shown on preview night, but it turns out that the show's actual first episode will be a retelling of what fans saw back in April.

"Elijah goes to New Orleans to figure out what his brother is up to," showrunner Julie Plecteases. "We'll see similar scenes and moments that we didn't get to see in the pilot."

Rebekah won't appear in New Orleans until episode 2 because she has her own story to finish. "She's still hoochin' it up with Matt Donovan," Plec says. Rebekah will also appear in the premiere episode of "The Vampire Diaries," which will see her storyline with Matt come to a close. "Something will bring her to new Orleans in the second episode with an ... agenda," Plec says.

Rebekah isn't the only one leaving someone behind in Mystic Falls. Elijah also had to say farewell to Katherine. "I 100 percent thinks he still has feelings for Katherine, but the level of his devotion to his family comes first," Daniel Gillies says of Elijah's departure.

Then there are Klaroline fans, who aren't super happy about Klaus having a new baby mama. Expect that the Klaus and Caroline relationship will still be dealt with. "It's not like she doesn't exist," Plec says. "If anything she's sort of like the Buffy to his Angel. She made an impact on him." Joseph Morgan adds of the seeming end of that relationship, "It's all I hear about."

Beyond the original vampires in "The Originals," Marcel will also be put front and center.Charles Michael Davis' new character will be explored through flashbacks all through Season 1, with the first few episodes looking into how Marcel and Klaus first met and then watch Marcel "grow from a boy to a man."

Phoebe Tonkin throws a wrench in "The Originals" storyline as her werewolf character Hayley is pregnant with Klaus' child. Plec says that romance might not necessarily follow the one night stand-turned-parenthood, but at least both characters have a bond. For Morgan, something a bit different brought Klaus to Hayley.

"He's had two and a half seasons of celibacy, so he has some pent up energy," Morgan jokes. "I got away with two seasons of having a shirt on 'The Vampire Diaries.' I think that's got to be a record."

When a fan asked whether Klaus and Hayley's baby will be a hybrid or some new creature, Plec hedged and says, "I obviously can't give an answer to that." Still, she gave an answer of swords, saying, "I think that everybody will have their own opinion about what this baby and what it means." She continues, "There will be a million supernatural debates. ... It will be part of the fun of waiting for it to be born."

All Holt wants, though, is for it to be a "husky puppy." We'll be the first to second that.

Source

The Originals - Brand New Promo

The Originals Spoiler From TV Guide - 16th July 2013

Anything on The Originals?

We'll soon find out that Katherine wasn't the only woman who came between Klaus and Elijah. Back in the 1800s, Klaus was entangled with a stunning Creole woman named Celeste, who also had a fondness for Elijah, who wasn't as busy as his brother keeping the residents of New Orleans in check. I'm sure that'll end well!

Vampire Diaries Spoiler From TV Guide - 16th July 2013

Please tell me you have some Damon or Stefan scoop on The Vampire Diaries!

How about both? One of Stefan's numerous exes will pop up this season... with a vengeance. Tessa is a fellow vampire, natch, and she's spent centuries hunting down the Salvatores. She'll first tangle with Damon, whose daylight ring will conspicuously go missing in her presence — and that's really bad. 

Jesse Has Been Cast

Kendrick Sampson will play Jesse, a fellow student who Elena and Caroline meet on their first at Whitmore College. The new recurring character will be introduced in the 10th October Season 5 premiere episode.

Nadia Has Been Cast

Russian model-turned-actress Olga Fonda is joining the Season 5 cast as the fearless, worldly, guarded and vengeance-seeking Nadia.

The recurring character, who will be introduced in the Oct. 10 premiere, “will ally herself with anybody — and employ any tactic — to further her own mysterious agenda,” read the initial casting breakdown. “An emotional chameleon, she can flip from stone-cold to flirtatious as it suits her needs. But the loneliness of her singular quest has taken its toll on her humanity, and she finds herself increasingly lost when it comes to genuine human connection.”

Candice Accola Interview

Season 5 of The Vampire Diaries — when do you go back?

We go back at the beginning of July for Season 5. Coming right up. It's exciting to go back to Atlanta with a whole new family there, as well, that will be filming for The Originals. I'm so excited for Julie Plec. She has three shows on the network right now. Tomorrow People, The Originals, and The Vampire Diaries. The family has been doing wonderful. She's blowing up.

What do you want to see for Caroline in Season 5?

What I find, it can be tricky sometimes for shows to transition into the college years. What I find very fortunate about The Vampire Diaries, and what has been going well, is they don't go to high school that much. It's kind of a running joke because you never see the kids in high school. So the idea of them going to college is not going to be that jarring of a transition because so much happens outside of the school environment. I think the girls are going to college, we're going to find out more about Silas, and Stefan's character. For Caroline in particular, I think it would be fun for her to go to college, and not think about Klaus. Be single for a little bit and see what she wants, like every girl who goes off to college.

Why should she be single — to help find her identity?

Yeah, I think it's important to go into your college years with an open mind, and focus on yourself, what you want in life. The running joke is when fans of the show ask, I tell them, especially the female fans, is I'm looking out for their best interests. Because we have to hire more good-looking men on the show.

How will Caroline feel about Bonnie becoming a ghost?

Caroline doesn't know yet that Bonnie is dead. So this is I'm sure going to be a big shock to her. She will have many emotions and feelings on that matter. But right now going into Season 5, she doesn't know that Bonnie is dead, she doesn't know that Stefan is in a coffin, and she definitely doesn't know that Klaus has a baby on the way. So Caroline has a whole bunch of stuff to learn in the next season!

Source

Spoiler From TV Guide - 9th July 2013

How will Elena deal with college on The Vampire Diaries?

Elena and Caroline will find college to be much more difficult than they anticipated when they stumble into a class led by a hot, but not-so-nice professor who knows more about Mystic Falls than he's letting on. Does it scare anyone else that his true passion is research that he believes will help humanity?

Spoiler From TV Line - 9th July 2013

Production of Season 5 of Vampire Diaries officially started this week. I realize its a tad early but is there a way we can find out how much Delena sexiness is shippers can expect in the premiere!?

Can’t help you on the Delena front, but there’s buzz that the show is casting a male doctor who knows alllllll of Damon’s secrets.