Image Credit: Quantrell Colbert/The CWWhen EW first talked to Daniel Gillies last January, he explained that as an actor, he had to make certain guesses about Elijah’s motivations in order to play The Vampire Diaries‘ new villain. As we approach tonight’s season finale (The CW, 8 p.m. ET), it’s a good time to ask: How close was he? “You know, I suspected the ties of family between Klaus and Elijah, and I’m grateful that I went in that direction. I also suspected a deeper relationship and history with Katherine, and interestingly enough, that played out also,” he says. Executive producer Julie Plec did end up revealing that Elijah and Klaus were half-brothers before Gillies had to read it in a script. “She trusted me,” he says. “She didn’t even ask me to keep it under my hat, but I did anyway because I didn’t want to ruin it for the other cast members or in case anything got leaked.’”
Gillies is equally tight-lipped about Elijah’s involvement in season 2′s final hour, but he confirms that we will see him. “It’s furthering this pact that Klaus has made that he knows where the family is and he’ll reunite me. We’re gonna explore that,” he teases.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I wasn’t surprised — or all that angry even — that Elijah made the decision to save Klaus to get to his family.
DANIEL GILLIES: Neither was I. It’s funny, we’ve been talking about him being so noble all the time. When people said he’s a man of his word, he’s honorable, I was sort of conflicted. There was a few things that he’s done that I don’t think were very honorable, actually, that fans overlook. Like, when he was almost ruthlessly pursuing Damon and Rose in the beginning, and I picked up those coins out of the busker’s guitar case and threw them at the window — I thought that was the opposite of nobility to include all those innocent people in his mayhem. A lot of the fans, that’s their favorite shot of me, and that’s actually the least noble thing that’s done on the show. His agenda is thousands of years old, so the fact that he turned and destroyed the plans of Stefan and Bonnie doesn’t surprise me at all. Other cast members came up to me and said, “Oh, how do you feel about that? Oh, man, it’s terrible, right?” Like it’s a bad thing. I personally love characters when they f— up. It’s exciting to me. When someone like Elijah — who almost seems robotic at times in his execution, the economy of his motion — does something like that, you actually see his humanity. I love the mistakes that people make. In a sense, for me at least, it brings me closer to them.
My question is this: If Klaus hunted down the rest of Elijah’s family, was he searching for Elijah all these years? What’s your take on that?
I think Elijah was difficult. I think that Elijah was elusive, extremely intelligent. [Laughs] Much more intelligent than I. I think also there was probably a part of Klaus that couldn’t quite bring himself to pursue Elijah with real vengeance. I think that there was a part of them that was extremely close for centuries, and I think that on whatever level, he probably resisted hunting Elijah as he did the rest of the family. But I also think that Elijah is probably extraordinarily good at eluding him.
Fans have been talking about the chemistry between Elijah and Elena. Do you think that’s just because he sees in her what he saw in Katherine or the person Katherine reminded him of? Or is it something more than that?
I think that he sees Katherine, but I think that it’s even deeper. I think Elena is so much more heroic than Katherine because she’s got so much more to lose. That’s not to say that Katerina didn’t have a lot to lose back in the day, but I think that Elena represents even more heroism. I think Elena reminds Elijah of everything he liked about being human and continues to like about being human.
Do you think we’ve seen him soften through his run?
We have to an extent. It’s an interesting issue. A good and a bad thing as an actor is sometimes you become good as exposition, and I think that I was relatively good and am relatively good at exposition. So therefore, necessarily, I became a sort of device for opening up the past. Which meant that I kinda couldn’t be this cold guy on the outskirts saying four words an episode and murdering five people. I couldn’t be this cowboy for as long as I wanted. It wouldn’t have worked. I basically had to open the door into the past, and so they had to create in me a degree of diplomacy/approachability.
When we chatted in January, we had a great conversation about who you’d love to see play Klaus. Any suggestions you’d like to share for members of Elijah’s family?
Oh, man. We can dig up some of those old names. I loved that you printed that…. I must say that Joseph Morgan [who was ultimately cast as Klaus] wasn’t impressed when he came to set. He gave me a punch on the arm and was like, “Jonathan Rhys Meyers?! Ian McShane?!”
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Joseph Morgan talks his inspiration for Klaus
Daniel Gillies talks Elijah’s turn on
Soo happy and excited but soo sad for tonight. I know it will be epic and like a roller coaster because every week is that!- But I will be soo sad!
I’m really hoping he becomes a recurring character for TVD, next season and on.
The showrunners have referred to next year as “the Season of the Originals” so I think it’s a pretty safe bet that he will be. And yay for that!
that sounds amazing!!!
ahh how awesom would Johnathon Rys Meyers would make an awesome original!
The only thing better than Mandi’s Friday TVD recaps are Mandi’s Thursday interviews with the cast of TVD.
I didn’t think I could like Daniel Gillies more than I already do, but I find myself hanging on his every word.
Me too. I always want more from his interviews.
I still love Elijah. Daniel gives him this wonderful complexity that’s fun to watch. Him I will enjoy in future episodes, Klaus not so much.
So looking forward to Originals in Season 3! Love Daniel. Love Elijah. Love Klaus.
I adore this man. Daniel Gillies has been the best edition to TVD to date. Elijah is so layered and complex, but at the same time holding so much power… It’s electrifying. I understood completely and with no hesitation why he saved Klaus. The fans who don’t understand why he did what he did I think are missing the point. He was driven by his honor to his family, that has been his motivator. For the equation to have been changed at the last minute – he responded with a nobility to that. TVD is a show about family. The ties your born with and the ones you make. If he had kept his word to these strangers at the expense of his family what would that have made him? I hope Gillies is a series regular next year, Elijah is the type of character – because he does have an approachability and almost boredom at human/lesser vamp troubles – that has so very much to give to the show. The posibilites are endless.
You know, I didn’t have an issue with his decision as much as I did with Stefan, randomly and for the very first time asking Elijah if he was actually going to go through with it earlier in the episode. It just seemed heavy-handed and obvious. If that was a concern, why did no one ask/consider it earlier?? Shouldn’t the story of Klaus killing the family been told in connection with the reveal about the truth of the Sun & Moon curse?
While I completely understand why Elijah did what he did and totally agree with it in terms of story line potential I have one problem with it. Klaus does not seem to be at all trustworthy and is now invincible. So if Klaus hunted down his entire family and hid them then what prevents him from doing the same to Elijah when he pulls his hand out of Klaus’s chest. It just seems to be a stupid move even if it is motivated by family loyalty and Elijah does not seem that stupid.
I have loved Elijah since the first episode we saw him. There was just something different about him — and not just that he was “evil”, or a villain to the protagonists. From the start there was this air about him, even when he was slapping off heads and throwing change through the window of a crowded coffeehouse. Reading this interview, and the interview from January, it’s been made more than abundantly clear that adding Daniel Gillies to the cast was an excellent decision. Gillies just GETS Elijah. I continuously find myself in awe of his performance and what he brings to the character. Elijah can be dangerous almost beyond measure, and that’s frightening, but there is such a complexity, such an understated sense of ennui toward the universe, too, that blows me away. I think Elijah is one of the most dynamic characters on TVD right now; we’ve seen more sides of him than really any other character. I am so looking forward to seeing what they do with him next season, and I hope Gillies becomes a series regular. I need more Daniel Gillies on my TV, please.
I hope to God Elijah survives the finale. I don’t want my wife to turn to me for consolation only for her to see me weeping (manly tears!) in the corner.
Love the Elijah character. Such a soft spoken gentleman. Not to mention he is extremely hot. So nice to tune in to the show because of him. Don’t like going on fan sites of the show. All you hear is a bunch of grown women trying to one up each other. Arguing over Damon and Stefan, crazy.
When the right actor comes together with the right role, lightning strikes. It struck The Vampire Diaries this season when Daniel Gillies came on board as Elijah. It is, understandably, no small feat for a person in their 30′s to convincingly portray a being who is thousands of years old, and Gillies does it to perfection. From Day 1, Elijah has been complex, layered, and subtle. Far from a cardboard stand-in for villain, he has always given the sense that there was a whole world of things happening beneath the surface. Gillies can do so much with the slightest facial shift; he has made Elijah by far the most compelling character on the series — maybe on ANY series.
I for one couldn’t have been happier when Elijah chose to spare Klaus on the (admittedly small) chance that he can resurrect his lost family. I would have expected nothing less. I’ll be very intrigued to see where the character goes from here. Hopefully, where he goes is to “Series Regular” status.
It would be a poor way to repay someone for elevating the material to the degree that Gillies has if they did kill him off tonight. It wouldn’t be a positive move for the show either. But this sudden glut of interviews is making me wonder…
Completely agree. For me Season one was outstanding. Season two I didn’t like until Daniel came on board.
I HopE EleNa anD DaMon kiss finallY Like i’ve been hoping!
Holding my breath, not daring to exhale yet!! So excited and nervous and happy and sad…. Thanks to everyone involved in bringing us this wonderful show!! After this evening, I will be waiting, waiting, waiting, until September!! My favorite guilty pleasure…
I LOVE THIS SHOW!!
I would like to see Elijah stick around, but not Klause or any of the originals. I am not enjoying the whole originals story line. I like the Mystic Falls gang and their relationships with each other, and their town – their history, their secrets and hook ups and breakups, etc. Elijah could stay – just not the whole clan. How about this for the cliffhanger – finale – at the end, you see Elena go down into the Salvatore house basement, where they stored Elijah when he was dead, and there, laid out on a table, is Aunt Jenna’s body – we realize her funeral was faked to protect her from Klaus, and that Elena and friends are trying to find a way to bring her back. Elijah now owes Elena for betraying her and not killing Klaus, so he redeems himself by bringing Jenna back somehow, perhaps using the elixer. Jenna comes back, as a vampire, and we follow Jenna’s journey as a vampire stepmom to Jeremy and Elena, as well as her new relationship with Alaric. I hated what happened to Jenna and that she died – I want her to come back.
i think matt will die. he has no purpose. he is boring like mary simon. and susan is weird