‘The Vampire Diaries’: Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies and executive producer Julie Plec talk Originals

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Klaus (Joseph Morgan) is a name that we’ve heard a lot on this season of the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.” He’s strong, powerful, bad, and when he finally made his entrance in last week’s episode, we learned he’s also more than just a vampire. But it was Daniel Gillies’ performance as Elijah that made the vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus immortal. Executive producer Julie Plec was so won over by his work that they decided to make the Originals unkillable, something she’s talked about before with Show Tracker.

Once Gillies made his mark on the show, the brotherly connection between Elijah and Klaus was born. “Elijah was not a character we began the season knowing would be part of the story,” Plec said during a recent press event. “Once we knew Elijah was sticking around, that was the link we made.” (The Curse of the Sun and the Moon, meanwhile, was always intended to be a ruse.) As brothers, Elijah and Klaus provide a mirror to Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) relationship and reinforce the theme of family throughout the show, but they’re not an exact reflection of the Salvatore brothers.

“In the beginning, both Joseph [Morgan] and I were trying to figure out which one we were,” Gillies said. “Am I more like Damon or am I [like Stefan]? We couldn’t figure out which one. Actually, we’re sort of a combination of both things.” Morgan echoed the statement, adding, “Both of our characters carry aspects of both of [them], for sure.” The complicated relationship between the two brothers will be further explored in the present day, where things are a little different. “In the 1400s, there’s a different hierarchy going on between us than when we meet again in modern day,” Morgan said. “There’ll be a very different dynamic between the two of us.”

Another character Klaus has an interesting dynamic with: Alaric (Matt Davis). It’s not too often you can say you inhabited somebody. After being cast, Morgan and Davis “had a little chat” about how they would play Klaus and “just sort of talked about the playful element of the character and maintaining a bit of stillness,” Morgan said. “Just a few things really. I thought he did a tremendous job. When I saw him, I thought that’s kind of what I was going for. Partly through that small chat we had and partly just through, obviously, we had the same instincts. It worked, I felt.”

Being the oldest vampires in history also provides for lots of possibilities. Gillies had an interesting pick for what other period of time he’d like to see the characters in: “The Crucifixion of Christ. How fascinating would that be?” he answered, leading Plec to exclaim, “Oh my God, you totally could have a hand in that! That’d be really hilarious webisodes -- the Klaus/Elijah throughout time, how they impacted history.”

Alas, there won’t be anymore Elijah/Klaus/Katherine flashbacks this season, but Plec did reveal that “Season 3 is very much the season of the Originals” and how vampire-werewolf procreation works is something that “will be prevalent in the future.” So does that mean Elijah or Klaus might be series regulars next season? “That is a decision that gets made when we actually break story for Season 3,” she replied, adding with a laugh that that will happen after a well-deserved trip to Mexico.

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-- Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)