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So grab your tissues and join us on this trip down a vampire-filled memory lane.
This week, Daniel Gillies remembers his beginning as Elijah Mikaelson…
Credit: Quantrell Colbert/The CW
Very little was described to me in the beginning.
They didnt know what they wanted to do with Elijah.
It was never anyones intention to make him Klaus brother.
I dont know how I knew, I just knew instinctively that there was something interesting about him.
In the beginning, he was a lot more ruthless.
He would go from that creature to the savage one, the monster in the suit.
They werent in a great rush to make him a good guy.
Until Klaus came, they needed that energy, that great foe.
To simplify in that way, you had to reestablish what a norm was.
Theyre the bad guys.
So in a world of bad guys, what is another bad guy?
When Niklaus entered, it was an interesting shift.
To me, the whole vampire motif is about humanity.
You have these immortal figures but theyre actually looking at mortal lives with tremendous envy.
To me, the metaphor of the vampires beautiful, no matter where you look for it in literature.
In a way, its asking you to look at humanity and life as a gift.
The very beginning was particularly enjoyable.
The most exciting thing that happened was discovering that I had a character that I wanted to fiercely protect.
Elijah really made me a much better writer because I started writing ferociously for him.
I have Elijah to thank for making me a much better writer.
As told to Samantha Highfill
The Vampire Diariesairs Fridays at 8 p.m.
ET on The CW.
