3. THE CHARACTER OF ELIJAH
If you have read the TVD novels then you would probably know that the character of Elijah Mikaelson doesn’t exist in the books. But his appearances and demeanor is modeled after the book Klaus. Daniel considered himself fortunate enough to get the opportunity to play Elijah. He felt connected to him and believed there was so much more to him. He worked alongside the TVD writers and wrote stuff for Elijah’s character to develop him further. While Rebekah, Klaus, Finn, and Kol have a British accent. The noble Elijah has an American accent. Daniel explained that he made the decision intentionally because he felt that the character of Elijah would have lived in Europe, he would have traveled to New York City. He would have experienced different cultures, communities, and therefore his accent must not be pinned to a single location.
2. HE WASN’T MEANT TO BE KLAUS’ BROTHER?
Elijah Mikaelson is the first Original Vampire to appear in second season of the Vampire Diaries. The casting for the character Klaus took very long that the showrunners created the character of Elijah to fill in for Klaus at the very last minute. Klaus was supposed to appear in the episodes where Elijah makes an appearance. In an interview given to EW, Daniel Gillies revealed that there was very little direction to the character of Elijah. It wasn’t the original plan to make him the brother of Klaus Mikaelson. He was meant to be more of a hitman or a sort of mercenary which was pretty evident in the his earlier appearances. Daniel believed that Elijah would be written off once he has fulfilled his part in the narrative. But the creators kept him around because they needed someone to match the strong villainous presence of Klaus. The relationship between Klaus & Elijah was revealed pretty later, by that time showrunners had developed an idea for Elijah’s story arc.
1. DANIEL GILLIES DIDN’T LIKE ORIGINALS FINALE?
In an interview Daniel Gillies spoke about the final season of the Originals. He mentioned as to how there were several changes to the scripts and they were working under tremendous pressure. The pressure on the cast was not only to conclude their own show, but to film the backdoor episode for the Legacies. He revealed that it felt like they were doing a different show at the time when they should be working towards concluding Originals. Also, in a comic-con interview, the actor talked about how the character of Elijah was taken in a different direction. In the beginning, he was quiet and enigmatic, but then he started speaking monologues which kind of took away the mystique of the character. Daniel further said that the ending felt like the one they’d always have, but by the time they reached that point, he didn’t understand why Elijah was doing what he was doing. The motivation for Klaus was clear, but it seemed peculiar for Elijah.