‘The Originals’: Joseph Morgan Talks Cami’s Death, Klaus’ Relationship With Marcel

“The Originals”
delivered its own “Game of Thrones”-like twist when it killed off a major character unexpectedly before the end of the season.

The loss of Cami was great, but Joseph
Morgan’s character, Klaus Mikaelson, didn’t have much time to grieve. After an
emotional episode (where he stayed by Cami’s side until her last breath), the
following week’s episode saw him quickly hit the road with Hayley, in pursuit
of Lucien, the villain who caused Cami’s death.

The Mikaelson family united to
take Lucien out, but
it came with a huge price. Elijah knocked out Marcel to allow Freya the ability to channel
the magic of the ancestors through Davina, leaving the young woman unprotected, and in the ancestral
realm. Now, Marcel is heartbroken, devastated and possibly unpredictable. With no sireling connection between them, will Klaus be able
to get through to Marcel before he does something rash? Access Hollywood asked
Joseph about what’s next when we spoke with him on Thursday. But first, we had to ask the actor –
and TV twist expert (thanks to his role on his own series) – about recent happenings on one of his favorite shows –
“Game of Thrones.” (Spoiler alert if you aren’t caught up on
“Thrones.”)

PHOTOS: ‘The Originals’: Scenes From Season 3, Episode 21 — ‘Give ‘Em Hell Kid’

AccessHollywood.com: 
[When I spoke to you at Comic-Con last summer, you mentioned you thought Jon
Snow, on ‘Game of Thrones’] would [come back to life]. I’ve got to know what your reaction
was when he woke up.
Joseph Morgan: In the second
episode, as soon as they showed his body again, I was like, ‘OK, he’s coming
back,’ because I know how this works. If the actor is still there playing a
dead body in Episode 2, and being shown again and again, I was like, ‘OK, he’s
coming back at some point.’ But yeah, I was thrilled with the way they did it
and then… [it was] just like super cool at the end of Episode 3, walking
out, you know, ‘My watch has ended.’ … Such a movie moment.

Access: What do you think is
going to happen?
Joseph: I think that bloody Jon Snow and Khaleesi and Bran are
going to become the three dragon riders and kick some a*** all over Westeros
basically.

WATCH: ‘The Originals’ Exclusive Sneak Peek! Klaus & Detective Kinney Chat At Memorial For Cami

Access: Ha! Awesome. …
[Recently, your show] killed off [Leah Pipes’ character] Cami. Were you super
shocked when you read that? Or did you guys know it was coming?
Joseph: She told me actually, because
they’re considerate enough to talk to the actors before it happens so you
don’t just all get the same script and you’re like, ‘Ohhh, awkward’ in the
read-through.
Yeah, I was shocked… I guess because it’s been so long. We haven’t killed
anyone — I mean, we’ve killed people, but not someone who was a regular,
contracted cast [member], who has been here from the beginning. … It was shocking, but I
feel like it ups the stakes of the show and it proves that anything can happen
and I’m interested to see how it affects Klaus moving forward.

Access: It’s funny you should
say that because that’s actually something I noticed, which is that we
really haven’t seen who Klaus is after Cami, like what legacy she’s left on him. I’m guessing then, maybe by what you just said, that we don’t really explore
that before the end of the season?
Joseph: Because we are at the end of the
season – I definitely played towards that and definitely the beginning — in
Episode 20, you see obviously the fury and the thing with Lucien—

Access: But that’s a few minutes
after, or a few hours, or a few days as opposed to who this guy is now. …
But, anyway, go on…
Joseph: No, no, no, you’re right though,
and indeed, the events escalate so quickly now, we really power through to the
end of the season. Actually, Episode 21… it’s more drama-based than
action-based I would say, although there is a little action that’s quite
impressive, but there’s a chance to see that, although it’s really more about
Klaus trying to make amends with Marcel and do that and I think that’s some
kind of legacy that Cami has left behind is trying to unlock that humanity in
him.

Access: I love that we’re
seeing a different side of Charles [Michael Davis’] character on screen. It
certainly looks like he’s getting to tap into some different emotions.
Joseph: And more of him is nice, you know? Next episode [has] loads of Charles and he’s terrific as well and is bringing his
A-game. So I agree. It’s very nice to see that and to see Marcel kind of on the
front foot and going up against the Mikaelsons a little more.

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Access: [Marcel] seems to be
very raw, possibly unpredictable. What did you enjoy about filming those
scenes? We saw the one scene where your character reaches to touch him on the
shoulder and he pulls away… and [there are] preview scenes that
look super-intense. What was that like for you getting to see Charles [that
way] and work off of him with that kind of emotion going on?
Joseph: Yeah, it was really exciting for
me because it’s always been there — that fire in his character, but we haven’t
really explored it as much… And he and I — we have a
lot to do in the very next episode, in both episodes actually, and he did some
pretty amazing work in 21 and 22, and it’s nice for me to kind of just watch
and listen and feel like this show is awesome and just watching someone be
awesome in our show. It’s really great. And also having seen him go on the
journey that he has from the beginning has been really pleasing. Look, I’ve
said before in interviews, I want more of him in the show, and I think that’s
good. The end of this season has more of him and it was the right decision
because it’s some of our best work. I think it’s really paid off and so for me,
just working with someone who I regard as a very talented actor, who is actually
now really pushing their own boundaries, that’s exciting for me. … It makes me
want to push even further, like, ‘Oh, you’re going to do that? OK, well let me
see what I can bring to this then.’

Access: Stepping up your game.
I think that’s the thing as artists, you want to constantly be challenged. And
surprise — I always feel like that’s where the best creativity comes from —
is when somebody does something you don’t expect. 
Joseph: Yeah. Absolutely, and often — I get
great enjoyment from rehearsing a scene and then filming the wide shots and
then changing what I’m doing, just emotionally, trying to catch people off
guard a little bit. It’s sort of slightly a mischievous thing I enjoy, but
I also think it brings life to the scenes, if suddenly you catch someone off
guard. And I love it when someone does it to me, and you’re like, ‘Oh!’ because
then you’re not like resorting to a prepared way of saying the dialogue, you’re
actually just living in that moment and kind of responding and hitting the ball
back however it comes to you, which is really exciting I think.

Access: One of the things they
kind of haven’t explored, and I’m curious how your character is going to deal
with it is — Marcel was one of his sirelings. They’re no longer attached, that
connection has been broken. What can Klaus appeal to now? What are his go-tos
with somebody like Marcel when that link is broken?
Joseph: Well, he has to hope that there is a genuine bond there,
doesn’t he? I think there’s a moment with Lucien earlier in the season when he
says, ‘You thought all these people were defending you because they liked you?
No, they were just linked to you. Their lives were linked to yours,’ and so now
he really has to think, ‘God, I hope I was nice to this person over the years.
I hope I did all right by him and I hope it all adds up because this could be
trouble.’ I think that’s what it is. And I do believe Klaus believes that there
is a bond between he and Marcel and something… genuine family love, and we’ll
have to see how much Marcel holds him responsible for.

Access: For what happened with
poor Davina. Oh my gosh. So, I know you finished filming [for the season], are
you going to have time to do any fun stuff over the summer before they bring
you back for Season 4? 
Joseph: I get to travel around a little
bit and I’m going to direct a short film that my wife and I wrote. We’re going
to do it in Georgia. We’ve got some of the crew from my show and some from
‘Vampire Diaries.’ We’re just getting it together in terms of assembling,
putting the team together, so I’m going to shoot that because I directed an
episode this season and I’ve done a couple of shorts before that, and so I
really kind of got the bug for that and wanted to just explore directing
something else that I’m also acting in, which will be this short were making.
So that’s fun, although it’s a lot of hard work, but I find if I’m too idle, I
get bored. I like the idea of like, I’m going to do nothing and then I’m bored
with in an hour, so I like to keep myself stimulated.

“The Originals”
continues Friday at 9/8c on The CW. The Season 3 finale airs next week.

— Jolie Lash