‘The Originals’: Daniel Gillies On Hayley, Esther’s Return & Filming With Babies

Elijah and Hayley continue to hit bumps in their relationship road on “The Originals.”

She’s still hurting from the absence of her daughter, Hope, and trying to deal with the feelings and desires that come with becoming a new hybrid. In “The Originals” Season 2 premiere last week, Daniel Gillies’ Elijah encouraged his brother, Klaus, to help Hayley, knowing that he couldn’t comfort her in the way she needed. With all Elijah does for Hayley, it had us wondering: Does Elijah ultimately want a happy family situation with his niece and Hayley? Is that his ultimate goal?

“If he’s to return their kingdom back to them, then yes, that would mean Klaus and Hayley would be in this home with this child. I think that Elijah imagines in some sense – I would like to think that he imagines — that he would become, at the very least, a mentor of sorts, if not another father to this child. I think he really does wish both his brother and… the woman he loves, joy and peace,” Daniel told Access Hollywood. “To our human minds, this sounds sort of appalling. ‘Do I really want to return this family to the place where I believe it should be, because won’t that bite me in the a**e when Klaus is ultimately a father again? I totally understand how that dynamic might not work for Elijah, but I think that right now he wants to believe that it can.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Originals’: The Latest Scenes From Season 2

Elijah continues to put his loved ones above all, but does Daniel see a point where his character pursues his own desires?

“Yeah, he will. This season more than ever,” the actor said. “And he does, but unfortunately the road to where you’re talking about is paved with a lot of difficulty and adversity and just… torture before he can reconcile himself with the idea of serving himself.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Originals’: Season 2 Cast Portraits

The Original will have to deal with his family at some point, but it is Elijah’s mother, Esther, who Daniel suggested will be the most difficult to deal with of the returned Mikaelson parents.

“The mother’s the one who holds all the power. Isn’t that true of life as well? The mother’s the more frightening adversary right now, with regard to the parents. I suspect at this moment in time, she’s designed to be the most threatening creature in the universe of ‘The Originals,'” he said.

Teen witch Davina brought Mikaelson patriarch Mikael back from beyond, but Daniel said he doesn’t expect his character to harbor resentment against the young woman when he finds out.

“I think one of the more lovely things about Elijah… is that he sees integrity and intention and he knows what innocence is, you know? And I think he recognizes that in Davina and I think he respects her,” the actor said.

WATCH: Sebastian Roche Hints At What’s Ahead On ‘The Originals’

In “The Originals” Season 2 premiere, Rebekah appeared in the opening sequence with baby Hope. When Access asked Daniel (a dad himself) if he has gotten to spend any time with the infant on set, he hinted that fans will see Elijah and Hope together on screen at some point.

“I have had some baby time, but that’s about all I can say. I wish I could talk more, but yes, I have had some baby time,” he said.

He did tell Access that when “The Originals” tried to film with baby Hope (who is actually played by twins), in the late hours, things didn’t go as planned.

“Unfortunately, because of some difficulties with scheduling, we thought it was prudent to do some filming in the middle of the night, one night, which was my particular scene with this beautiful infant, and unfortunately, everything went sideways, because as I know all too well, when a baby should be sleeping, they should be sleeping and… we had a tricky night in particular shooting,” Daniel said. “That said, the following day, the very same babies… were cherubs. Little Michelangelo cherubs. They were behaving [perfectly], because that’s the time to shoot – when they’re rested and fed and the temperature’s correct, etc. But, yeah, it’s tricky and I think we all learned our lesson.”

“The Originals” continues Monday at 8/7c on The CW.

— Jolie Lash