Kat Graham reveals top spoilers of ‘The Vampire Diaries!’
Source: Chicago Now

Sorry guys, the misleading headline on this post is strictly for Katerina Graham, who wasn’t about to give me any scoop on Bonnie, the witch she plays in The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.”

But she did offer this tidbit as we discussed Bonnie’s desire to protect her friends from vampires, werewolves or anything else threatening them: “Even if there was a bad witch in town, one that was up to no good, she would challenge her. Definitely. She wouldn’t let it slide just because they might bring another, well, you know, witch in.”

Did the spoiler-blocking Graham slip? Since our chat, “TVD” executive producer Kevin Williamson told TV Guide that Bonnie will meet a witch named Lucy “whose identity will be a big surprise.”

But that’s probably not going to happen in “Plan B,” the episode airing at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 on WGN. The vampire-despising Bonnie does deal with her strained relationships to BFFs Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Caroline (Candice Accola). Despite their differences–Elena dates hottie vamp Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), and Caroline has become a vamp–Bonnie still will help them, Graham said.

“I think Bonnie is all about protecting and loving her friends,” the 21-year-old said. “She’s going to do what she has to do to protect the ones she loves, no matter what.”

She’s got the game to do it, too. Bonnie has taken down Stefan’s trouble-making brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder), a couple times. And even though her powers had no effect on Katherine, the evil vamp (also played by Dobrev) who has come to the creature-plagued Mystic Falls to wreak havoc for Elena, Stefan and Damon, Bonnie–Graham actually–wants another battle.

“I hope. I love when Nina’s just like the bad-assed, kick-ass woman,” she said. “I love doing scenes with her, period, but I really love doing showdown scenes with her because she’s just so into it. I think a showdown with Katherine would be incredible.”

She also wants Bonnie to find love, which is a storyline that exec producer Julie Plec has promised. Still, Graham wasn’t giving anything away.

“The strongest connection she has with a guy is with Damon, and it’s not a positive one,” Graham said, refusing to speculate on who Bonnie might date. At the time of our interview, I suggested Matt (Zach Roerig), although since then I’ve started to think it might be Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen). “Maybe we’ll talk in a few weeks to recap.”

Katerina, it’s time to give me a call.

I have much more from Katerina Graham below, but first here’s part of a chat I had with Steven R. McQueen and Michael Trevino, who were in Chicago for the “TVD” Hot Topic Tour.

MORE FROM KATERINA GRAHAM
Read on for more from Graham. We talked not only about “TVD,” but also her music career, disco dancing and the head colds we’d been suffering from.

You should be able to get rid of that fast with a spell or some kind of potion, right?
Yeah I know, right? You would think I would get a little something from being on this show, a little magical something. No, I’m still driving to work; I’m not flying.

Don’t you wish that were the case though?
I really do, it would save me so much time on traffic. [Laughs.]

Is traffic bad in Atlanta?
You know what, you’d be surprised. Because coming from L.A., I’m like, “Nothing can beat L.A. traffic,” but if you get stuck on this thing called the 20 East out here, you’re like done for. I mean, it’s just awful. Yeah, the traffic out here is pretty serious.

Yeah? You guys shoot outside of town, right?
Yeah, we have two stages that are about 20 minutes, 30 minutes away from where I live, which is basically where we shoot most of the stuff. We’ve built all these crazy sets for the Salvatore House and Elena’s bedroom and her school. And then we have, when we’re shooting exterior shots are at this place called like the Lockland Mansion where we shoot in the town called Covington. And that’s like an hour outside of Atlanta and we have these fans that come out every so often and it’s like always like the same fans. So you kind of grow a relationship with the fans that come visit you, ‘because it’s always the same ones that live there. It’s really awesome. So. Yeah. Yeah, it’s really cool.

So, how far along are you guys in shooting?
I think we start Episode 8 tomorrow or the next day. We did a final scene for Episode 6 and then we’re doing it simultaneously with Episode 7 because certain things you change around and it’s easier to shoot certain things later. So, yeah, we’re already on Episode 8 and the fans are just about to see Episode 4. So I know a few secrets; I know what’s going on in Mystic Falls a little bit right now. Yeah.

That’s good, ‘because I’m looking for spoilers.
Yeah, I know. Even if I don’t give them you’ll post, “Kat Graham reveals spoilers!” That’s what all you guys do! I’m like, “I don’t remember saying any spoilers.” That’s fine; at least you know I’m expecting it.

Headlines like that get everybody reading, right?
Hey, as long as you get them reading.

When I talked to Sarah earlier this year I tried, but she was not having it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You couldn’t coax it out of her. I can’t even say anything. Most of the time I try and stay in the dark about things until I have to actually shoot it.

I missed last week’s episode ["Bad Moon Rising"]. I’ll have to watch online but let’s talk about–
How dare you have the nerve to talk to me and you haven’t seen every single “Vampire Diaries” episode!

But I did see the week before, when Bonnie goes all postal on Damon ["Brave New World"].
You know, he’s gone postal; I don’t see why she can’t go postal. He goes postal every episode. She has one little fit and people go crazy. It’s fine.

I thought it was pretty awesome.
Yeah, it was just kind of a build-up, you know what I mean?

She seems to be a little less eager to put up with anyone’s crap. Is that going to happen more often?
I don’t know. I think she’s just trying to protect the people that she loves and whatever family she has left, which is Elena and her friends and even Caroline. She just wants to protect the town, and at any cost really. She knows that murder will happen if she doesn’t stand up and there isn’t another witch in town to stop this madness. And the humans are kind of subject to whatever the vampires want them to do, whether it’s mind manipulation or be their dinner. She kind of has to stand up for all of them. So she’s not going to be all that eager to just go along for the ride. But I think it comes from a really great place.

She sort of keeps getting pulled back into the fray.
Yeah, but at the end of the day, it’s really for Elena, her best friend and–I’m sorry I’m making pasta–it’s really for Elena and like the town and it comes from a really good place.

Yeah, but now her relationship with Elena is kind of strained.
I think Elena’s relationship with everyone is strained. And Bonnie’s relationship with everyone is strained. They’re walking around every day and you don’t know who’s going to get murdered, you don’t know who’s going to come to town. It’s like this can of worms has been opened in this small town and everyone’s kind of on edge. Like, “What are we in for?”

I definitely feel that Bonnie is always going to consider Elena her best friend and they both really rely on each other to be there for each other. There are certain things that happened in their relationship that definitely made Bonnie feel really alone. She’s still hanging out with a guy that’s partially responsible for the death of her grandmother. And I think Bonnie has always been the voice of reason.

I don’t know how I would personally feel if my best friend was still kicking it with a vampire who attacked a girl, just coming from a very basic reasonable place. I think people are like, “Bonnie’s blaming people and … she’s the bad guy.” But come on, really, have a sense of reality: If this had really happened to you, how would you react to it? Would you just let the vampires run rampant? Would you do what you could to protect the ones you love? Would you leave?

Do you think she feels a little bit of guilt or remorse over her grandmother?
Oh absolutely–guilt for everything. [She feels] guilt for the thing with Caroline; guilt from asking her grandmother for help. She asked her grandmother, obviously at some point, to help her open the tomb so they could get Katherine out and Damon can leave town. So definitely there’s guilt there and that can come out in different ways. It can come out in blame; it can come out in loneliness and isolation.

When I feel guilty about something, it never comes out exactly like, “Oh, I just feel so bad about things.” It can kind of manifest in different ways. I think that’s what’s happening with Bonnie. She’s just kind of putting all the pieces together on how we’re going to fix this and how we’re going to help Caroline adjust and make her better and get the situation under control. And how am I going to get my friend back? I think at some point she has to stay involved to keep any control over the situation because if she’s completely out of it then mayhem can ensue and she can do nothing about it.

Right. She made Caroline a ring so she could be in the sun.
She made her a ring, which was really sweet. And this was after Caroline had murdered someone, P.S. I give Bonnie major props ’cause it would have taken me a little longer to make the ring to let her walk outside. [Laughs.]

And she gave her that warning, which is sort of how Bonnie’s been operating, that if you attack anyone else, we’re done.
Yeah, I’ll stop you. Yeah. And I don’t think it’s out of any sort of like, I’m flexing my muscles to show you I can stop you because I’m a big powerful witch. I don’t think it comes from that place. I think it comes from, “Listen, this is really serious. You’re murdering people. I’m going to stop you if I have to.” It’s plain and simple.

But isn’t it nice she’s got the game to back it up?
Yeah. In life in general, being able to back your own words and hold your own is always a great feeling. Who knows, Bonnie might have a lot of trouble in the future. She might work on a spell that might take a lot out of her. You never know. But she can do a lot right now.

Is that a hint? Are you giving me a hint?
I’m not giving you anything! Get out of there! [Laughs.] Get out of there!

All right, so the one person she can’t seem to stop is Katherine.
Absolutely. Oh, so you have done your research.

I’ve been watching! I just missed last week.
I don’t know think she knew what to expect with Katherine but at least she tried. At least she tried to stop her. She called Elena and was like, “Oh my gosh, where are you?” I can’t fault her for trying, but it definitely made Bonnie realize that she needs to get a little stronger to face that kind of witch, I mean that kind of werewolf–that kind of vampire! There are so many creatures on this show. It was definitely a crazy scene to shoot.

Right. Is she working on that though, do you think?
Oh, are you trying to get a spoiler? Is that what we’re doing?

Well if you want, but what I meant was, do you have ideas in your head that aren’t from the scripts. Like making a background for her or–
Yeah, I do my own little character back stories because we have yet to meet really, my family apart from my Grams and Emily Bennett. I have my own work that I do that I don’t really talk about, but I’ve done like hours and hours of work before an episode, before a scene to make sure that it makes sense. But I definitely think Bonnie’s aware of the situation and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was trying to figure out how to stop it. I don’t think she could really sleep well at night knowing there’s a doppelganger walking around probably murdering people in the town who looks exactly like her best friend. That’s just awful.

Right. Katherine tricked her for a split second.

Yeah. It’s because she’s not expecting to run into Katherine. She’s ranting about Damon being this pompous jerk-off, you know? That’s how girlfriend’s talk to each other. I remember that scene, the second she touched her, it was kind of this feeling that, “This is not Elena.” But it was too late.

Are you expecting there to be another big Katherine-Bonnie showdown?
There haven’t been but I hope, I hope. I love when Nina’s just like badassed, kick-ass woman. She’s such a strong female. I love doing scenes with her, period, but I really love doing like showdown scenes with her because she’s just so into it. I think a showdown with Katherine would be incredible, but we’ll see. We’ll have to watch and see what happens with Katherine and what happens with Bonnie and whether their paths will cross again.

Right. How is it playing opposite Nina as Katherine versus Nina as Elena? Is it a lot different?
It’s not that different. I’m still dealing with this great actress, Nina Dobrev, and somebody who I really love genuinely and respect. Katherine has this totally different vibe than Elena. As Elena, even though she has her serious moments, Nina has a lot of compassion in how she plays her, especially when it comes to Stephan–Paul Wesley. So I think watching her play Katherine there’s just this lack of compassion, almost like this heartless kind of creature coming out. It’s just very interesting, but she plays it so well. And she’s still the same awesome Nina to work with. She could play any part and still be that same sweet actress when we’re not filming.

Cool. I hear you guys all have a lot of fun together on set.
We do.

Zach and Sarah were here in Chicago in the spring and he talked about having people out on his boat and they talked about hanging out after filming.
We’ve gone out to the lake and stuff like that. The first season was also a lot easier because our schedules weren’t so crazy. As the show picked up, we have way more responsibility in terms of press and stuff like that. But we definitely see each other, like tonight I’m going to disco class with Candice [Accola]. We take a weekly class–it’s called “Disco Summer Nights” and we take this class out here and it’s just a blast.

Disco dancing?
Yeah, we literally disco dance, with a disco ball and everything. It’s a class that they teach out here and we just have fun with each other. These girls are my family; they’ve been my family and we really get along.

Nice. Now speaking of dancing, I’ve seen your videos. I wouldn’t think that you would need to take a disco dancing class.
You know what? [Laughs.] It’s not even about full-out dancing and choreography. It’s just about having fun and being together. I sometimes enjoy dancing completely ridiculous and completely silly rather than doing choreography because I just like to have fun and be around good people who I love. I know how to dance. The point of this is that I need to always remember to have fun and to be a kid again and not take myself that seriously and just enjoy life.

So it’s a good way just to release after work all week?
Absolutely. Put on some disco music and get down.

Do you wear bell bottoms?
I was looking for some today and I don’t have any in my closet because. Tonight it would be perfect to have some bell bottoms, some goldfish platform shoes and have my afro out. But I couldn’t find any, so I’m actually wearing a tank top that Nina got me for my birthday. So I’m going to get the disco fever in this.

So the werewolves, are we going to see Bonnie with the werewolves at all?
I don’t know. I really don’t know.

Does she even know that they’re around at this point?
Up to the last episode, no she doesn’t know. She’s still unaware of that and I’m sure when she finds that out it’ll be a whole other situation to deal with in trying to control it anyway possible.

Do you think she probably doesn’t like the werewolves either?
Bonnie really would love everyone, but if the werewolves were nice and the vampires were nice, Bonnie would invite them all over for dinner and they would be eating meatloaf and salad. Everyone would be getting along perfectly if they were all nice. But the second somebody shows a bad side or a murderous side to them Bonnie’s alert goes up heavy. I think if they were all cool, Bonnie would be cool.

I think that even if there was a bad witch in town, one that was up to no good, she would challenge her. Definitely. She wouldn’t let it slide if they might bring another witch in. I think that Bonnie is all about protecting and loving and she’s going to do what she has to do to protect the ones she loves, no matter what sort of character they are.

Do you want her to get a boyfriend?
I do want her to get a boyfriend. I really do.

But that’s just more drama, which she doesn’t really need.
It depends. It depends on what kind of boy. [Laughs.] But I definitely think, in some form, Bonnie needs a connection so that she that isn’t just coming in when they need a spell or when they need a witch or when she’s angry. I think she needs to show that she has that inside of her, that sexual feeling, because she hasn’t really had that ever. She hasn’t had a serious love interest and the only real relationships she’s had have been with women. I’ve said this before, the strongest connection she has with a guy is with Damon, and it’s not a positive one. So hopefully, yeah.

Would she date a vampire ever, do you think?
I wouldn’t put it past her. I wouldn’t put it anything past the show. I think anything can happen on this show. That’s why I’m just an avid watcher. I love reading the scripts because even me being on the show, I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t know what direction they’re going to turn. I don’t know who’s going to die, who’s going to live, what new characters are going to come on. I’m completely floored every time I read the script. I’m amazed at what Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec bring to this show. So, even me being on the show for over a year now, it’s still shocking to me because there’s some really great things about the writing.

Right. Who would Katerina rather date, a vampire or a werewolf–or a warlock?
Ummm, let me think.

Or a pop star?
Or a pop star? No! I’d rather date a vampire than date a pop star. I really like the whole magic thing. I think that’s really cool, so probably a witch then. Probably date a witch, another witch, something like that.

Have you met any of the real live witches?
I have met some. They’ve emailed me, and I’m like, “Ooh. Yeah, you know this is just a role. I’m not really a witch, but thanks for the props.”

They offering tips?
Yeah, they’re offering tips. I had one walk up to me and give me a bag of chicken bones and some crazy stuff. I’m like, “Yeah you know what? I’ll just put this back in my trailer.” It’s just really, really odd. I’ve had some really interesting experiences with people. I always wanted to be in “Harry Potter.” I always felt cheated out of a role in “Harry Potter” even though there was literally no role for me in the movies. But I still watch it and read the books. I’m an avid Harry Potter fan, so I’m finally getting my due. My Harry Potter on, you know what I mean? I just don’t have a wand and I don’t have a broom, and I don’t have a hat. But I’ve got a Grimmoiré and really cool cast members, so it totally makes up for all of that.

Right. What were the chicken bones supposed to do, did she tell you?
I don’t know. But I threw them out; I’m just not into it.

Maybe they were just for soup?
No, I don’t think so. [Laughs.] But as long as it’s all positive; people should just do what they want to do and I’ll just do my little acting. It was very interesting.

OK, so let’s talk about your music for a little bit. I saw a couple of videos, which were pretty fun. A co-worker sent me one and wrote, “Can you believe this? This is the witch on ‘Vampire Diaries.’” Have you always been interested in music?
That’s amazing. Well I’m glad that he sent you that. Yeah, I have been. I’ve been recording for, literally since I was 13 years old.

I think the biggest pet peeve I have is when people blow up big and they’re like, “I’m going to put a song out!” I want people to know that it’s been going on since before “Vampire Diaries.” I was Will.I.Am’s artist for a couple years and I toured with the [Black Eyed] Peas, which was a blast. After that I wound up working on my solo stuff, which I did when I filmed “17 Again,” with Zac [Efron], and then I would do a little things like “Hannah Montana,” little guest-star stints and stuff like that. I was still at that point working on my solo album.

And “Sassy,” the song that I released [watch "Sassy" video here] was done a year ago or two years ago, right before “Vampire Diaries.” Then ended up booking “Vampire Diaries” and then the pilot got picked up and everything kind of happened so fast. But I never stopped making music. I literally have a recording studio in my living room. I don’t think I know how to stop. I think it’s just a part of me and I want to incorporate acting and want to do like short films and stuff like that.

So you are done with the album?
We’re still working on it, meeting some incredible producers. We have a couple songs, “Sassy” and “Cold-Hearted Snake” on iTunes. But the main album I want to put out, when I’m not committed to “Vampire Diaries,” like on like a hiatus or something like that so I can actually tour with it and give it it’s respect.

So you’re still working on things for that and you’ll probably put out singles and stuff like that?
Oh yeah, we’ll probably put out a few more before the end of the year even if it’s a remix, like really fun stuff.

All right, I’m going to try one more time: Give me a big scoop. Is there going to be some big, jaw-dropping thing happening soon?
Somebody dies. There’s always a big jaw-dropping that happens–are you kidding me? This is freaking “Vampire Diaries!” That’s what we do. We’ve got that down pat.

All right, all right. My theory [which has since changed] is that Bonnie starts dating Matt.
Oh, you think I’m going to start dating Matt?

Yeah, now that Caroline broke it off.
That’s an interesting theory. Maybe we’ll talk in a few weeks to recap. I’m sorry, but I’m still expecting a good spoiler title, “Kat Graham reveals newest top spoilers ever of ‘Vampire Diaries!’”