The Drama Club: Interview With The Vampire (Diaries) Teen Witch
Source: Fancast

Katerina Graham’s Bonnie began the season as Elena’s ditzy best friend on ‘Vampire Diaries.’ She soon was revealed to be a witch whose ancestor played a key role in Mystic Falls’ history. Graham has expertly transformed Bonnie from a carefree teen to a young woman who is embracing her powers. Graham warned that the cast members have no idea what is going to happen next on the wildly addictive serial. Instead, she discussed the cast’s close bond, the complicated vampire-witch relationship and why she is glad Bonnie does not have a boyfriend.

Last week’s episode ended with Bonnie being kidnapped by the new vampires in town. How is Bonnie going to get away from them?

I won’t say how or if, but I will say that she won’t be alone.

Why is Bonnie’s grandmother, Sheila (Jasmine Guy), so young?

A lot of people ask that. She’s a witch. She can make herself look younger. That’s why she looks so great.

Was Gina Torres’ character Bree, the witch that Damon killed, related to Bonnie?

Bonnie doesn’t know and I don’t know.

We haven’t seen Bonnie’s parents yet. Are they going to make an appearance?

I don’t know. Right now it’s known that I live with my father and my Mom’s not really around.

When Bonnie was haunted by Emily, how did you do all of those special effects?

We have a great stunts department. We have a great special effects crew. Whether it comes to fire or the floating feather trick, there’s such an intricate science behind all of those great scenes that you see. For the Emily stuff, we definitely had a safety meeting. When the amulet got thrown up there was somebody standing above me hidden by a tree with one of those specks of fire that looks like it’s rings of fire. They lit that pentagram around me. A lot of the stuff was actually done [live]. It wasn’t [put together] in post.

In the 19th century flashbacks, the witches and the vampires were working together. Now they are enemies. What caused the rift?

There’s definitely something that happened. A lot of the time it’s mostly vampires asking witches’ assistance, not the other way around. It’s having to offer a helping hand to protect someone. So certain things are being asked of witches that are not being asked of vampires. Something happened to make them be on bad terms. They obviously don’t trust each other.

Who are your closest friends in the cast?

I’m close with all the girls. From the beginning of the show, when we started shooting, we just bonded. I saw Kayla [Ewell, Vicki] last night. She’s one of my good friends. Nina [Dobrov, Elena] and I obviously have the most scenes together so we spend the most time together because but we’re really close. She’s great.

Have you had any funny bloopers?

There’s one that I can’t share because it hasn’t aired yet but it involves Jasmine Guy. Call me after it airs and I’ll tell you how funny it was. Any time Elena and I have to run somewhere out of fear we end up snickering. When Damon is in his vampire attire and hair and make up, Ian Somerhalder always pranks everyone.

I saw footage of the show’s fan event in Atlanta. The whole mall was packed with screaming fans. Did you have any idea that the show was going to become a phenomenon in a matter of months?

I had an idea. I knew that when we were on set it was something special. It couldn’t have just been a coincidence that we all got along so well and that we were just a great group. It was really well put together from the beginning. I knew that it would always have any audience. To have fans like that is not really something you can anticipate. You can hope for it, but for it to really happen is a whole another thing.

When you get a new script, do you have “Oh my God” moments like the audience does?

Absolutely. I have those every single time I read a script. We can’t wait until we get them and can go back and forth with each other like, “Can you believe this happened and that happened?” I am definitely one of the fans when it comes to the show.

When you were cast, what did Executive Producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec tell you about Bonnie?

They let me discover her. They really guided me in the beginning, but they knew that I had the character’s essence down and how she was this fun, very loyal, very innocent best friend. If I ever have any questions, I can always ask them. It’s really their writing that explains the most. It’s up to me to find out what they’re trying to tell me about the character and how they’re trying to evolve the character.

How has Bonnie grown over the course of the season?

She was so quiet before and not necessarily timid but she wouldn’t necessarily stand up for herself. She is definitely a lot stronger then she was in the beginning. She’s a lot more self-reliant, a lot more aggressive. There are certain things in the beginning that Bonnie wouldn’t dare to do. She just wanted to be that out of the way, sweet, loyal friend. Now she’s had the realization of what could be lost and what could be taken away from her. She knows that she can either fight for it or just let it happen.

Poor Bonnie has not had the best luck with love so far.

It’s not bad luck. I just don’t think she really cares. Most of this first season has been about finding herself and finding her strength and figuring out who she is. I think that’s important. I love that she has not had a boyfriend yet.

There have been a lot of articles about how minority actors tend to be relegated to supporting roles on television and film. Of course Bonnie is so much more than the best friend, but do you think the time will come when you will be cast in true leading roles?

I hope so. I’m really proud of how Hollywood has embraced multi-ethnic people. I think that they’re looking to make that happen. I feel like we’re moving incredibly rapidly forward. There aren’t stereotypes anymore. The color of your skin doesn’t mean you’re a specific type of character. I love the roles that Will Smith and Denzel Washington have taken on and actresses like Zoe Saldana doing Avatar. It’s incredible. I hope that one day it can just be based on the talent and not on the color of your skin. I’m really happy. I’m part of a great show that doesn’t care. There has not been one reference to my skin in the show. I’m just Bonnie Bennett. It’s never been about any sort of separation or her not being included in anything. I think that it’s beautiful. I hope that more shows will embrace that. I also think part of the reason we have such a strong following is that we have so many different demographics that we cater to whether its young people, black, white. Malese Jow (Anna ) is cast in our show. She’s an incredible actress. And Kelly Hu (Pearl). We have such a strong and diverse cast.

If ten vampires and ten witches were trapped in a room, who would survive?

I don’t know. But all I can imagine is there would definitely be fire. If Emily was in there, I don’t think many vampires would be surviving. If Damon was trapped in there, I don’t know what would happen.

Within the Vampires Diaries universe, there are vampires, witches and werewolves. Why are witches the most awesome?

Witches have a moral standpoint. They don’t have barriers. Vampires have this self-battle they’re constantly dealing with, these cravings they can’t escape from. Witches don’t have that. Witches are more in control of their choices in terms of what they say and what they do. We can make stronger decisions quicker in a lot of ways than vampires because vampires turn into these animals, these hunters. Witches can plan more. But I also think vampires are stronger physically, so it’s kind of a give and take.