After the last episode, I believe I might have yelled “hell yes!” at my television. I’m very excited Elijah is back. How is that going to change things?
Well, he’s going to wonder what happened, isn’t he? Since I put the dagger in him. There’s also the whole matter of my mother to deal with and the truth about what happened to her now, which has come out. I’m sure he’s going to have something to say about that. There’s a confrontation brewing, I think.

I’m looking forward to it! And a couple weeks ago, I think every Vampire Diaries fan collectively swooned over the Klaus and Caroline scene (laughs).
(laughs)

I imagine Caroline isn’t going to be easy to win over though, so what can we expect from that new found relationship?
Well, that scene was actually one of my favorite scenes that they wrote for me. It was just a really beautiful seduction scene, really, I suppose. You’re right. She’s fully aware of who Klaus is and what he’s capable of, so it’s going to be a tough sell for him, I think. But he’s persistent and I think there’s something there, certainly. I watched that scene and saw there’s a connection there between them. And she does kind of acquiesce him at the end. She does say she wants to live and she drinks from him. And that’s a very intimate moment between those two people, or creatures, however you want to put it. So yeah, I think there is something there, but like you say, it’s going to take a little bit of work on his part.

Did you anticipate the fans would latch on so much to a possible relationship between the two of them?
The fans continue to surprise me. I knew that people would be interested to see another side to my character, in a scenario that we hadn’t kind of really experienced before, with her as well, which was unexpected to everyone, including myself when I got the script. But I didn’t expect — it’s funny, I was in a hotel for the CW Bad Boys Panel TCA thing I did in LA, and I watched the episode in a hotel room and I wanted to watch that scene again, so I looked it up on YouTube to see if anyone had posted it, and I just found pages and pages of Klaus and Caroline videos that people had sort of put together with music on them. And that was the day after. So yeah, I’m continually surprised by the fans and their commitment to the show. People really seem to respond to it. I think they’re debating what the ‘shipping name should be. Klaroline or Caralaus or something.

(laughs) I saw one that said For-iginal and I was confused by that one.
For-iginal? (laughs) That’s a stretch. Because there was ‘forwood,’ which was Lockwood and Forbes together, so I guess they were trying to expand on that.

They confuse me. I try not to look at those names because I can’t put them together.
I know. It takes me a while, sometimes, like who is that supposed to be? But it’s just another thing I’m learning being a part of The Vampire Diaries.

We saw Klaus and Caroline in this unlikely friendship. Are we going to see Klaus make any more unlikely friends?
It’s interesting because every now and then they throw someone into the mix with me. Yeah, some unexpected camaraderie between certain characters. Let’s put it like that. There’s certainly some people you wouldn’t expect to see him with, yes. Someone who we haven’t met yet, that’s why I’m being cagey.

That makes sense. And we’re going to meet Klaus’ brothers soon. What is that dynamic going to be like?
Well, it’s interesting because again, the same with Elijah, except Klaus put all his family in these coffins and his two brothers — one of them I believe has been in the coffin around five hundred years — and the other one slightly less than that. But all of his family are under the assumption that his father killed his mother, so there’s going to be some answers. He’s going to have to answer some tough questions when they finally come back. So it’s going to be tough. I think he’s going to be hoping that they don’t all gang up on him, (laughs) try to bully him or something. But yeah, it’s going to be interesting. The writers have been really great with those two characters because they haven’t just made them sort of faceless bad-asses, they’ve really given them distinct personalities. So you’ll see, it’s interesting to watch the dynamic between all of the originals, just to see sort of how they function as a family. It’s very interesting, because we’ve seen a lot of Klaus, first and worst as this evil being, and then with his sister, who he obviously cared a lot about. So it’s interesting to see when those other dynamics are introduced.

Yeah, definitely. What about Klaus and Rebekah, when he eventually decides to un-dagger her? They are sort of the only two who got along…
They are, yeah. I think Rebekah is one of his siblings that he cares about the most, that he’s most attached to. And so I think he’ll be most worried about un-daggering her, hence why he put the dagger back in her in episode eleven, because he really, more than anything, fears disappointing her. And so he’s terrified she’ll abandon him and he’d rather have him in a coffin than out of the coffin, off on her own. So I think she is the confrontation that he’s most afraid of, because it’s that disappointment rather than anger from her that he’s really kind of terrified of seeing. So yeah, it’s going to be a huge deal for him. All of those guys coming out of the coffins will be a big thing for Klaus.

And there’s that extra coffin hanging around that we just saw Damon take…
Dun, dun, dun. Yeah.

Yeah! What could Klaus possibly have hiding in there?
Well, I can tell you that whatever it is, he’s pretty terrified of it. It’s something that could potentially destroy him. So it’s a very frightening prospect that coffin being open or being out of his control somewhere. He’s desperate to get his hands back on that coffin. I think it’s going to be a big surprise for everyone and very kind of exciting moment when we finally do find out what’s in that coffin. I’ve been reading all sorts of things over Twitter. Someone even wrote “I’ve got it! It’s Klaus’ twin.” So, I don’t know, I’d have to play two roles then, like Nina does. So I can confirm it’s not Klaus’ twin in the coffin. But kudos to that person for the idea, because that was a pretty exciting idea, I thought.

That was an interesting idea. I’ve heard a ton of theories, but I’m excited to find out. And Klaus kind of made a new enemy with Damon, so I’m interested to see how that plays out.
Yeah, you know, I love those confrontations with Ian. It’s been a slow build between he and I. Well, I say slow build, but we tried to kill each other in the first five or six scenes we had. And then we got a little kind of more cordial. So it’s interesting how this relationship develops because most of them share that kind of loose cannon quality.

Definitely. And even though Klaus has his doppelganger now, he doesn’t seem to be one to let go of unpaid debts or forget things. Is he going to ever revisit his vendetta against Katherine?
Oh, I’m sure, yeah. As we move closer towards the finale of the season, I wonder whether he’s going to want to tie up those loose ends. Katherine always comes in with a little part to play which is integral to the storyline, or that’s my experience, anyway. So, I don’t know the answer to that, but I would speculate yes.

And Klaus’ plans so far have not exactly worked out the way he wanted them to. We saw Tyler try to break his sire bond, and Damon stealing the coffin. What do you think Klaus’ motivations are for settling into Mystic Falls besides the coffin obviously?
Well, yeah, obviously the coffin. I think also the fact that it is so linked to the past, to his past and his family. It’s a very kind of interesting conflict with Klaus. Because on the one hand he wants all his power and he wants to be feared by everyone and he wants that feeling that he doesn’t need anybody. But at the same time, he’s going around trying to make friends, really. Isn’t he? He wanted Stefan to be his friend, that didn’t really work out, so he got this sire bond thing going with Tyler, wanted to take him under his wing. Now he’s got this mentor-student relationship with Caroline that may turn into something else. He really is a lonely guy. And I think even though the relationships he’s established in Mystic Falls are, for the most part, bad ones, they’re still relationships. They’re still something. And if he doesn’t know any different, he’ll cling on to what he’s got.

I find myself thinking about this a lot, because I root for Klaus. Is that why you think others root for Klaus even though he’s a little bit psycho.
Well, yeah, I think all people love a bad boy, and he certainly is that. But I think again, the writers are bringing in a more and more sort of human side of a scene, or the motives behind why he is like he is, and I think people are starting to relate to him. And I noticed especially after episode eleven with that scene with Caroline, a lot of people kind of came on to the idea that I’m really starting to like him. And that’s good for me, because I feel like there’s only so much you can do if you’re going to be two-dimensional, evil all the time. So it’s wonderful to see this character developing all of these layers. I think the more you understand someone, the more you like them.

What can you tease about the next episode and beyond that? I hear there is a big costume ball coming up soon.
I can say that there’s a huge costume ball. We all had to have dance lessons. It’s a lot of fun. And there’s a scene coming up with a particularly troublesome horse. It took so long to shoot. I’m sure it looks beautiful, but this horse would not behave itself. I nearly got hit in the mouth a bunch of times. But we can look forward to the ball and we can look forward to at least one more, how shall I say it, Klaroline scene? Or Caralaus? You can look forward to more of those. I’m sure that will make everyone happy.

(laughs) Once we figure out what the real ‘shipper name is…
Yeah. You establish it in your article.

Okay, I’ll do my best.
Perfect.

Lastly, I know you are a big Walking Dead fan, so I wanted to know your thoughts on the big, crazy finale.
Yeah! It was really crazy, wasn’t it? I loved it. Especially when the little girl came out of the barn at the end and you realize she’d been there the whole time and you saw Rick didn’t want to shoot these walkers who had been coming out the whole time and then he was the one, of course, who had to walk forward at the end and kill the little girl and make that tough decision. I just think it’s so good and Jon Bernthal is getting — it’s just such an interesting character. They’re all really, really good. Lauren Cohan, who used to be on Vampire Diaries. I think she’s wonderful in it. I was so impressed with it. I’m glad you asked about that.

Be sure to tune in for an all new episode of The Vampire Diaries tonight at 8 PM on the CW.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 9 PM to ABC Family for an all new episode of Jane By Design!

What can you share about the upcoming season?
I can share that as with any premiere and any season finale that I think is going to be in February, the girls are getting more and more close to finding out what happened to Alison and who is torturing them. So you are definitely not going to want to miss out on every little piece of that puzzle because I can tell you as somebody who works within the show, I’m constantly being surprised by what the writers are coming up with and things that I just never even suspected. I’m kind of like-minded to Spencer, so I can see some things coming, but none of this.

(laughs) What about Spencer and Toby? Everybody loves them.
I know! I’m so glad that everybody loves them because we really love them as well. And it’s just so exciting because that’s A’s main target because Spencer doesn’t really have a very loving family and she gets shut out a lot and she’s wonderful with the girls but in this season two, the girls kind of get back into the habit of keeping things from each other. So Spencer really feels shut out and she really misses Toby a lot but that doesn’t mean he can forgive her for what happened. She really does at one point kind of the unspeakable.

Spencer confronts Garrett in the premiere, and I know you can’t say a lot about that but are we going to see a different side to Spencer this season?
What side haven’t you seen? Spencer is sassy and up in everybody’s business.

All the time.
And that’s why I love it when I get to do confrontations. Because the great thing about Spencer is that she’ll have a totally fearless moment where she’ll get up in somebody’s face and completely threaten them, and then she’ll turn around the corner and break down and she’s like, “Nobody loves me! Oh God, I’m so scared!” So it’s really fun to play her.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 PM to ABC Family for an all new episode of Pretty Little Liars!

What originally drew you to the role of Tessa?
I guess it was her intelligence. I like to see teenagers who are smart and I also thought she was funny, while not being too offensive. On paper, she was pretty snarky and I thought it would be a challenge to give her a big heart as well. And I thought the script was hilarious, so I took it on.

You and Jeremy Sisto have great chemistry. Was that instant when you first started filming or is it something that developed?
I think it was sort of instant. I don’t know if it was luck, I don’t know if it was Jeremy, I don’t know if it was the casting director, but we just work really well together and we have a lot of fun.

Was your relationship with your parents growing up anything like George and Tessa’s at all?
(laughs) Not really. I had a really healthy, good, communicative relationship and I think we liked each other like George and Tessa like each other. But I have a mom and I definitely called them Mom and Dad, I didn’t call them by their first names.

I’ve already seen tonight’s episode, so what can you share and preview about “Driving Miss Dalia”? It’s hilarious.
Dalia can’t pass her driver’s test, because she’s…stupid. And Tessa, of course, passes immediately and Dalia hires Tessa to become her driver. At first, Tessa’s not into it at all. But once she sees how much cash Dalia’s willing to pay her, she just throws wads of cash at her, she’s says, “Fine, I’ll be your driver.” And the first assignment is to circle a boy’s house that Dalia’a obsessed with. And it turns out that he might like Tessa a little bit more than he likes Dalia. And it’s a really funny episode if you like Dalia, which I do. And she’s so good in it. Carly makes me laugh so hard.

I just laugh at everything she says.
Yeah, me too.

Is Tessa going to maybe get a love interest this season? Perhaps Scott Strauss (the boy Dalia likes too)?
Right now, it’s just SS.

SS with a heart around it.
Yeah! (laughs)

Tonight’s episode showed a little twinge of friendship between Dalia and Tessa. Do you think we might ever see them become friends?
Definitely not. There’s like an ongoing rivalry between Tessa and Dalia, which I love. It’s so fun to play.

Are we going to see Tessa at the Country Club more? That’s another big part of this episode with George trying to join.
Yes, definitely, there will be more Country Club action for Tessa.

Do you have a favorite moment or scene from what we’ve seen so far or something that is coming up?
I had a lot of fun at my Sweet Sixteen birthday party. It was as over the top as it looked on the show. There was a pony and an actual fire breather, and lots of tired extras who were really funny and dancing all night long. And I really enjoyed shooting that. I really enjoy my scenes with Dallas and there’s going to be a bunch more Tessa/Dallas bonding, like the Thanksgiving episode. And I have so much fun working with Cheryl and I think the combination of Tessa and Dallas is so funny and sort of sweet. So there’s going to be more of that coming, too.

What can you tease about the rest of the season? Any exciting episodes coming up that you are looking forward to?
Yeah, some more love interests for George. George seems to be a little bit of a playa. Unfortunately, Tessa doesn’t get as much action as George does. (laughs) A lot of fun, interesting love interests for George and you may actually meet my mother. So, we’ll see.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8:30 PM to ABC for an all-new Suburgatory!

What can you share about the big premiere?

Katie LeClerc: Daphne makes a new friend. And Bay and Emmett are like an old married couple.

Vanessa Marano: It’s true. We’re totally like an old married couple now.

KL: Even the two of you on set together. There’s banter in different languages. They’re adorable, let me just tell you.

VM: We’re pretty cute. I’m not gonna lie. I would eat that up. (laughs) as a viewer.

KL: (laughs)

What can we expect with your complicated sisterly relationship? There’s a love triangle now…

VM: Me and Daphne have kind of been in a love triangle since the beginning — with different people. There’s so many love triangles. I think a big part of this season is Bay and Daphne not wanting to have anything to do with each other…

KL: But getting together for a cause.

VM: Exactly. Unintentionally finding common ground.

What would you tell viewers as to why they should tune into the show?

VM: Because Katie LeClerc is beautiful and talented and everyone should watch her.

KL: I don’t know how to…what?! Vanessa Marano is my favorite person on the planet and that’s all anyone needs to know.

VM: But they should tune in because it’s a great show, it’s a family show and it’s about something really important — it integrates a community.

KL: It’s funny and it’s drama all at the same time.

VM: Heart.

VM/KL: Heart.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 PM to ABC Family for the big winter premiere of Switched at Birth!

What can you say about the big premiere?
I can say that the girls are definitely fighting really hard to find out who A is now. Especially Emily because she was the victim of the first half of season two, moreso than any of the other girls. And I think now she’s got so much more confidence. She’s like, “That’s it. I’m not having it. I’m not the weakest link and I’m going to show you!” And she does! (laughs) Dammit she does! It’s really fun for the girls. There’s going to be a lot scenes with them all together and sometimes in those scenes, they’re not always best friends. Now that they’ve found the murder weapon, each of the girls have different ideas with what they want to do. And I think Emily’s idea is extremely different so she’s kind of been pulled away from the group. Along with her not being able to be on the swim team, along with getting curveballs thrown at her from A all the time.

There’s kind of an epic fight in the premiere. I know you can’t say much but how was it filming that?
Yes! Very fun! All I will say is its maybe one of the most fun scenes I’ve ever done. It was awesome.

Are we going to see a new independent Emily this season?
Yes you will. A brand new Emily. She’s a lot stronger than she was in the first half. It’s cool. She’s confident.

What can we expect with her love life?
Emily, Emily, Emily. Maya comes back and you’re going to see how they kind of mesh again. Because Maya got taken away, now that’s she’s back, [it's about] finding out what happened while she was away, the experiences she had. But also, she’s meeting a newer Emily. Before, she left an Emily that wasn’t as confident to be who she was. And now that she’s back, she may see a very confident Emily. And [you] should see how they kind of mesh together again. So yeah, it will be interesting.

We are going to see some tension with the girls for the first time.
Oh yeah. Oh yes! It’s fun. I mean, it’s always great to have scenes where you’re like, “I love you!” but it’s also really fun to have scenes when they’re arguing. I’m not going to lie, I think it’s kind of fun to have fight scenes with the girls. Because I love them all so much, to actually be angry at them is so much fun.

Season Two is wrapping up now. What has been your favorite part of playing Emily so far?
The fact that so many girls and guys all over really look up to her and her character and see that she’s been able to come out with success and be accepted by her family and friends and people that love and support her. And it’s given other people the courage to do the exact same thing. She’s such an amazing character to be able to play. And to have so many people look up to her and be able to relate to her on a show that all their friends watch. That they have someone specifically that they can relate to, I think that’s amazing.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 PM to ABC Family for the big Pretty Little Liars premiere!

LUCY HALE:

What can you tease about the big premiere?
I’ll tell you everything I can tell you…which isn’t much. In the premiere, we find huge, huge evidence. It’s an item of A’s that we find and it’s completely going to be a huge breakthrough for the girls. By the end of the finale, we find out a huge question that’s been on everyone’s minds. And then Aria and Ezra sort of — they’re still in it to win it. (laughs) They have lots of ups and downs obviously. There’s lots of drama with that. But you finally find out if — you’ll see!

Are there going to be bumps in the road for Aria and Ezra?
Oh my God, totally. We’re on the season finale. It ends good, I can tell you that.

I love the Halloween prequel episode. Do you guys want to do another one?
Yeah. I think ABC Family wants to do another Halloween episode. It’s fun. It’s sort of cool to get into the mind of Alison a little bit and see how she was before anything had ever happened and see how the girls were. They’re so innocent, nothing bad had happened. It feels like a completely different show, kind of. So it was fun.

ASHLEY BENSON:

Tell us everything you can tell us about the premiere and the upcoming season.
It’s really fun, juicy, exciting, scary. A relationship is contested. The four girls’ relationship are at a weird place right now. Hanna and Lucas have a great, great storyline — really dangerous. Caleb and Hanna are in love and all over each other. And I think that we’ll find out who A is. I can’t say for certain. It’s just really fun and exciting and different from last season. There’s more at stake. There’s new people that come in. We’re filming scenes and its just very very scary and weird. It’s like a horror film now. It’s very intense. But I think it’ll be good.

What about the love triangle? Lucas is obviously pining over Hanna so how is that going to develop?
It’s going to be different. Hanna and Lucas’ relationship is going to take a very weird turn. I think the audience is going to be a little shocked at what happens, but that’s all I can say.

Be sure to tune in for the big mid-season premiere of Pretty Little Liars tonight at 8 PM on ABC Family!

When you first read the script for Switched At Birth did you realize that it was going to be really culturally important?
I think it is important culturally because I think there are so many different permutations with egg donors and all these different things that are happening now and you’re wondering what’s more important — nature vs. nurture. And what makes family in this world? The idea that we raise someone and they’re your family. I think that’s a really, really interesting story that everyone’s kind of involved in now.

What can you tease about the premiere and what’s coming up for Kathryn?
I [Katherine] decide to write a book and get a career and so that’s a really different thing. You get to see how a woman who is kind of sheltered and has been in this little world, her world starts to open up. And also she is doing this lawsuit, which is a whole other world that she’s never been involved in. She has a really handsome lawyer.

What about her relationship with Daphne. How is that going to develop?
It’s developing slowly. I think it’s interesting that they’re kind of shy with each other. And I think it’s developing really slowly. It’s something they’re going to kind of hold off on. And I think it’s still like, my daughter’s really Bay and Regina’s daughter’s really Daphne. It’s a very awkward, weird thing. But I enjoy playing that awkwardness.

Be sure to tune in on January 3rd at 8 PM to ABC Family for the mid-season premiere of Switched at Birth!

What can you share about the big premiere?
I can tell you that it has the same cast and drama and love and conflict and beautiful men that we had last time. My ex Angelo comes back and the drama that the girls have to deal with with that is so beautifully complex. And especially since everybody, I think, has drama if you come from a family who has issues. The good thing is that we deal with those issues very honestly and we have the conflict but we also have the love underneath. We have all the sign language and even more of Sean Berdy, who we love, and Marlee Matlin. And we also have a little bit of comedic bits thank you very much to Vanessa Marano and it’s just the same stuff that everybody loves. We’re already on our seventh episode. It’s pretty cool.

What can we expect with Regina’s relationship with Bay? How is that going to develop?
You know what’s funny, we always joke because I never got a chance to deal with the Bay character at all. It was all about the Daphne character. And now I get to know Bay and we’re both artists and we bond with that. And we bond with how much more alike we are than we are different. And that’s exciting, because we went the whole first season without exploring that at all.

What about Regina’s relationship with the Kennishes?
You know what, it’s tumultuous. Because it starts out that we’re together and more drama comes back and my ex comes back and then it gets really [good] — there’s a lot of conflict there. And there’s so much more to explore which is really cool.

Does Regina have any more secrets that we don’t know about?
I can neither confirm nor deny any of Regina’s secrets.

Switched at Birth returns for its big mid-season premiere on January 3rd at 8 PM.

Q: Are you working with anyone?
A: Does the devil count?

Q: Who do you now view as the weak link and why?
A: I’m more interested in the strongest liar.

Q: Do you go to Rosewood High?
A: I have.

Q: Will we ever hear your voice?
A: You already have.

Q: You seem to break up all the couples – which of the girls’ boyfriends are you most interested in?
A: Toby. Wait… what do you mean by interested?

Q: What have you been up to since we last saw the PLLs?
A: Target practice.

Q: Will we learn your identity this season?
A: Yes.

Q: What’s your New Year’s resolution?
A: More cardio.

Q: Do you want the girls to find out who you are eventually?
A: Only one of them.

Q: Why do you hate the girls so much?
A: There’s a thin line between love and hate.

Q: Who do you think is the prettiest little liar?
A: Me.

Q: Favorite trick you’ve played on the girls ever?
A: Emily’s massage.

Q: We know you spend a lot of time hiding in the liars’ closets, spying. Which one has the most impressive shoe collection?
A: Hard to choose – Hanna or Aria.

Q: How do you dress for breaking and entering, yet still look fashionable?
A: Black never goes out of style.

Q: Will anyone else in Rosewood (aside from the Little Liars) receive messages from you this season?
A: Oh yes, the circle widens.

Q: Are you a familiar face in Rosewood?
A: Yes.

Q: How far will you go this season to achieve your aim?
A: Over the edge.

Q: What clues will we be learning about you?
A: You’ll learn more about my relationship with Alison.

Q: What do you have up your sleeve for Maya and Emily?
A: I always liked Paige better.

Q: Which Liar suffers the most at your hands this season?
A: I’m sharing the love.

Q: Where should we look for you in a scene this year?
A: I’m always in the background.

Pretty Little Liars premieres January 2nd at 8 PM on ABC Family!