The TV Chick

One of my favorite things to ever happen on The Vampire Diaries was when Caroline turned into a vampire. Caroline was always interesting to me — this quirky, controlling do-gooder who seemed to have it all: the guy, the popularity and the best friends. Then her whole world flipped upside down. This huge game-changer turned (no pun intended) Caroline into one of my favorite characters in all of primetime television. I recently had the chance to chat with Candice Accola (who plays Caroline) about the new developments with Matt and her mom, Tyler’s return, and the big finale.

The show’s return last week was amazing. What was your reaction when you first read the script and found out that Matt and your mom knew everything and might be working against you?
I thought it was a great twist and turn. I think the character Matt needed to find out. They can’t keep him in the dark forever even though I know that it’s really important for the show to always have people in the dark. I think that Matt’s just been surrounded by it so much with the death of his sister Vicki, and she was a vampire and his best friend is a werewolf and his girlfriend turning into a vampire. (laughs) I think it was a very significant moment that that’s how it happened. And I think that the storyline for Caroline needed that kind of twist and turn because for a while everything kind of was controllable, and everything — I don’t know if it necessarily went back to normal — but it was more controllable way to deal with things. She’s involved with the sacrifice and the coming of Klaus, but she’s not necessarily as involved as the other characters. Tyler has been her main priority for a while, and once he left town, it kind of freed up her world to really just exist and become a normal teenager again — which is nice for the character, but not really nice for watching television. You want that “oh man, what’s going to happen next?” [moment] and I think that this has opened up such a wonderfully entertaining opportunity for things to get really messy.

So how is this going to affect her relationship with Matt and her mom?
Obviously, those are things that will potentially come up before the season ends. It really just depends on what the master plan that they have is. It depends on the master plan that Sheriff Forbes has ultimately against the vampires, and whether or not Matt stays on Sheriff Forbes’ side, or whether he breaks off and has his own opinion on the whole supernatural state that his friends and girlfriend are in. But I think one of the most significant things [which] is again a big eye-opener is the fact that they’ve been lied to and that’s what was so traumatic for Jenna as well. She had been lied to. It boils it all back down to — yeah, there’s all these crazy ideas and werewolves and vampires, but at the end of the day, it’s a very human feeling to have been lied to by someone that you care about and that you’ve trusted about so much. So I think that’s going to be the underlying foundation of whatever their actions are to come.

The aftermath of the lies. And Tyler’s coming back soon. How is Caroline going to react to that?
It depends on why he comes back. That’s the biggest thing. It really depends on what his intentions are.

And obviously Klaus is going to be wreaking havoc on Mystic Falls this week. I know Caroline’s not as involved as Damon and Stefan, but is she going to have any interactions with him?
That’s something the viewers are just going to have to watch and find out!

And there’s been a rumor going around that there are going to be three deaths by finale time. Are you allowed to say anything about that?
Just when you think that you’ve hit the peak point of the season finale, there’s a whole other chamber of storytelling right behind it. So what’s promised by the show creators from day one, is that characters are going to die. And in the season finale of season two, something goes down.

Would you say it’s as huge and game-changing as last year’s was?
In its own way. I think though at this point, obviously the viewers are now much more attached to characters and also you just learn so much more. I think what was crazy about last year’s finale is this element of the unknown. And this year, there’s so much history that you know about the reasons why and how, and by the time you get to the finale, you’re going to have a full run back story of everything and everyone, and so it will definitely make it more impactful, in a different way.

And let’s talk long term since you can’t spoil a lot. I refuse to believe that Caroline won’t be around in season three, so what would you like to see from her going forward?
Well you never know! But for Caroline, what I’d like in my dream la-la world — I love the path that the writers have taken her on throughout the season and I mean obviously not just the opportunity to play a vampire and for the character to become a vampire but also to grow and really find her inner strength. So I just hope that for the character, that she will still be able to fall down, but she still has the willingness to pick herself up. And that’s something that continues on if she were to survive into the next season.

Would you want to see her with Matt or with Tyler or pull a Sex and the City/90210 and choose Team Caroline?
I don’t know! I love the relationship that she’s been growing within herself. There’s still so much more to learn about the characters and why one would be right more than the other. And there’s potentially even characters we haven’t met yet, so I think right now, there’s just been so much action going on, it’s just clouded the real opportunity to see who would be a better fit for each other.

That makes sense. And what would you say has been your biggest challenge this season?
I think the biggest challenge is the most gratifying challenge ever — is just the opportunity that the characters have had which has caused me basically to step up to the plate. Caroline has had a very emotional roller coaster ride this season, and all of her emotions are heightened, all of her wants and needs are heightened, and so it’s just really been pushing myself to get to that heightened place as well, personally within my own — quote on quote, as they say — craft. I always feel so silly saying that word. (laughs) But it is though. Within this job, just really pushing myself in places artistically which I haven’t really had to push myself before. This is my first series. The first season — I feel like I learned a lot creatively, but it was also just getting my bearings and really finding my foundation. And this year it’s really been just pushing myself and focusing myself creatively to see what can come of it.

Do you have a favorite scene you’ve shot in season two?
I always love getting dressed up. Whenever we get to dress up, it’s really fun seeing everyone’s costumes. So in that regard, it was really fun for the dance episode. And my favorite scenes have been — I think just because they were the hardest — anything when Caroline turned and also when Tyler turned for the first time. Being in the room with him was really, really special. And when Caroline jumps on stage and sings “Eternal Flame.” It was just a really funny crossroads, bringing two parts of my life together, which was really special for me. And it was special for my parents who have always been really supportive of me in any career that I pursued in music, so it was really nice for them to be able to see that, and that it all came full circle. And just to have the opportunity to jump on stage at work was pretty fun.

Do you think we might see you sing again at some point?
Definitely not as Caroline. It was a fun moment, but I don’t think the writers have any intention on making this into a musical show.

I know Kat Graham sang something that played in the background. Do you think something like that could happen?
I don’t know, maybe. I’ve actually been writing again, just for myself. Really just to sing songs in the shower. But you never say never. So I don’t know. It really would just take all the stars lining up. It’s a completely different side of the business and it takes a lot to pursue it.

Are we going to see any more Stefan/Caroline wonderful bonding moments as the season comes to a close?
There might be little moments here and there, but their world has kind of drifted apart as of recent. Not in necessarily a negative way, but in a way that’s actually positive because Caroline’s being forced to take care of situations herself. So you’ll see snippets but they both each have a lot separately on their plate.

I really liked when it was a really small moment when Stefan came home and talked to Caroline about Matt and he was like “You have to figure this out.” I like that they have that connection.
Yeah, it is really special. It is really nice. It’s always fun. I enjoy it, too, as well.

And what do you think was the most shocking moment of the season? Or perhaps we haven’t seen it yet?
I don’t think that you’ve seen it yet but was the most shocking for me that has happened so far was when Aunt Jenna stabbed herself. I remember reading the script and being like (gasps) “What???”

And I know you have a charity that’s very close to your heart. You are going to be working with Show Me Your Mumu to raise awareness of Lyme Disease. Can you talk a little bit more about that and how you got involved and how fans can get involved?
I got involved with the charity Turn The Corner. It focuses on raising awareness of Lyme Disease but most importantly the funds that are raised go towards researching Lyme Disease, how to properly diagnose it quicker and how to basically navigate around the disease itself. It’s varies depending on the tick that bites you. So there’s not really one strain of it, there’s multiple strains and a friend of mine that I grew up with, Teri Raser — I went off to LA, and she went off to college and we met up, and a couple of months later, we were texting and she was like “I got sick. I had to go home.” And I was like “well, that’s weird.” And a year later, she’s still sick and then another year later and another year later, and then eventually [she] was officially diagnosed and by that time — it was in its chronic form — with Lyme Disease. And I didn’t really know what that meant. So I sat up one night on my computer and started YouTube-ing and Googling, and really kind of learning as much as I could about a disease that doesn’t really have that many answers. So I’m not one to attach myself to something that I don’t really feel attached to, and this is something — there aren’t a lot of people that know about it. I really wanted to not only educate others, but most importantly, continue to educate myself because I just felt so ignorant to have someone I care about so much say “I have Lyme Disease.” And there’s this whole community of people that suffer with Lyme, and there’s so much going on within the medical community, that it needs to be talked about more. So I’m slowly starting to develop a partnership with Turn the Corner, the more that my schedule allows me to. My birthday’s in May, and May is also Lyme Disease awareness month. My friend who has the Show Me Your Mumu Line, she found this beautiful print, that has just enough green, and all the profits for the Mumu Shawl will go straight to Turn the Corner and my friend Teri named it. Her nickname in our family is “bird.” So it’s the Bird Mumu. So I’m really excited and it will be up on the website, showmeyourmumu.com, the first week of May.

I look forward to seeing what it looks like.
It’s so cute! It’s a really fun tribal print. Teri was always big into fashion, and I love bringing people together to do things. So it’s a foundation I hold near and dear to my heart.

The Vampire Diaries fan base is quite active so I would think hopefully they will come together and raise a lot of money for the cause. And one last thing — if you could sum up the last few episodes of the season in a few words or a sentence, what would you say?
What I love about the episodes coming up, is that they strategically build up to the finale in the sense that questions will be answered.