Just when you thought you met all of the Salvatore’s – there is a new one in town, sort of. The showrunners have decided to introduce to the fans Damon and Stefan’s mother, Lily Salvatore being played by the talented Annie Wersching. Wersching spent almost an hour talking with me about the role, what it’s going to be like, and that all is not what it seems. Check out part one of our interview below.
Q: I hope we didn’t blow up your twitter too much recently when I told The Vampire Diaries’ fans that I was going to be speaking to you. Obviously, it’s a popular show, so what did it feel like to come in and play this critical, important role? Fans have never gotten a chance to see the Salvatore brother’s mom before.
Wersching: It came to me through the normal channels. My agent called me and said here is an audition. I went in and when they were interested in me for it, I asked for some more information from one of the producers for it and she sent me an email because it shoots in Atlanta and I have young kids. So it’s a big deal to travel and be away from them. So, I wanted to make sure it was going to be juicy and good. She gave me a break down and her thoughts on Lily and the second I read that I thought I am in, I am totally ready [laughs]. So then I started watching the show and I am up to the third season. Even though mama Salvatore hasn’t been mentioned all that much she has been mentioned and you can feel her presence and her absence.
Q: Are you surprised that so many fans responded to you right away?
Wersching: I know, it’s so cool. I mean it’s obviously a hugely popular show, but I had heard in particular the fandom was very hardcore. So I wasn’t surprised but it was nice that mama Salvatore has only said three words so far and they have already taking a liking to her. I don’t want to disappoint anyone in anyway. So, hopefully people will really like tonight’s episode.
Q: We have so many questions. Why is she stuck there, what has she been doing, how come the father lied about her whereabouts, is she alone, does she have powers. I mean the questions are endless. Tonight we are going to meet her and get some questions answered but what can you tell us?
Wersching: She is an interesting character. She is still this sort of prime and proper woman of the 1800’s yet she is a ripper and has that in her somewhere. You will see tonight whether or not she is active or in ripper remission. She tries to carry herself as a woman of her time would, but you can tell that under the surface there are a lot of other stuff brewing and she is very much related to Stefan and Damon [laughs]. She shares a lot of their traits. In their first meeting, Damon brings a lot of his Damon-esq jabs and comments he gives to her and she is not falling for it. She’s like I know these tricks I see you haven’t changed much. You will get a lot of answers tonight. Initially right off the bat, Damon wants to know what she has been up to. There is always two sides to a story, even though it appears she just abandoned them and just went off and had a good time in ripper land, there are reasons for everything she did. Whether or not those are sufficient enough reasons for the boys, that remains to be seen.
Q: Of course there are fans that want Elena with all different characters of the show, but since she is currently with Damon and with the promo showing she is with him tonight when he meets you, can you talk to me about your relationship with her – how much of an interaction are you guys going to have over the next few episodes?
Wersching: There are certainly bigger issues in the forefront of Lily’s world right now. She reveals to Damon and Elena in tonight’s episode when they are getting ready to leave the prison world she reveals this crazy, secret to them about the prison world. I can’t say much about it, but this secret is sort of her driving force.
Q: How well does she adapt? I mean it’s like she is coming out of prison and seeing cell phones, computers, people dressed more scandal-ish, etc then in past.
Wersching: Well, a lot of time it seems that she is often overwhelmed by things and then the next time you see her she is instantly adapted to it. She definitely has a Salvatore way about in terms of powering through things and working on things. She adapts pretty well.
Q: Is she going to be on for a long time? We going to get to see her for the rest of the season?
Wersching: Yeah, I think I am allowed to say. I am still here in Atlanta and we are starting up episode 21 today.
Q: So as the time progresses, how does she start to relate to her sons? Does she want a relationship with them? Or is this a bad scenario they have to deal with?
Wersching: As is the way of The Vampire Diaries and in Mystic Falls, it’s a little of both. She wants to in theory be there for them and be the mother they are sort of longing for, but there are a lot of other things at play. The fact that she has the ripper in her is something she is always battling like Stefan, so you don’t want to upset her too much because you don’t want to set her off [laughs]. So there is a lot of back and forth between her and the boys in terms of them saying this is what we want and her saying this isn’t what I can give you right now.
Q: In the ripper aspect she relates to Stefan, how does she relate to Damon?
Wersching: I think her and Damon are very similar to each other in terms of going back and forth. Ian [Somerhalder] and I as actors and as the characters sort of compliment each other very well. We have an easy rapport even when we are fighting. There was just that comfortableness. It’s obvious how her and Stefan are related because she passed this horrible gene onto him. But Damon and her seem very similar in a lot of other ways besides the vampire-ism.
Q: Was she aware of how her sons’ lives were going to end up? Did she know they were going to be turned and what fate lied ahead for her sons?
Wersching: She had sort of heard things. She heard rumors about the boys, but she definitely has a lot to catch up on.
Q: Does she end up getting close to Elena and/or Caroline who are big parts of her sons’ lives or even their friends?
Wersching: So far she has had more interaction with Elena than Caroline. She has met Caroline like once but it was brief. She has had some different interactions with Elena. In the beginning, mama Salvatore is trying really, really hard to be the mama that they want and do motherly type things so Elena is involved in some of that. As is the way of the show, things turn on a dime and she has had some other interactions with Elena, which will probably not be pleasing to a lot of people.
Learn more about Ian’s love of apples, her relationship with the cast, what it was like wearing the costumes, her first scene, comments on tonight’s episode and what’s to come for the rest of the season in Part 2 of our interview with Annie Wersching coming soon.
Tune in to The Vampire Diaries tonight on The CW at 8 pm EST. Photo Credit (Top): The CW