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When "The Vampire Diaries" returned for its sophomore season, all the buzz was centered around the return of evil vampire Katherine (Nina Dobrev). But another powerful female vampire quickly emerged when Katherine smothered Elena's (Dobrev) friend Caroline (Candice Accola), who had vampire blood in her system. Was Caroline dead? Was she going to become a vampire? Were they writing Accola off the show? The answers to those questions turned out to be yes, yes and, thankfully, no, at least for now. As we saw Caroline discover her new vampire state and struggle to cope, it became obvious that this was not going to be the same story as human-turned-vampire-turned-dead-vampire Vicki (Kayla Ewell).

Recently, Accola spoke with Show Tracker about making the transition to vampire, what it meant for Caroline's relationships, singing in an '80s cover band -– yes, seriously! -– and much more.

Are you excited to be playing a vampire?

Yeah. It's really, really fun. It's a whole different world. In anticipation of auditioning for Caroline, I definitely did not see this coming. It's just a joy as an actor to get hired to be one thing and then to have a complete twist in your character a season in. It's really such a blessing.

Did you ask Paul [Wesley] or Ian [Somerhalder] or even Nina for advice about how to play a vampire? Did you look to their performances at all?

Yes. I had the pleasure of working with Ian while he was vamping out on me during the first part of the first season. So I definitely reviewed that a little bit. Their main advice was to know my vamp face. You know, the face that you make kind of right before you bite. It's just like when someone tells you, "OK, you need to scream on cue." Usually, the first time you scream, it's more like a squeak because it's kind of a jarring thing. So that was my big piece of advice was to know my vamp face.

Ian Somerhalder is officially hot. The star of 'Vampire Diaries' won both the Choice Male Hottie and the Choice Male Villain at this year's Teen Choice Awards. The character he plays, bad boy Damon Salvatore, is also officially hot, scoring an upset victory over that sparkly wimp Edward Cullen in Entertainment Weekly's sexy beast poll. So why have both of the women he cares about, Katherine and Elena (Nina Dobrev), brutally rejected him? Somerhalder opened up about Damon's romantic faux pas, Katherine's agenda, and which dead movie stars Damon has seen naked.

What happens in this week's episode?
They realize in this episode very quickly that this whole wolf thing is a major problem. It's great for the producers of the show because bringing in a really powerful supernatural element that can kill vampires, we better show up to work on time. I've been a vampire for the past 18 months and Damon's been a vampire for 150 years. There are a lot of things that I just instinctively know. To watch [Caroline] figuring out all these quirks and abilities that you gain by virtue of being a vampire is quite interesting. Damon tried to kill Caroline (Candice Accola) because he knew it was the right thing to do. He needs to mend his issues with Elena. I don't know how that's going to happen. He killed her brother. What better way to say I love you than to kill someone's sibling?

That brings up an unresolved issue from the season premiere. When Damon snapped Jeremy's neck was he aware that he was wearing the ring that protected him?
Maybe. Maybe not. He would have had to be in a blind rage in order to not know that that ring was there. If he did know the ring was there, what a brutal, cruel act of flexing power and trying to hurt someone that you love. If he didn't know the ring was there, that has to be one of the most asinine moves, period. Most people bring flowers or a bottle of wine or cupcakes to say I love you. They don't break your brother's neck.

'Vampire Diaries': 5 Things To Know About Season 2

What is Katherine going to do next?
When you saw Damon in season one, and how driven he was to accomplish one goal which was to get her back, that was the only thing he was going to do. It caused a lot of trouble. A great deal of this he learned from Katherine and now I think hell hath no theory like a woman scorned, well hell hath no theory like a heartbroken vampire whom his mentor, the love of his life, the woman who made him who he is, is in town and he realizes she doesn't love him. Katherine has an agenda. She's going to do and kill whatever she needs to do to make that happen. It's going to be an intense ride. She's powerful. She's 350 years old. She's manipulative. She's sexy and she's ruthless. You think Damon's ruthless, wait until you see the s–t that she pulls.

Preview Tonight's Episode:

If Damon could have either Katherine or Elena love him back, which woman would he choose?
He'd be a hell of a lot better off hoping Elena loves him. Katherine, seeing how she really is, also allows Damon to see how he was when he came to Mystic Falls: the havoc that he wreaked, the pain that he caused. I'm not sure he feels remorse for that but it's an interesting reflection on how he was. He would truly be a lot better off having Elena love him. He'd probably be better off leaving them all alone and going to the Caribbean for 100 years.

Why do all the girls go for Stefan instead of Damon?
Because Stefan (Paul Wesley) is sweet and he wants to protect and keep them safe. I guess they're smart.

A lot of fans have noticed the chemistry between Damon and Bonnie. Are they headed for a romance?
If you think Elena has problems with Damon, Bonnie (Katerina Graham), her entire lineage has problems with Damon. She despises him. To think that he will try to win her over, he needs her as a witch ally and she can do that thing where his head explodes and she catches him on fire. Damon needs to be nice and make good with Bonnie, otherwise he's going to end up dead. Damon tries to have romances with everyone, so why not?

Are we going to see any more flashbacks of the Salvatore brothers past?
The episode next week ["Memory Lane," September 30] is a lot of flashbacks. It was a really tough episode to shoot. It wore our actors down. It wore our crew down. It wore our producers down. It was a tough, tough episode but I hear it looks beautiful and the story's really compelling. It's a big episode. There's a lot of plot points, a lot of understanding, of Katherine explaining exactly what happened and why and how. It gives a lot of insight into how and why she is the way she is, what happened with the Salvatore brothers. When I read that episode it was like Christmas.

Over the centuries did Damon have any flings with famous women?
I think about that all the time. I have this dream of seeing Damon – using this incredible stock footage, at a Rolling Stones concert from 1970 – sitting in the front row with some super hot French chick. He had to have compelled Marilyn Monroe and he probably had to have compelled Sophia Loren. I can't imagine he did not have an affair with both of those women.

Now that True Blood' has broken down the barrier for vampire shows, would you like to see 'Vampire Diaries' get an Emmy nomination next year?
There are so many elements that go into that. To be honest with you, 'True Blood,' those guys put in the work. They are on a network that is typically nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes. This is a young network and politically I'm not sure that people want to recognize a show like the 'Vampire Diaries' for good work. We don't even know if our work is that great. Of course that would be icing on the cake, but as long as we can sit down here in our little bubble and try to produce the best quality show we possibly can with the means that we have [we're happy.] We have amazing writers who come up with this stuff every week and it's our job as the actors to try and tell that story in the best possible way that we can. The rest is up to the universe and politics.

More on These Topics: Candice Accola | Ian Somerhalder | Katerina Graham | Nina Dobrev | Paul Wesley | Vampire Diaries

'Diaries' exec promises character return

Image Credit: Annette Brown/The CWWatching Michael Trevino act out his character Tyler's first long, painful transformation into a werewolf on last night's midseason finale of The Vampire Diaries was difficult. Especially for his mother. "I had to warn my parents, mainly my mom," he says. "I let them know it's pretty intense, pretty graphic. I was on the phone with my mom, and I could hear in her voice that she almost had to change the channel, to look away. If you imagine it, I'm their son — having to see your child go through that, it's gotta be pretty heartbreaking." We caught up with Trevino this afternoon to reflect on his breakout episode and look ahead.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you by chance listened to EW's TV Insiders podcast breaking down last night's episode already?
MICHAEL TREVINO: I have not, no.

Okay, good. If you do, you may hear me accused of "panting" during your shirtless scenes. That is not accurate.
[Laughs] Okay. No, it's not. [Laughs] Okay.

So I know you were advised to watch videos of women giving birth and wolves feeding to prepare for the long haul and then frenzy of Tyler's transformation. Did you do anything else?
I just watched those videos, really, and then just kind of had to mentally prepare for two days of shooting it. I went into it like a marathon. Don't exhaust myself too much in the beginning, just time it and pace myself, to be able to perform over and over again.

What took the most takes?
I think the part where my spine was breaking and you see the ripples in my back because were so wide with camera angles. That took a bit out of me.

What were you like between takes? Trying to relax, or trying to stay in character?
We were taking these chains on and off, on and off, so sometimes they were settin' up a shot, and I was just in the moment, and I just laid on the floor. I didn't go to my cast chair, I didn't walk off the set. I just had everybody work around me, and I would just lay on the floor lifeless.

One of the things I loved was the way Tyler repeatedly grabbed for Caroline's hand. Was that in the script, or did it happen naturally?
It just felt natural, the way Marcos Siega blocked the scene, to be grabbing for Caroline.

And the moment when you were laying with your head in her lap, shivering. It reminded me of an old dog in pain. Was that what was in your mind?
Now that I think about it, that wasn't in the script, but I wanted to show a lack of breath, breathing fast, and these contractions during this transformation — how there's different levels of pain that he's going through throughout.

So those birthing videos came in handy.
Well, they did. I mean I wasn't trying to copy the breathing techniques. [Laughs]

What was the most difficult moment to shoot for you?
I think it was the last scene of the episode for me, when Caroline comes back, and I'm back in human form. That was the last scene that we shot of the whole transformation, and by then, I was just spent. I was just done. I was just exhausted. It was really hard to get there emotionally for what that scene needed at that point.

How did you feel about the nudity? Let's just go there.
Let's just go there. [Laughs] I knew it was going to be asked of me. I knew I was gonna have almost next to nothing on.

Did you wear the sock?
[Laughs] Is that what we're trying to get at here?

Well, I thought a direct approach was best. [Also, I've been covering True Blood for too long.]
[Laughs] I'm gonna leave that to the imagination to wonder if I was completely naked or not. But I sure did look pretty naked though.

Fair enough. So continue on, you knew what was expected of you.
Yes, exactly. I knew what was expected of me, and I'm not gonna say whether or not I had a sock on. [Laughs]

I can't be the first person to ask you that question. Or am I?
You are. This is the first interview since it aired. But I'll be ready for that next time with other people who ask.

Chatting with Candice Accola, I know they didn't have your favorite chocolate chip cookies on set the day you finished shooting the transformation and were ready to eat them again. How sweet is she that she asked them to make you your own special batch?
[Laughs] Yeah. I was watching what I ate, and that day at lunch, I was gonna try not to eat any chocolate chip cookies, and I went, and they didn't have any there. So I was like, "Okay, that's good." I wasn't tempted to eat any because they didn't make any. But then when we wrapped, I was like, "Damn, I wish they had some." Sure enough, at the end of the day, there was a plate in my dressing room, and it had six cookies on it. They were warm and just made. Candice had done that for me, and I love her for that.

She also said production got you a pizza.
And production got me a pizza. Tony, who's one of our assistant directors, he got me a pizza. After watching [the episode], I do want to thank Candice, our director, and the whole crew that was there trying to make me feel as comfortable as I can shooting that scene. You have so many people working around you, and I'm trying to stay in the moment, and personally, I'm very vulnerable. I'm half-naked and I'm chained up, so everybody was trying to take care of me. So it was nice that at the end of the day, we were all able to have some pizza and cookies. [Laughs]

When was the first time you saw the episode with the full special effects?
When it aired live. What I was very surprised with was not only the special effects, but the sound. The sound with the bones cracking, when they put that in in post-production, I was amazed by it. Right when Tyler's arm's getting bent backward, I cringed.

Looking ahead, have you filmed a transformation scene since then?
Ooh. I have not. But I have no doubt that we might have to revisit that dungeon.

We saw in the preview for the next episode [which airs Jan. 27] that Tyler tries to kiss Caroline. Is that him genuinely wanting to be with her or him feeling needy after what he's just been through?
I think it's because they're close, and they've gone through this event, and they can both understand each other because they have this supernatural element to them. I think he wants to be with her, and he cares for her. She stayed there with him for as long as she could, and he knows that. I'd like to think he wants to have a relationship.

Can you tease where we're headed with Jules? It's interesting because we're preconditioned to hate her because she's threatening our vampires, but if it turns out she's there to avenge Mason, that doesn't actually make her bad.
How do I answer this without getting in trouble? Jules has motives. She's coming to Mystic Falls to look over Tyler. She wants Tyler and she needs him. For what, I can't say. But she needs Tyler and wants to take him under her wing, but might want to be a lot closer than Mason was with him.

"A lot closer than Mason was with him…"
Yeah. I think we can trust Jules. Whereas with Mason and Katherine, that little relationship wasn't good.

How soon will Tyler find out that Caroline has been lying to him about her being the only vampire in Mystic Falls?
He's gonna find out really soon, and that's just a whole different situation then with Tyler and his feelings toward Caroline once he finds out she lied.

When we chatted the night the episode aired with Tyler activating the curse, you said you were hoping Tyler wouldn't get on Damon's bad side, if only because those characters end up dead. How do you feel about that possibility now?
[Laughs] What can I say… I don't want to get on Damon's bad side because he has a habit of ripping people's hearts out now, but I can say that when our new episodes come back, we don't really ever see Tyler having scenes with Stefan, Elena, and Damon. That never happens [at first]. But, I just recently shot some scenes for an episode with Stefan and Damon together. So, it's gonna get interesting. That's all I can say. I want to stay on Damon's good side, but now I'm going to work and I have scenes with Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, so, it's gonna get interesting here.

You were also excited the last time we talked because Tyler finally got a badass leather jacket to wear instead of a sweater. How is it treating you?
I will tell you right now, the episode that we're shooting now is me in the leather jacket, and I love it. [Laughs] In this episode we're filming right now, the good part of that episode for Tyler is scenes with me and Paul Wesley. Stefan and Tyler talk about Caroline. I'm excited to shoot that because it's just me and Paul and a different scenario. I haven't really worked with Paul yet, and to have a nice scene with a lot of dialogue, and it's just me and him, and it's not about actions and stunts, it's just about good acting with the awesome writing of Brian Young, who did this episode, I'm looking forward to that.

I read that Ian Somerhalder was shooting some kind of shower scene this week. Can you put that into any kind of context? He said something about a bubble bath with candlelight and wine.
Well, I don't think they would shoot anything that's gonna make sense with just Damon in a bathtub with a glass of wine talking to himself. So you would like to think, being the smooth operator that Damon is, that he might have a female in the shower or tub with him. That's all I can say.

Last question: Have you worked with Elijah [actor Daniel Gillies] yet?
No. No. No. I'm tryin' to stay away from Damon. I definitely don't want to meet him too. Come on now. One vampire at a time, please.

Mandi on Twitter: @EWMandiBierly