Passionately Longing #3 | Damon&Bonnie - Page 61

This week is all about The Vampire Diaries on The TV Chick. The show is returning this Thursday, and I'm confident it will be fantastic. The show ended on a very interesting note with Elena making a deal with Elijah to free Stefan, and the two of them presumably reuniting. But Elena isn't the only one with romantic issues, so to speak. Bonnie is involved in a bit of a love triangle with newcomer Luka (who is bad news) and Jeremy. Luka led Bonnie to believe that they rid the moonstone of its curse, but he and his father are up to something. Jeremy is pining after Bonnie and trying to prove himself as someone who can go toe to toe with the big guys (aka the vampires). I recently had the chance to visit the set of The Vampire Diaries in Atlanta, where I chatted with Kat Graham (who plays Bonnie) about Bonnie's love life, having her own music on the show, and the challenge of playing a witch.

I've been really enjoying Bonnie a lot this season.
Aw, thank you.

She's taken on a lot of responsibility. So what has it been like playing a much more confident Bonnie? A new Bonnie I guess you could say.
I've really enjoyed it. I love that I'm playing a character that's really empowered and she's making strong choices. [A] very unselfish person. A very compassionate character for being so young. And [she's always] looking out for her friends and being loyal. I've really enjoyed it. I'm so proud of the character she is. But she's also capable of really being a bitch. Which I love, and I'm not against it at all. People are like (sigh) Bonnie was such a bitch to that person, and I'm like "Good, she needed to be." I stick up for her and I'm all about the balance of that kind of strength, so I'm happy about that.

Are we going to keep seeing a bit of a Luka/Bonnie/Jeremy love triangle?
You'll definitely see more of Luka, and you'll definitely see more of Jeremy and I love that triangle. I love that they're exploring that part of Bonnie because I think mostly her exploration and her evolution has really been her family and her history and her witch-isms. But it hasn't at all really been romantic so –

It's nice to see her get a love interest.
Yeah, it is.

And in a recent episode we heard your cover of "I'm Only Happy When It Rains."
Yeah! It's just a fun cover. I've been a fan of Garbage since I was a kid and I wasn't trying to steal their shine — I'm just a fan, doing a song.

How did that come about? Did they approach you? Did they choose the song?
It was actually done for the show. They hadn't even told me to do it. My mentor and I were talking about stuff and he was like "Why don't you do a song for The Vampire Diaries?" And I was like "No, my style is not even remotely close to the show in real life." I want to preserve the essence of the show, there's no way I am putting a song on the show. No, I'm not singing on the show, I'm not doing anything on the show. Bonnie is Bonnie, and I'll leave it alone. That's how I was. And he was like "Well, why don't you just make a song for the show?" I was like "Okay, as long as it's nothing out of the catalog." So we went in with the idea — and at first I was going to do a Smashing Pumpkins song. I love all that 90s stuff. And we decided on Garbage, and I went in and recorded it and mix mastered it and he sent it to Kevin [Williamson] and Kevin loved it and he put it in the show and I was like "w-w-w-what? You put it in the show? My music was never on a show before. I've had something on MTV as [a] score, when I was 14. This is my third placement (laughs) in my life. So I was really, really flattered and really humbled by it and I'm glad that they like it. It's a different sound for me. It's way more rock. I do all this pop. So it was cool to just f**k around.

Well when I heard it in the scene, I was like "Is that Kat Graham? I think it's her!"
It definitely blended in the scene. I was really happy about that.

Do you think we might hear more?
Oh definitely. Well, I'm not sure about this show again. It would have to be something completely scored for the show and nothing out of my catalog. I like to keep the two projects very separate. But for my music, yeah, I'm going to do original music next year and release a single. But I definitely wanted to spend this year while I'm shooting to make people familiar with who I am, if they are going to ask, at the end of the day, I'm an artist, in any aspect. I just want to be an artist. I just want to make music. I just want to create characters and do that, so it was great to be able to share that with the fans and actually gift them with my music which was really cool. I love giving away free remixes.

Will be seeing more of Bonnie and her distant cousin?
I don't know. Right now, it's not written but I really do hope so. I loved Lucy and I love when Emily is in the episodes and I loved working with Jasmine Guy (who played Grams), so any time I get to work with a family member, we have great chemistry. I hope that happens again. I loved the character. I'd love to meet my parents.

I feel like beyond Luka, Bonnie needs a little advice. You're all alone here!
Yeah! She definitely needs a lot of advice. She doesn't know what she's doing sometimes. (laughs) Which is okay because most people don't.

What has been the biggest challenge for you playing Bonnie so far?
Making her real all the time. This is a character that can do everything from setting cars on fire to levitating feathers, to touching someone and being able to tell where someone else is. It can seem like a fantasy and I have to connect Bonnie to my life and what's going on with my life and who I am and do certain other things to make her so real. So when I'm doing a chant or I'm doing a spell, it comes across as geniune. Because that could easily look like awful acting. (laughs) And that's why I get nervous, I'm like "Oh my gosh, how am I going to pull this off? How am I going to make people believe that this is really happening?" Like when I'm bleeding out of my nostril or when I really faint and all that stuff. So I think that's been the biggest challenge for me is making it real.

And do you have a favorite moment or scene that you've shot so far?
The first thing that comes to mind when you ask me that is when Elena comes up the stairs after she's been kidnapped and I had written her a note. I wound up getting a nose bleed just from that thing. And she walks up the stairs and I ran to her and hugged her. That scene didn't have any words for me but just having that kind of bond with Nina, [it's] probably one of my favorite moments just because it's so real for me. That was probably one of my favorite moments that I've shot.

And do you think we're going to see any ramifications from her channeling Luka?
Probably! I'm sure they're going to talk about it and I think Bonnie might be in trouble but other than that, she had to do what she had to do.

Who do you think Bonnie should be with? Jeremy? Luka? Someone we haven't seen yet?
All of them!

Damon?
All of them! Everybody all at once!

(laughs) And can you tease a little bit of what we're going to see after the big hiatus?
We have someone coming back. [Ed. Note: Jon Gilbert, but Kat Graham didn't say that.]

What else?
Werewolves and vampires will collide.

I like it! Will witches collide?
Who knows? Maybe! And Bonnie gets a kiss! I won't say from who, but she gets a kiss!

Are we going to see more good spells?
I'm sure you going to. They love that. You'll definitely see more spells. They love doing the chants and the spells and stuff like that. I'm sure there will be something to un-spell, de-spell, re-spell.

Will she still be involved with the moonstone?
She's kind of stuck in the middle of that thing. Like how can she get out of it? She can't. So, definitely. She's definitely stuck with the moonstone.

Be sure to tune in this Thursday at 8 pm to the CW for an all new episode of The Vampire Diaries! And there will be a new interview from the set every day this week, so check back often!