It’s been exactly one week since Elijah’s fatal encounter with The Hollow on The Originals, but we hope you haven’t spent that time shedding any tears over the Big Easy’s best-dressed bloodsucker.
“How many deaths has Elijah had?” actor Daniel Gillies asks TVLine. “I haven’t got the count, but I think a few fans do. At this point, we’ve kind of cried wolf.”
But even though Elijah isn’t permanently dead — his spirit is currently chilling in Freya’s pendant — that doesn’t mean Gillies put any less effort into his character’s latest demise.
“It’s different every time,” he admits. “It depends on what weapon you’re being murdered with, if you want it slow or fast, and how exhausted you are on set that day. … I’m joking about that last one, of course. It’s contingent on so many little factors. I never want to die exactly the same way twice, even though a couple of the deaths I’ve had might have been similar.”
And you’ll be happy to know this wasn’t the kind of death that required a warning from the Powers That Be.
“We usually know when things are going to happen to us about two episodes before they do, if that,” he notes. “Sometimes it’s only an episode before. Many times, I’ve seen that solemn march down the corridors of an executive produder — poor [Michael] Narducci or Julie [Plec] — having to deliver the dark news that someone has been slain. Fortunately, I haven’t received those tidings.”
Lovers of love, myself included, will appreciate that Hayley is the one tasked with pulling Elijah’s mind back from the brink when The Originals returns on June 2 (The CW, 8/7c). But don’t expect the couple to find its happily-ever-after just yet. As Gillies explains:
It’s sort of who they are, that’s their greatest obstacle. Have you ever been in a relationship where you’re kind of doomed from the get-go? You can sense it in your bones. There’s that feeling that you’re drawn to one another, but at the same time, you’re resisting it with good instinct. And those first instincts are the ones that need to govern. At the end of the day, [Hayley will] always be the mother to Klaus’ child, and he’ll always be murderous monster in a suit. I don’t think they’ll ever extricate themselves from what they are. And what they are at their deepest selves can’t share a sustainable relationship.
–
Womp womp.
We’ll have more scoop on The Originals‘ June 2 episode (directed by Gillies!) in the coming days, but for now, drop a comment with your thoughts on the show’s current season below.
