Before he became the charming and tormented Klaus Mikaelson, actor Joseph Morgan dreamed of being a rock star. Speaking on The Wayne Ayers Podcast, the British actor spoke of how he was a huge Oasis fanatic. “I bought a tambourine and tried to be Liam Gallagher,” he laughed.
Then, things took a dramatic turn when he developed a passion for acting. “I became obsessed with Quentin Tarantino,” he explained on the show. “I found these books of his scripts and thought, ‘These are incredible.'”
It was this passion that took him to London’s top drama schools, and he realized that acting was what he really wanted to do. “I think, ‘If I can be an actor, maybe I could be a writer-director,’ you know?” Morgan explained. “Then I just fell in love with acting, you know?”
The Birth of a Villain: Becoming Klaus Mikaelson
When Morgan joined The Vampire Diaries, he didn’t know he was walking into immortality, both literally and in popular culture. “The show was already a huge hit,” he continued. “But he didn’t know how much the character Klaus was anticipated.” Fans were talking about “the original vampire” months before Morgan joined, and once he arrived, he changed the face of the brand.
“I think they brought him into a new body first, just in case I screwed this up, you know?” he joked. “They could have just had him jump bodies again and recast him!”
He didn’t ruin it, though. Klaus Mikaelson is one of the greatest antiheroes to appear on television, a mix of Shakespearean monarch and deranged family man. Morgan stated: “I wanted people to question how they feel about their morality, to make you want him enough so you can realize, ‘Wait, I’m rooting for a terrible person.'”
The Vampire Diaries to The Originals: The Fans Made It Happen
Morgan credits fans with the creation of The Originals spin-off.
“There were fan trailers made about The Originals even before the show existed,” Morgan disclosed. “I loved working with Daniel Gillies and Claire Holt. We even wanted to pitch a spin-off to Julie Plec, but we didn’t get the chance before we received an offer.”
Once the series was a reality, it became a passion project. “I wanted to be on set every day,” Morgan stated. “That is my happy place. It is a dream to go from guest star to leading my own show.”
Was Klaus Mikaelson Really Evil?
Morgan doesn’t sugarcoat the dark side of Klaus either: “He’s done terrible things, that’s indefensible, but he’s a result of trauma as well.”
Fans have questioned Klaus’ morality, particularly how he likes to “dagger” his siblings. “I think it’s a good thing that people are questioning their morality if they do agree with him,” Morgan went on to say, adding, “They forget about him drowning Ty’s mom in a fountain at Christmas.”
However, the family dynamics remained an integral part of The Originals. “It’s the dysfunction people related to,” Jensen explained. “You love your family, but they drive you crazy. That’s real.”
Joseph Morgan on Loving Persia White
He spoke fondly of his wife, Persia White, a former star of The Vampire Diaries. “We met on that show,” he gazed fondly into the camera. “She pushed me to take The Originals. We practiced my lines every night.”
He also confessed that he had never viewed her famous TV series, Girlfriends, before they dated. “I didn’t realize how big she was until we went out in Atlanta, and people just went crazy.”
Together, the pair operates a production company, Morgan White Productions, which is involved in the development of films and television series. “We want to make stories for the fans,” Morgan explained. “During the lockdown, we reached out to fans via the internet. We want to bring this ‘found family’ vibe to what we do.”
Joseph Morgan On Directing Klaus
Morgan spoke about how he has a passion for directing films: “You gotta be super prepared,” he continued. “I’d walk the sets, shot list every scene, and work with my cinematographer. You gotta be prepared, but you also gotta let those actors move freely. The good thing was, Daniel Gillies and I had an established trust level.”
He described the experience of directing and acting at the same time as “running a marathon while conducting the orchestra.” Still, this is something he relishes. “I wanted to be a director before wanting to be an actor,” he confessed. “It’s like going home.”
Halo, Titans, and the Next Fandom Frontier
Morgan, having conquered the world of vampires, went on to star as Brother Blood in Titans and as James Ackerson in Halo. The self-proclaimed “gamer” considers acting in Halo a childhood dream fulfilled: “I grew up playing it. It was surreal to be among all the Spartans, Warthogs, and all.”
“But he is frustrated that Halo didn’t continue,” says Jason Minor, a fan. “I think he wanted to continue exploring that world,” he added.
However, Morgan is proud to have been part of three big fandoms: The Vampire Diaries, DC Titans, and Halo. “I’m looking for my next fandom,” Morgan joked.
Joseph Morgan Reflects On Game of Thrones Audition:
Morgan has even auditioned once for Game of Thrones, but didn’t make the cut. “I was like, ‘I’m sure they’ll just know my work, you know.’ Nope,” he laughed. One show he wanted to be a part of: “Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy is my favorite actor at the moment. It was just a fantastic show.”
As far as how he goes about acting, he says, “Just repeat, repeat, repeat. Say the lines out loud again and again. Anthony Hopkins repeats his scripts 250 times. You have to know the dialogue so well that you could think the thoughts yourself.”
Actors and the Future of the Industry
Morgan was also sharing his insights into AI as a part of the entertainment industry, and he didn’t sugarcoat things either. “It is a terrible thing, and finally, the entertainment industry gets exactly what they’ve wanted all along: a woman who will do as she is told and never, ever age,” he calmly stated.
“It is despicable, and the one thing a person will get out of a piece of art is the human part, and you just can’t program that into an artificial intelligence system,” he continued.
Joseph Morgan Talks About Klaus’s Death and Legacy
Morgan explained, “I actually pitched this to The Originals creator, Julie Plec, because I wanted Klaus to die this way: ‘I told her, ‘Klaus dies heroically.’ It was the only fitting end. After everything he’d done, sacrificing himself for his daughter was his redemption.”
“Yet fans are still not ready to let him go either. ‘When at cons, fans tell me how Klaus has gotten them through tough times,’ he says. ‘That is the ultimate legacy, touching lives through their work.'”
A Forever Kind of Fame
The interview given by actor Joseph Morgan to The Wayne Ayers Podcast deserves far more than just being put alongside other nostalgia pieces, as this actor gave a class lecture on passion, art, and humanity, going from Vampire Diaries frogs to Peaky Blinders dreams, including all things Match “I just want my legacy to be about connection. Making people feel something,” he said. “That’s always and forever.”
