The Vampire Diaries discussion

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Sebastian Roche, whose character Balthazar was last seen stabbed by Castiel in the Supernatural season finale, has been booked as a recurring guest star on the new season of The CW’s The Vampire Diaries.

Executive producer Julie Plec tells EW Roche will play “a very mysterious man who appears to be hunting vampires, most specifically Klaus.” Mysterious indeed. As Plec explains, “For some reason, Klaus, who shouldn’t be afraid of anybody, seems to be concerned about this person.” The character was originally to be named Eric, but since the show is also introducing a character in season 3 named Bill (Heroes‘ Jack Coleman), the name of Roche’s character will be changing. “To protect from accidental True Blood comparisons,” Plec laughs. (For the record, on TVD, “Bill” will be a former Mystic Falls resident who returns to point out all the failings of the current Council’s attempts to keep vampires out-of-town.)

Plec is vague about when we’ll meet Bill and He Who Shall Be Renamed, but expect them each to arrive sometime during the season’s first chapter (roughly the first nine episodes). If Roche’s character makes Klaus nervous, does that mean he’s the season’s Big Bad? ”He is big, and he is bad, but I would dare not say if he is the true Big Bad or not, trademark Joss Whedon,” Plec says. “If you’ve learned anything from the Whedonverse seasonal-structuring school like we have, then there might be some bigger and badder people coming [later].”

Roche has already made a splash on set. “He showed up for a costume fitting, and I got an email from the costume designer that all of the women in the costume fitting were flushed and atwitter because he’s a very charming, handsome man,” reports Plec, who’s a fan from his General Hospital days. “He’s a classically-trained theater actor, he is mysterious, he has an element of danger to him,” she adds. “We liked the idea of bringing an adult into our world that wasn’t one of our founding families. He’s just got a quality that is really exciting.”

Source: EW