Exclusive Interview with The Vampire Diaries’ Annie Wersching

Annie Wersching is a seasoned TV actress best known for the role of Agent Renee Walker in the final two seasons of Fox’s 24 opposite Kiefer Sutherland. She currently plays Lily on CW’s The Vampire Diaries and Julia Brasher on Amazon’s Bosch.

You joined The Vampire Diaries during season 6. What was it like joining an already established cast and a show with a huge fan base?

“It can be a little nerve-wracking because you never know the group of people you are going to find, but everyone has been just so fantastic. I had a similar experience on 24 where I came in on the 7th season. The fan base for The Vampire Diaries is great. I love taking behind-the-scenes pictures and posting them on Twitter and I really like that the fans are into that!”  

Do you interact with fans often on Twitter?

“I do! Mostly I post pictures, but then I have some back-and-forth there too, and on Instagram as well.”

 What do you enjoy the most about playing Lily?

“How complicated she is. She has a lot going on! She went from being an abused, weak woman to then finding herself and her strength when she became a vampire. But now she’s thrust into the modern-day, the dynamic with her sons is really intense and I just love how she can be really strong at one moment and then the next one she’s really emotional, vulnerable and intense.”

On that note, one of the questions I got from a fan was this: what is your personal interpretation of Lily; who is she and what does she want?

“Lily is a woman who grew up when women didn’t really have a say in anything. She lived with a man who was NOT nice [laughs], so I feel that she’s a woman who started as very sheltered and later became stronger. Now she’s a mother and she’s trying to make up for the mistakes that she’s made in terms of her children.”

 Do you think Lily’s maternal instincts will ever return?

“Yeah, at the beginning of Season 7, as we will see, Lily is really trying to have everyone get along. In a perfect world they’d all be a big happy family. She wants to start fresh and get a second chance with her boys. So yes, she definitely has it in there. She taps into it a little bit more this upcoming season.”

On Bosch, you play police officer Julia Brasher. It’s a completely different show than Vampire Diaries both in genre and tone. How different was your preparation for these two roles?

“Oh, wow. Extremely different. I mean, Vampire Diaries takes place in a heightened fantasy world, and Bosch, they’re trying to make that show just about as realistic as they can. So for Bosch I was training and talking to real police officers, trying to get the specifics down of how Brasher would be as a rookie cop. For Vampire Diaries there is no one I can really go to and ask “Can you tell me how to play a vampire?” so I need a lot more imagination and instinct for Vampire Diaries. For Bosch I was really trying to create a character that someone who was a cop in real life could look and be like “oh yeah, that makes sense.”

Were there any women in your life that served as an inspiration for the role of Julia?

“It’s hard to say because she’s a strange little character. She grew up with money, went to law school and her father was a lawyer, and then she just threw all that away to become a cop. She’s really a risk taker. I don’t really know anyone who is like her. But like I said, there was a detective who helped us in the show and I just loved sitting with her and hearing her tell us stories. She worked as an uniformed officer for a long time. I could hear stories about her experiences for hours on end, and that definitely was inspirational for sure.

 Could you share something she told you that stuck with you?

“It was interesting to hear her talk about finding your way in the force as a female. Sometimes the male officers would come in and not be able to have as good of a reaction from a suspect because they were coming in all “hot”, but she’d be able to come in, talk, maybe smile a little bit and get a lot more cooperation because she was able to use things women have that men don’t have.”

 Should we expect a reunion between Annie and Bosch in Season 2?

“I think, eventually. I’ve shot a little bit so far. In the first scenes I shot I’ve had a reunion with some other characters in the show but not Bosch yet. I imagine there will be one down the line so we’ll see how it goes!”

 Do you watch TV in your spare time? What are some of your favorite shows?

“Oh my God, yes, I watch TV! Recently I’ve had some time to do some binge-watching, so I watched the entire Game of Thrones. I’m just starting season 2 of House of Cards so I feel like I’m really putting the time here [laughs]. I also love Mr. Robot and I’m still a die-hard Grey’s Anatomy fan. I also love the show Tyrant. I watch quite a bit of TV. I feel like I need to know what’s out there. I love to watch good actors.”

 What has been your most challenging role to date and why?

“I think Lily is pretty challenging because my hope is to make her as realistic as possible, but the scenarios are so heightened, and I find it a really good challenge to try to make everything that she’s saying, experiencing and feeling as real as possible. Not too soapy or over the top.” 

 

Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries premieres on CW on October 8th.