We have a new Rebekah among us! Tell us about the latest Originals body swap.
Michael Narducci: Well it's definitely not a new character in any way. It definitely is the Rebekah who we know and love who has been off raising hope for the past several months. Because of the events of this episode, what happens is she is tricked and trapped and she finds herself in a different body. We’ve seen what it's like for Finn and Kol to be in a different body and now we're going to see what it's like for Rebekah too.
What is it about actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers that made her the perfect choice to play Rebekah?
MN: She's such a phenomenal presence. I mean right from her first audition you really see an incredibly strong sparkle and there's a great beauty — not only with physical beauty but there's a great inner beauty — that comes up in her performance. There's also just this incredible strength. When I think of Rebekah, I think of a character who for a thousand years has gone toe-to-toe with two of the most dangerous and strong creature in existence: Klaus and Elijah. There's a great power there and Claire effortlessly brings that power to the role and if we were going to have another actress take on that role, it was definitely something that we needed to have. We looked at a lot of different people and held a lot of different auditions and there are a lot of really great actors but we all unanimously thought that Maisie was just such a great addition to our show and perfect in every way to play this part, which is kind of a sacred part.
How long have you known that you wanted to swap Rebekah out of her body?
MN: This is one of our most beloved characters and we knew pretty early on that we were bringing back Finn and Kol through Esther, who hates vampires and she wouldn’t bring them back in their original bodies. So we knew that the body-swapping storyline would be a big part of the season so we also knew that inevitably, in order of Esther's plan to have a true threat, somebody would have to get swapped.
Michael Narducci: Well it's definitely not a new character in any way. It definitely is the Rebekah who we know and love who has been off raising hope for the past several months. Because of the events of this episode, what happens is she is tricked and trapped and she finds herself in a different body. We’ve seen what it's like for Finn and Kol to be in a different body and now we're going to see what it's like for Rebekah too.
What is it about actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers that made her the perfect choice to play Rebekah?
MN: She's such a phenomenal presence. I mean right from her first audition you really see an incredibly strong sparkle and there's a great beauty — not only with physical beauty but there's a great inner beauty — that comes up in her performance. There's also just this incredible strength. When I think of Rebekah, I think of a character who for a thousand years has gone toe-to-toe with two of the most dangerous and strong creature in existence: Klaus and Elijah. There's a great power there and Claire effortlessly brings that power to the role and if we were going to have another actress take on that role, it was definitely something that we needed to have. We looked at a lot of different people and held a lot of different auditions and there are a lot of really great actors but we all unanimously thought that Maisie was just such a great addition to our show and perfect in every way to play this part, which is kind of a sacred part.
How long have you known that you wanted to swap Rebekah out of her body?
MN: This is one of our most beloved characters and we knew pretty early on that we were bringing back Finn and Kol through Esther, who hates vampires and she wouldn’t bring them back in their original bodies. So we knew that the body-swapping storyline would be a big part of the season so we also knew that inevitably, in order of Esther's plan to have a true threat, somebody would have to get swapped.
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TVLINE | So, what’s next for Rebekah?
Putting Rebekah into another body is a great instance of “be careful what you wish for.” Now that she’s no longer in her original immortal body — that strong, fast body that can endure anything — she’s just a mortal witch. She’s got a whole new set of powers, but she’s not immortal anymore. If she’s stabbed or killed, will that be the end of Rebekah? And will this Faustian deal be worth it to her? That’s one of the things we really want to explore.
TVLINE | Does this mean we won’t be seeing Claire Holt as Rebekah anymore?
The great thing about our show is that we have a built-in engine. We’ve seen Kol in a new body, for example, but we also still get to see Nathan Buzolic quite a bit in flashbacks. There are plenty of flashbacks to explore what Rebekah has been doing for the past 1,000 years.
TVLINE | But is the body swap permanent?
This isn’t necessarily a permanent change. It’s not like something is going to happen to Rebekah’s original body, or that once she makes this change, she can’t go back — unlike Kol and Finn, whose original bodies were destroyed. Rebekah’s body will continue to exist, so there are many different story opportunities for us to explore.
Putting Rebekah into another body is a great instance of “be careful what you wish for.” Now that she’s no longer in her original immortal body — that strong, fast body that can endure anything — she’s just a mortal witch. She’s got a whole new set of powers, but she’s not immortal anymore. If she’s stabbed or killed, will that be the end of Rebekah? And will this Faustian deal be worth it to her? That’s one of the things we really want to explore.
TVLINE | Does this mean we won’t be seeing Claire Holt as Rebekah anymore?
The great thing about our show is that we have a built-in engine. We’ve seen Kol in a new body, for example, but we also still get to see Nathan Buzolic quite a bit in flashbacks. There are plenty of flashbacks to explore what Rebekah has been doing for the past 1,000 years.
TVLINE | But is the body swap permanent?
This isn’t necessarily a permanent change. It’s not like something is going to happen to Rebekah’s original body, or that once she makes this change, she can’t go back — unlike Kol and Finn, whose original bodies were destroyed. Rebekah’s body will continue to exist, so there are many different story opportunities for us to explore.
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