Legacies Season 1 is now in the past, but not forgotten (unlike Hope Mikaelson in the Malivore pit). The joint spinoff of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals brought back several characters from those shows, and introduced several new favorites. While we were getting to know the new characters, the stars were getting to know each other during filming in the Atlanta area.
Back in early December 2018, when Kaylee Bryant was promoting the return of Josie Saltzman's biological mother Jo in "Mombie Dearest," CinemaBlend asked her for some knee-jerk descriptions of her beloved co-stars -- just one or two words that quickly came to mind when asked about her castmates. Here's what she responded:
Danielle Rose Russell (Hope Mikaelson) -- Wifey is the first thing that comes to mind, and loving, she's just a very loving person. So those are the two things that come to mind.Matt Davis (Alaric Saltzman) -- Oh Matt, Matt is funny, like hilarious. Like secretly one of the most funny people on set.Jenny Boyd (Lizzie Saltzman) -- High fashion. That's always what I call her, she's my high fashion twinnie. Twinnie and high fashion.Quincy Fouse (Milton "MG" Greasley) -- Oh, Quincy. Quincy -- a clown. He's a clown, I call him a clown all the time. He's hilarious.Peyton Alex Smith (Rafael Waithe) -- Oh Peyton. Peyton, I don't know. What would I call Peyton? I guess is undercover teddy bear, that's how I like to describe Peyton.Aria Shahghasemi (Landon Kirby) -- Aria is intelligent, that's the first thing that comes to mind. He's genuinely one of the most intelligent people I've talked to.
If I had known Penelope Park would return to Josie's life in such a beautiful and emotional way, I'd have asked Kaylee Bryant about Lulu Antariksa. Alas, I only asked about the six above. (However, I did ask Kaylee about her favorite ship for Josie, including #Posie.)
Danielle Rose Russell first appeared as Hope Mikaelson on The Originals, before Hope became the lead character of Legacies. Hope and Josie have definitely shown some chemistry in Legacies, especially in "There's a World Where Your Dreams Came True," aka the alternate reality episode that told us about Stefanie Salvatore.
Matt Davis, who plays Josie and Lizzie's father Alaric, is the only star in The Vampire Diaries Universe to have been on all three shows so far -- The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies. Lizzie and Josie Saltzman are characters from The Vampire Diaries, although the actresses are new for Legacies, showing the twins in their teenage years at the Salvatore School.
Even back in December, before they shot the season finale, Kaylee Bryant told me how much she'd love to have Chris Wood on Legacies as the twins' evil Uncle Kai:
My favorite characters from The Vampire Diaries are -- Kai is my favorite, and Caroline, and Katherine. Those three are my top favorites, I love all three of them so much. The amount of times that I say in live streams, on social media, in the writers room that I want Kai to come on to the show -- I think that the writers might kill me, because they're so over me talking about it. But I think that having Kai on the show would be so amazing to see, with the twins and everything, and I'm just obsessed with the actor that plays him. I think it would be fun to have that evil storyline to tell in reference to the twins and the Gemini Coven and all of that.
The Vampire Diaries Universe ruler Julie Plec definitely feels the same way, and she gave Josie and Lizzie a storyline in the Legacies Season 1 finale that directly tied to Kai Parker. Plec admitted it was kinda presumptuous of her to put actor Chris Wood on the spot like that, but she's hoping he considers at least a cameo in Legacies Season 2. He's not the only one Julie Pec and fans would love to see again from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, as there are still several characters (even beyond Caroline) whose storylines would dovetail perfectly with where Legacies is after Season 1.
Speaking of the twins' other mother Caroline, who also co-runs the Salvatore School -- she was not seen in Legacies Season 1. Her absence was eventually explained by Alaric, who intially said she was recruiting for the school, then admitted she was really trying to find a way for the twins to avoid The Merge when they turn 22.
Back in late 2018, I asked Kaylee Bryant if we'd ever see Caroline on Legacies. Here's what she said:
I think we all would love to see Caroline as much as the fans would. It's just a matter of -- you know, we have an open door policy for all of the actors on The Vampire Diaries. But these actors have been on the show with these characters for 10 years. And I think everybody can respect somebody wanting to take a step back from that character and have their own life and career outside of that. So if Candice King would like to come back and play Caroline we would love to have her back. And if she doesn't we respect that as well.
The Vampire Diaries ended just two years ago, and it hasn't even been a year since The Originals went off the air. Interestingly enough, now that the first season of Legacies has joined them on Netflix, some new fans are actually starting with Legacies and then catching up on all of the past show references by binge-watching Vampire Diaries and The Originals.
Legacies Season 2 will start filming in July for a premiere this fall on The CW.
