From playing a vampire in the Twilight franchise to a hunter on The Vampire Diaries, Charlie Bewley is familiar with the supernatural — and the series’ rabid fan bases. In a recent interview, Charlie upset some TVD fans with comments about the center of the show’s love triangle, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev).
When Wetpaint Entertainment caught up with the actor, we had to ask about that little incident, as well as get some more info on Vaughn — such as what makes the Scot tick and who Charlie thinks he should hook up with. We’re pretty sure he lived up to his goal of not saying anything that will get him fired!
Wetpaint Entertainment: So how did Vaughn end up being Scottish?
Charlie Bewley: I think it was a nod from Jose Molina who was the writer of the episode. He's a big fan of Craig Ferguson, and he said that it was a nod to him and where he comes from. So they told me this literally like three days before I was going out. I've done a Scottish accent before. I mean, everyone's got a stereotypical one, but I took the challenge on. It's interesting. It's always good to get out of your own voice. So I think it's a great way to commit to a character. So I just put the effort into it.
You put the effort in for those three days.
Right. (Laughs) The interesting thing with the Scottish accent is I could have gone all the way, but it would have needed subtitles because you wouldn't have been able to understand what I was saying. So I had to really enunciate the words which gave it a sort of, little bit more of a cosmopolitan Scottish accent, slightly more modern-day, easy-to-understand accent when really what I wanted to do was go full-on Trainspotting and really confuse the hell out of everyone. There's some places in Scotland and in England that you just cannot understand what people are saying. But even in ADR, they were like, “Okay. We need that crisper.”
How much did you know about Vampire Diaries and the mythology?
Not really that much to be honest. I'm not a TV watcher. I'm not big on vampires. I have an affinity with them, but I never really plunge into TV. By the way, I’ve realized very, very quickly in this fandom, you say anything that might be slightly, slightly risqué, they're going to come down on you like a ton of bricks and take it out of context and put words in your mouth.
Like calling Elena a slut?
Those words never breached my lips. Never, ever once, did I say those words.
No, it was anyone who was offended by the fact that she was bouncing back and forth between two men.
Exactly. (Laughs)
You're part of the Twilight franchise as well. Aren't they equally rabid?
No.
Really?
I've got to tell you. It was a huge, huge backlash from that comment, and I observed with much amusement and confusion. But I think that the Twilight [fans] are maybe a little bit more passive aggressive.
A character like Vaughn doesn't really fit into the grand scheme of things. How much did you really need to catch up on who's related to whom and how many times have they died?
Not really at all to be honest. I caught up on this season. I watched the 12 episodes before I got introduced, and it gave me a good understanding as to the pace of the whole thing and where I could fit in without being too much. And obviously, you don't want to go too small. It was all about pacing really, from an acting standpoint. It was like, what's the show about? What's the action like? What's the style of it? And how can I cause as much trouble as possible without getting fired?
So tell me about the character. What did you know, and what should we know about him?
Well, the character, aside from what's on the Vampire's wiki, I just tried to just have some fun with this guy really. With any character, I just try to relate him to myself and a lot of that is to sort of play things off and not be too serious and have fun with things — with the underlying stakes very, very clear still. So I think Vaughn is that. He's very powerful, I think, as a character. He's quite charming, with a degree of charisma, but he's clearly well trained. And I think when you get to a certain point in your training it becomes so ingrained and subconscious, that you actually can be very creative with it and natural and charming with that underlying threat of danger. So, yeah, I’m after the cure, I'm not sure why. Oh, I know why I'm getting the cure. Because I'm a hunter, and it’s my job. I have the map, and that is it. I have to fulfill the mission.
I think that's what the German soldiers said during the second World War?
Right. But the German soldiers didn't have tattoos. I had a calling and obviously, I had a rough upbringing. Everyone was dying around me. And I became very passionate in the wilderness, and then these tattoos started growing on me and obviously chose me because I'm so hard and badass. And I just followed it. I followed it and found out what it was all about.
How long is this arc that we speak of?
I don't know. I would not object at all to going back. I think there’s a lot to discover with this guy. I would like to work with the rest of the cast, specifically Joseph [Morgan], because I think we're two very similar actors. I think he's done great with that role. I mean, to turn up as a guest star and then suddenly, just manipulate the whole theory into a spin-off is just credence to him. He's really done something clever with that character, and it's paid off.
Who would be a good person for Vaughn to hook up with?
Anyone really, because I think there's no wrong answer here. But because Vaughn is there really to disrupt the apple cart as much as possible, I think Rebekah would probably be the lowest stakes hook-up there. Whether that be one that Vaughn would even entertain, I don't know. It would be more of a gratuitous hook-up or ‘ship, apparently it's called. And I think I probably have to go for the ultimate prize and just tear the triangle up.
And then please tweet about it.
It's hilarious what you can say, and the ripples just reverberate around the kingdom. And everybody gets so angry.
These were obviously Steven R. McQueen's last episodes on the show. Was there a strange dynamic on set?
I don't know really because I have no real frame of reference on that. I think that ultimately everyone realizes that on a supernatural show, all things are possible. So therefore, nothing is finished. So that really is like the idea that I got. And when it came to talk of more episodes, they’re like, “No one can be killed off.”
Did you have fun with Ian?
Yeah, Ian's awesome. Ian's the ringleader of the whole thing. He's the glue that binds everyone, really. I thought he was going to be this reserved, too cool for school kind of guy, but honestly, he is brilliant, for a star. And he is very giving, a real motor mouth and just has a story to trump everyone's story, which he should have. To have the life that he's had. I'm all about life experience, and when I hear people who've just gone out and done stuff, I really tip my hat off to them
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