He’s baaaaaack.
Chris Wood was weighed in on reprising the role of The Vampire Diaries’ Kai Parker for the spin-off series Legacies.
In case you need a refresher, Kai (played by Chris Wood) was the major villain in The Vampire Diaries’ sixth season.
He was the one who was stuck in the 1994 prison world with Bonnie and Damon, and who – much, much later – was behind linking Elena and Bonnie’s lives.
And with Kai set to return to the Mystic Falls universe soon, Wood weighed in on his appearance on Legacies – and why the opportunity came at the perfect time.
“I think as actors we kind of feel our energy level deplete and you need non-work related things to fill that back up in order to empty the tank again,” he told Entertainment Weekly, as he revealed he had “sort of taken a hiatus” after departing Supergirl.
“I had been very choosy in taking time and focusing on writing and my non-work life, and then this came at the right moment. This role has always been so rewarding for me because Kai’s so eccentric and out there that, in playing him, I kind of have no rules.
“It’s a very freeing role because the way that I work when I play Kai is very erratic and unpredictable. The only way that he works is if he’s a little bit unhinged — we never know what he’s going to touch, do, say, think, anything. I was so glad that I went back and did this because it gave me that burst of energy that I was needing.”
And while he hasn’t played the role for a few years, the actor revealed that he felt right back at home after “two or three zippy one-liners.”
“Playing the character forces me as an actor to push myself to make extreme choices and to continue to be open and explore, even once we’re shooting a scene,” he added. “That feeling, as soon as I remembered what that was like, that was how I unlocked the character. It kind of just happened once we were shooting, and thankfully it was pretty painless.”
And as for what fans can expect from the character now that he’s back?
“Kai as he was on Vampire Diariesfits into Legacies quite well,” the actor said. “I think they were like, ‘You know what would be fun would be to see Kai still doing the same crap he was doing years ago.’ If anything, he’s more annoying and more willing to play with his victims before he kills them.”
