The Originals Star Danielle Campbell: Davina Is Trying to Survive, Not Take Sides

On tonight's episode of The Originals, airing on The CW at 8 p.m., Davina -- played by actress [...]

The Big Uneasy

On tonight's episode of The Originals, airing on The CW at 8 p.m., Davina -- played by actress Davina Campbell -- is the center of the action. In the episode, Genevieve (guest star Elyse Levesque) asks Elijah (Daniel Gillies) to allow her coven to publicly celebrate a traditional feast day, where members of the community offer the witches gifts in return for blessings.  Monique (guest star Yasmine Al Bustami)) and Genevieve disagree over what the ancestors want from them, and Genevieve reveals her plan to build the witches power.  When Elijah focuses his attention on restoring their home to its former glory, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) accuses him of doing it only to impress Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin). Next, Klaus sets a new plan in motion by finding Cary (guest star Jesse Boyd), a werewolf from his own line, and sending him off to find a missing piece of family history.  Marcel lets Thierry (guest star Callard Harris) in on his new plan to rebuild his power, but Diego (guest star Eka Darville) has his own ideas about the future.  At theFeast of the Blessings, Monique and Genevieve try to use the ceremony to teach Davina a lesson, but Klaus intervenes and gives Davina a surprisingly important gift.  While Hayley struggles to decide where her loyalties should lie, the ceremony explodes into violence. It's all part of an ongoing internal struggle that Davina is having finding a faction to be loyal to, when Klaus isn't all he's cracked up to be, Marcel has violated her trust and she's ostracized from her coven. ComicBook.com contributing writer Jonathan Bidwell sat down with Campbell to talk about Davina's loyalties and her plans for the rest of the season.

The Big UneasyJonathan Bidwell

: With your character, she's got a few different things going on right now -- the big ones are her relationship with Marcel and with The Coven. Which do you think is pulling more at her right now? Danielle Campbell: I think for her right now -- I think she doesn't really trust anybody so she doesn't trust her coven, she doesn't trust Marcel, she doesn't trust the vampires; she doesn't trust anyone except for Josh and Cammy. But she does know that she's a witch and she knows that she has to learn to use her power and the only way that she can do that is through her coven. So I think...I was asked previously, does she choose the side of The Coven or Marcel or Klaus. I think something about Davina is that she's not using sides right now. She's doing that on purpsoe because she's trying to figure out how to use her powers and she knows the Coven is the only way she can do that. So she's there, not out of choice but becuase she knows there's noplace else she can go. And Marcel -- I think she definitely loves Marcel but he did also betray her so she can't trust him right now.

The Big Uneasy

Bidwell: She comes across as very innocent, and in a sense she is -- but she realizes that the only way to improve her stance is to use the other people who are essentially using her. Campbell: I think that's actually a really good point; she's a young girl and she did start out as really innocent but at the end of the day, she's a witch and she has powers that she has to learn how to use in order to survive in this environment. Particularly in New Orleans, where there's a struggle for power over the entire area. I think if she wants to live and protect the people that she cares about, she needs to be powerful and in a position to do that. Definitely by the end of the season, you see her become one of the strongest characters and she's doing it to survive but to keep those she loves again as well. Bidwell: She's always had this sense of great power, that gets stripped away from her, but then we saw at the end of the episode a few weeks ago that there's something more to her powers. A lot of viewers have wondered whether she's just that powerful or whether it has to do with the fact that she didn't die in the Harvest originally. Campbell: Right, and I think that's a very exciting point about it as well. I think something cool about Davina -- I think something really important about her character is that while Klaus and a lot of the other vampires and wolves kill people and it doesn't matter. Klaus kills people and he doesn't think twice about it. But the second Davina loses somebody, it hits her hard. She's this young girl and it really affects her. She's this young girl and she's lost her mother and she's lost Tim, who was her first love. That stuff really hits home with her and I think in their loss, it really gives her strength to protect the people that are still here and she just--she can't lose anyone else. That's just not an option for her. That's a drive for her to keep her power and to really control it.

The Big Uneasy

Bidwell: Well, and all she really has left is Josh and Cammy, and sometimes you have to wonder how long they've got left -- especially Josh. Cammy at least has an appeal to both Klaus and Marcel. Campbell: Right. Josh is always in hiding now and is under fire; Klaus is going to kill him the first chance he gets and so Davina feels she needs to protect him. She also still loves Marcel even though he betrayed her and there are so many people she cares about and feels responsible for, and needs to help as much as she can. Bidwell: Elijah comes across as a big part of the show, even if they don't say that overtly. Campbell: Oh, he's a huge character. Completely. Bidwell: You almost feel like the writers are downplaying his importance, but that ultimately he'll be a key part of the show. As he's trying to pull people together, how much of a part does Davina play in his plans? Campbell: At least toward the end of the season, she is not really on one side or another; she's more focused on trying to protect the people she cares about. I wouldn't say she has much in line with Elijah and his power source right now. Another thing, too, is that she thinks of Elijah right now as the brother of the person who killed her first love, so she's probably a little angry with him at this point as well. Bidwell: What would you say would be the one defining characteristic of this show that could bring in an audience not already watching? Campbell: The action. If you love comic books, I think that's something really great about the show. We set people on fire, everyone's always running and it's crazy. There's a lot of action but the storylines are always really well-developed and really captivating.

0comments