The Vampire Diaries Originals Spin-Off: New Orleans Atmosphere, Drunks

The Vampire Diaries spin-off, The Originals is set to debut on April 25, and Entertainment Weekly has a first look at the pilot.


The show looks absolutely gorgeous, as it was filmed in New Orleans in mid-March — over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, actually. The city had more than its fair share of revellers, Joseph Morgan (Klaus) tells EW, and not just for the vampire parties.


“[I]t was St. Patrick’s Day weekend over that period that we were filming in the hotel,” says Joseph, “so we’d suddenly have to stop production while an incredibly inebriated couple stumbled through this vampire party trying to make it to their room.”


It’s Klaus’s former protégé Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) who is responsible for the bloodsuckers’ bashes. Vampires have free reign in New Orleans, thanks to him. “Marcel’s got people to look the other way while they have these crazy hedonistic parties and do whatever they want,” says Joseph.


Executive producer Julie Plec fell in
love with the city when she made a research trip in December. “We got to shoot in Lafayette Cemetery, which has been there for hundreds of years. We got to shoot in and around buildings that have been standing since the last great fire,” she explains.


Unfortunately it sounds like filming full-time in the city would be too pricey, and Julie is planning on having The Originals shoot in Georgia near The Vampire Diaries, should it get picked up. Joseph hopes they’d still be able to visit New Orleans a few times a year, though Daniel Gillies (Elijah) admits, “I think it would be damn near impossible to shoot in Louisiana for the duration. You’re dealing with a lot of drunk people a lot of the time.”


Gotta love the spirit (and spirits) of New Orleans!