We Chat With The Vampire Diaries' Aussie Star Nathaniel Buzolic Ahead Of Oz Comic-Con

Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic made Kol Mikaelson – the mercurial, mischievous, estranged vampire brother in The CW show The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off The Originals – so iconic that, even when successively bumped off, the writers had to resurrect him.

With The Originals concluding in August following five seasons, Buzolic is looking to new vistas. But, for now, he's a celebrity guest at this month's Oz Comic-Con in Brisbane and Sydney, together with castmate Phoebe Tonkin (aka Hayley Marshall).

As it happens, Buzolic is as much an impulsive romantic as Kol with his witch love Davina Claire (Danielle Campbell). "I'm just packing at the moment," he shares, in an advance interview from his Los Angeles base. "I just decided to do a last-minute flight to Rome, so I'm in a bit of a mad rush. I'm gonna go and surprise my girlfriend. She's working in Rome… So it's all just like very last-minute – literally booked maybe 20 minutes ago."

When Buzolic appears at especially international conventions, attendees are often astonished to discover that he is Australian, because Kol has an English accent. And the gregarious star is renowned for bringing hilarity to panels. (Recently, he did an impression of Daniel Gillies' Elijah Mikaelson as a robot that went viral on Twitter.)

Born in Sydney, Buzolic belongs to an Eastern European diaspora – his Croatian mother a refugee. After studying acting, he landed roles in local TV productions like Home & Away and the BBC-backed Out Of The Blue. Plus there were hosting gigs. Buzolic's major US break arrived in 2011 when he was cast as Kol in The Vampire Diaries – fans despairing his first death by staking.

"I loved playing the menacing, bad character. I just get more enjoyment out of it."

In season two of The Originals, Kol was briefly recast with the Brit Daniel Sharman – explained narratively by his possessing Kaleb Westphall's body. Did Buzolic scope it out? "To be honest, I didn't watch him play me. I think it was interesting… I'd signed on to do a Supernatural pilot [Supernatural: Bloodlines], which eventually didn't make it to series, but that's why I was unavailable. And, when I came back, I think there was a new wardrobe designer that had never worked with me before. I sort of came on the show and she said, 'Oh, you've gotta put your collar up for this outfit.' I was like, 'Why?' And she's like, 'Oh, because Daniel Sharman used to put his collar up.' I'm like, 'Yeah, but I played Kol first. So the collar's coming back down! (laughs)' There were little things like that that were quite funny. But I think Daniel, from what I hear from fans, did an amazing job. He's taller, he's definitely a good-looking guy, so I guess, if you're gonna get replaced by anyone, it's probably good that it's Daniel Sharman."

Kol emerged as potentially the most dangerous of The Originals' family, even over the vampire/werewolf hybrid Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan) – being resentful of his exclusion from the fraternal allegiance between Klaus and Elijah (extending to sister Rebekah). Yet the snarky vamp found fulfilment in his marriage to Davina. The couple abandoned supernatural New Orleans, Kol realising that "happiness is a choice." Buzolic was gratified by Kol's arc. "I think it was great! I loved playing the menacing, bad character. I just get more enjoyment out of it. But it was also really nice to play the love story with Danielle Campbell as Davina. She was so easy to work with.… I think [Kol] was always a bit of an outsider and he felt a little bit more complete having Davina as a love interest."

The Originals' finale was as unexpected, and as devastating, as any Game Of Thrones shocker. Klaus sacrificed himself to save his "tribrid" (witch/wolf/vampire) daughter, Hope (Danielle Rose Russell), from a malevolent force – with Elijah joining him in the pact. There was to be no 'Happy Ever After' for Klaus and his 'last love', Caroline Forbes (Candice King). But, if viewers were polarised, it was conceivably because the agnostic endgame was less tragic than nihilistic, and less about redemption than resignation. Imagine a Shakespearean play translated by cloud rappers. Mind, Buzolic interpreted it more poetically. 

"I don't think in light of everything that this family has done over the years that there could ever be a happy, happy ending. I think this is as happy as it could get. I think it was a beautiful takeaway in terms of these two brothers – who had shared life, shared experience, ups-and-downs – that they would share the last stage of what life was, which is death. I think it was kind of a nice way to finish it, because that relationship between Klaus and Elijah was probably the strongest of them all. It was sort of like an undefined family love that was, although sometimes shaky, never really broken between the two of them. So I think I liked the ending. It was also very surprising [for Kol] to make it to the end of the series, as I'd been killed so many times on both Vampire Diaries and Originals. I was actually quite surprised that I survived to the very end!" 

The Originals' wrapping was emotional for the otherwise optimistic Buzolic. "It was a life-changing experience," he says. "It was my first job in the US and I've worked on it for seven years. I kind of grew up a lot on that show. I had a lot of huge moments in my life that either revolved around it or related to the show, in one way or another. So, for me, it's a huge point in my life. I think, when the show finished, it was really a sad moment, just because it was a closing of a huge chapter of my life."

However, it not the last of The Vampire Diaries/The Originals universe, with the upcoming Legacies series centring on the now orphaned Hope at the Salvatore Boarding School For The Young & Gifted. And, since showrunner Julie Plec is reprising old characters, might Hope receive a visit from Uncle Kol? "There could be a possibility, but I haven't been asked yet," Buzolic says. "I mean, I think what they're trying to do is probably create this world with Legacies first. I think it's really important that they establish new characters. So I would absolutely jump at the chance to come back and play Kol again. But it hasn't been a conversation that's taken place yet." 

Off-set, Buzolic is passionate about, not only travel, but also photography (he's big on Insty). "I love storytelling," he says. Buzolic quietly fancies becoming a travel blogger. But he does feel homesick for Australia. "Look, it's something that I miss, I think, every single day. As much as I love being in America, the culture is so different. Australians just have this great ability to not take themselves too seriously; always to make light of the situation. Not everything is about how famous or how rich or how successful you can be. I kind of just miss being like an average Australian living in a good little hard-working suburb… I was so lucky growing up in Australia, because we have such a vast multiculturalism, so you learn about other cultures and countries because everyone that goes to your school comes from somewhere else."