8Joseph Morgan Beat Hundreds Of Actors To The Part Of Klaus
After 40 episodes of The Vampire Diaries, Joseph Morgan finally appeared on the screen as Klaus for the first time in April 2011. The news of his casting in the role had been reported a few months earlier, with the revelation that he had beaten hundreds of good actors to the punch for the part.
"We've been getting great tapes out of England and Australia," executive producer Julie Plec told Entertainment Weekly.
Between The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, Joseph Morgan has portrayed the character Klaus in a total of 143 episodes. The London-born star started acting in the early 2000s and has dozens of movie and TV credits under his belt.
However, the longevity of his time as Klaus – as well as the profile boost that it brought his career — undoubtedly makes the role the biggest of his professional life so far.
Before the advent of TVD, vampire stories had started to come back in fashion, with productions such as Interview with the Vampire, as well as The Twilight Saga movie series. One of the main reasons that Joseph Morgan never hesitated to accept the role of Klaus is because he was a huge fan of the sub-genre.
"When this part came along, [I accepted it] not only because it was on American television, but also because it was of a genre that I'm very much a fan of," he said in an interview with Collider about his work on the show.
The legend of Klaus Mikaelson was really built up on The Vampire Diaries for those 40 episodes before he arrived.
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