Tell us about Bonnie and Stefan teaming up.
You know, it’s kind of an odd pairing — but then not so odd because Stefan kind of comes into a situation where he needs to turn to Bonnie for help. Bonnie is never really forced into anything, and sometimes I think it’s perceived that way because she’s such a sweet character. But this is a choice that Bonnie wants to make for the greater good of all, so she teams up with Stefan to accomplish that. So she really weighs the options before entering into this agreement.
I think that with “The Vampire Diaries” you never know what’s going to happen, and I don’t think the characters necessarily know either. So you can only weigh so much, and then it might just come down to “kill or be killed.”

The show always comes down to that, doesn’t it? Elsewhere in Bonnie land, she was deeply hurt by Jeremy but obviously still cares about him. How is she dealing with the breakup?
Well, I love that it’s a very human side to her. If they went kind of “all-powerful, unstoppable witch, fearless, fierce all the time,” I think it would bore people and maybe have them turn against her. So the fact that there’s still a pain there, that has kind of awakened her. It makes her human; it makes her relatable; it makes her real.

Will she be getting another love interest soon?
You know, I don’t know which way they’re going with it. I enjoy the pairing and I love that they explored a more sexual side to Bonnie. I love exploring that side of the character, but I’m also happy being independent and not necessarily being the character that needs a man. So I love that she’s a little heartbroken right now and she’s mending it solo. But I would love to see — there’s so many quote unquote ‘shippings of Bonnie with everyone from, like, Damon to Klaus, so I think that really could go any which way. It just depends on what they are inspired to do with her.

Could you really see Bonnie with Klaus? It seems like she would have none of that.
No, I could! You never know! It could go any way. The fact that she wouldn’t have any of it and the fact that she’s anti-bullshit would also make for a strong pairing because it’s that “hate you so much, kiss me” kind of thing. I believe that it could go any way with any character, honestly. If you have enough imagination and creativity and you do it without any holes, I think it could be done well.

Well, the writers have proven that you can’t really predict anything on this show anyway.
No, no way.

Tell us a little bit more about Bonnie’s mom coming to town.
They cast Persia White, who I’ve always loved and adored, as my mom, and she comes into the picture and I go on a hunt to find her and finally get to see her. It’s intersting, that relationship. It’s interesting to see develop, I will say that.

Is Bonnie guarded when her mom arrives?
I think Bonnie’s guarded, period. I think she’s always been guarded, even from the pilot. Guarded about accepting that she’s a descendant from the Salem witches. Guarded about Elena dating Stefan. Guarded about Damon. She’s always been written to be somewhat skeptical. So when her mother comes in, I don’t think there’s any difference there. I think that it’s all about “prove yourself.” There has to be a reason to why she hasn’t seen her for 15 years, and you get to find that watching the show.

What else can you tell us about Bonnie’s relationship with her mom?
I will say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that what would eventually bring her back into Bonnie’s life is not what you think.

Mysterious! So how is Bonnie’s friendship with Elena progressing?
I think the foundation of their relationship is solid, but you will start to see some serious bumps come along where Elena is forced to make decisions based on the facts at hand, and maybe not necessarily the repercussions — and the repercussions might be Bonnie. There are going to be a couple of bumps, and I don’t know how deep those bumps are going to go or how high. You are going to see happy and sad, which I think is normal, but there are going to be certain instances that have never happened before that are going to happen this season with Bonnie and Elena.