What excites you the most about this new season?
The challenges that await. It’s not going to necessarily be the funnest season for Damon. I think he’s going to be challenged a lot where I don’t think he was used to being challenged. There’s some things that wreak more havoc in Mystic Falls than he probably did in season one, and it’s going to be a problem. So those challenges are something to look forward to, because it’s not boring.

Are we going to keep seeing the humanity come out in Damon or is he going to go back to the way he was in the beginning of the season?
Well, I think when he finds out that it wasn’t Elena, I think he’s going to be a little pissed off. [But] probably yeah. I think that’s the only time you ever see it, is when he’s with [Elena]. Nina Dobrev will do that to you. There’s no two ways about it.

Do you think Damon’s motivations have changed since the start of the show?
Oh wow. Well, I don’t know. He still wants Katherine, like an idiot. You know, it’s weird. Love is a really blinding force. It forces us to do things — stupid things — every single one of us has experienced it.

Is he going to develop feelings for Elena or continue to try to get Katherine back?
I don’t know. Actually, to be honest with you, I don’t know.

What would you like to see happen?
I’d like to see him deal with — what I’d like to see is for him to realize she is a crazy, manipulative bitch and really a lot of where he comes from, his traits, he learned from her, and if he were able to look inward, at himself, and say “These are not very high quality traits of a person.”

What about when he finds out that Katherine came back for Stefan…
That’s another thing that’s just going to crush him.

How is his relationship with Stefan going to change because they sort of formed a tentative alliance?
A tentative alliance — well that’s the thing, I think that’s the interesting thought. That alliance may have to get stronger, because she’s going to reek havoc for both of them. Whether Katherine wants Stefan or Damon — Stefan wants nothing to do with her, for the most part.