Is there a potential romance in perfect Matt Donovan's future on "The Vampire Diaries"?
"The only way that you could have a love story line with Matt and have it be exciting is if it was with some other crazy vampire, and Matt just decides, 'To hell with it. Let's see what I've been missing,'" Zach Roerig, who plays one of The CW series' only remaining mortals, tells HuffPost TV. "He's going to have a crazy wild time because at this point on our show, two humans doing it missionary style is just not going to be exciting."
While Roerig may be talking in hypotheticals, after the surprising development between Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Caroline (Candice Accola), anything is possible on "The Vampire Diaries." And that "other crazy vampire" that Roerig teases could very well be Barbie Klaus herself, Rebekah (Claire Holt).
In Thursday night's episode, "Dangerous Liaisons," Roerig reveals that the two will share a dance. "He is going to dance a little bit with [Rebekah] at the ball," he says. "It's an interesting exchange, for sure."
Find out what else Roerig had to say about Matt's future in Mystic Falls, his "greatest superpower" and his relationship with Elena (Nina Dobrev) below.
Why is Matt just so perfect? Please explain this to me.
I think it makes for easy competition when he's surrounded by werewolves, witches and vampires. [Laughs.] Matt's perfect in the sense that he's pure. Matt's the only pure person left with no ulterior motives, no other intentions than just being a good man.
He's also just a really good friend. When Caroline's dad died in the last episode, there was that really great scene between the two of them. Not to mention that he's always there for Elena.
Exactly! I think Matt's greatest superpower is that he has nothing to lose. He has everything to gain from all of these relationships that he has with his friends. That's really all that he does have left now, his friends. Someone once called Matt "the human bandaid," and he really is, especially this season. I'm proud of that.
I'm starting to get nervous for Matt's mortality. Do you foresee something supernatural happening to him in the near future?
I think that's always the worry for any character on the show. [Laughs.] But I think it's important to have one grounding element on the show, and Matt staying a human and being involved in all of this kind of makes this environment that Mystic Falls is in more real. You see a real guy with average, everyday problems existing in this world, which has been nice. Matt discovered the world around him, and he just accepted it.
So you have no desire to see Matt become a supernatural being?
There's always been a small desire because it could be fun, but I'm also kind of honored to be the one that's not. On our show, everyone has some kind of power, but everything that's happened with Matt has happened because of who he is, without anything fueling it.
Tell me what's coming up for Matt at the Originals' ball.
I think the fans can expect to see Matt and Elena's friendship to regenerate. There was always an existing friendship, and there was a love from their childhood, but it's not the same friendship that there was before. All of that is gone. Elena is a different person now, like Matt told her on the bridge, so it's all about moving forward. And he's changed, too. His best friends are a witch, a vampire and a doppleganger, who's fallen in love with two vampires. [Laughs.] He's really had to accept all of this, and it made him become kind of like a new guy. I think that he and Elena are just going to keep getting closer as friends. I'm not sure if anything else will happen. I wouldn't necessarily mind it. [Laughs.]
So you would like something to happen between Matt and Elena?
For right now, I think no. The most important thing now is just rebuilding their friendship; that's what Elena needs right now, not another boyfriend. I do think it would be fun to do a flashback, like if Elena were ever to think back to what her life was like before all of this started. For right now though, Matt's best bet is to stay single and be there for all of his friends. I mean, it's kind of lame, but he's got to do it. [Laughs.]
I partially think that you're just saying that to avoid all of the backlash from the Delena fans and fans of Stefan and Elena.
Well, there is a part of that. [Laughs.] I don't want people to hate on Matt anymore! I read on Twitter the other day where someone was like, "Why is everyone always hating on Matt?" I didn't even know people were hating on Matt!
Matt just gets too close to Elena, when she's obviously supposed to be with a vampire.
Yeah, and also, the only way that you could have a love story line with Matt and have it be exciting is if it was with some other crazy vampire, and Matt just decides, "To hell with it. Let's see what I've been missing." He's going to have a crazy wild time because at this point, on our show, two humans doing it missionary style is just not going to be exciting.
I think Rebekah is single, no?
Yeah! For example, Rebekah! That would be fun. That would also be short-lived, I'm sure, because one of her crazy ancestor brothers would probably rip my throat out right afterward.
That's pretty accurate. Is Matt going to get any more screen time with any of the Originals this season?
I think that any human who spends any amount of time with an Original can expect it to be short-lived. I hope not. Unless his manly urges were to overtake him, I'd say that he is going to stay away from Rebekah. Although, he is going to dance a little bit with her at the ball. It's an interesting exchange, for sure.
In last week's episode, Klaus teased Damon and Stefan with the idea that if they wanted Elena to have a happy life, they should let her be with Matt. Is this going to cause any friction between him and the Salvatore brothers?
I wouldn't say that the Salvatore brothers will be looking over Matt at this point, but I think that it's well-known between Bonnie, Caroline and Elena that Matt is a very important part of their lives. They really need him to be there, and so I wouldn't expect Damon and Stefan to give him too much grief, or else they'll have three very upset women to deal with. [Laughs.] The vampire-witch-doppleganger combo can be deadly.
Do you feel like you're sort of like the fourth girlfriend in that group?
I am kind of like the fourth girlfriend! I don't really mind it though. It's like Matt just sits there and he's like, "Yeah, I used to date you, but I lost you to my werewolf friend. I used to date you, but then I lost you to a pair of vampire brothers" [Laughs.] So I'm not quite sure what good it is for Matt's morale, but you've got to have friends.
"The Vampire Diaries" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.