The Legacies series finale was a family affair in more ways than one.
Not only did Candice King‘s cameo reunite Caroline with her daughter Lizzie (now played by Jenny Boyd), but as King revealed on Instagram after the episode, her real-life daughter Florence May also got in on the action.
That’s right, the same little girl with whom King was pregnant while filming Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries played a student at the Salvatore School in the final episode of Legacies. So, how did this full-circle moment come about?
“Julie [Plec] and Brett [Matthews] and I have been trying for a long time to get Caroline into the Legacies world, but scheduling was a big part of that — first the pandemic, then I had another baby,” King tells TVLine. “So when I finally had the opportunity to come back, I was like, ‘This is my one chance!’ And I asked them, ‘Is there a world in which a precocious little six-year-old could be a featured extra?’ They loved that idea, because that’s really where Josie and Lizzie came from. I surprised the producers with my pregnancy before we went into Season 7 [of The Vampire Diaries], right before Comic-Con, so the storyline came from that. Julie jokes that there’s a whole series that was born from me giving birth.”
As you can see in the behind-the-scenes video King posted to Instagram, the actress had a “visceral, physical reaction” to being back in the library now named for her character’s late husband. “That’s one of the few sets that stayed intact,” she says. “The Salvatore grand room, which is where we filmed the final scene of the series, was also pretty similar to what was originally there. But everything happened in that library. We did that show for eight seasons, and we saw each other through a lot of long days and nights. It brings you right back when you walk into a room like that.”
Simply put, “It felt like coming home,” she says. “Caroline Forbes changed my life. I was playing her in formative years of my own life, from the ages of 22 to 30, so we have a lot of parallels. When you play someone for a long time, the writers start finding ways to work your own nuances into the character. But I don’t take credit for that element of anyone loving the character. The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and Legacies all had great storytelling, which is rooted in the writing. Those writers know how to keep viewers coming back. To be able to write and create binge-worthy TV series is a gift, especially nowadays with the massive amount of content available to choose from.”
As for whether King would have returned if Legacies had been renewed for Season 5, that’s a no-brainer.
“Oh, 100-percent yes,” she says. “This really had been in the works for a long time. With The Vampire Diaries, I worked throughout my pregnancy and my first year of my daughter being alive. I spent many, many hours away from my baby. I was back on screen six weeks to the day after Florence was born. So when it ended, even though I did The Originals for a bit, I really needed to take a break and be with my family. Lo and behold, when we were finally gearing up for Caroline to come back to the Salvatore School, the pandemic hit. And I was pregnant again. I had my fingers and toes crossed for a Season 5. I was excited to finally have the opportunity to see Caroline play out this headmistress role.”
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