Vampire Diaries: Vicki Is the Female Damon

If you thought one Damon (Ian Somerhalder) was wicked enough on The Vampire Diaries, the twisted Salvatore brother has added to his arsenal by turning Vicki Donovan (Kayla Ewell) into a vampire. On the show's Halloween episode (Thursday, 9/8c, CW), there are surprises in store — for Ewell and others. "It's going to be one of the most shocking moments of television and you don't want to miss it," Ewell says. Ewell tells TVGuide.com about the scene that made co-star Katerina Graham cry, the new vampire slayer and why Vicki's the female Damon.

TVGuide.com: Why do you think Vampire Diaries has been so successful?
Kayla Ewell: I think vampires were already really big and we just joined the wave of success. I also think our show is different than everything else. I feel like Twilight is the PG version and True Blood would be like the R-rated version. Our show is PG-13, so we get both viewers. Our vampires are so sexy; I feel like they're my favorite vampires.

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TVGuide.com: Are there any divas on set yet?
Ewell: [Laughs] Not yet. To be honest with you, we've been told by hair and makeup that the guys are bigger divas than the girls. Some of the guys can be high-maintenance, but they're still awesome.

TVGuide.com: Vicki is becoming a vampire. Tells us about her journey.
Ewell: It was really fun to find out that I was becoming a vampire because I was the first to make the transition. The second thought I had was, "Oh crap, I have to do this now." I talked to some of our producers, and asked what some good movies to watch are. One I watched was Interview with the Vampire, to actually study how they bite people and suck their blood. You have to grow the fangs, so your gums are aching. You have to go through all the things that you're feeling physically because you're completely changing. I've never played anything animalistic before, so this has been such a fun stretch for me.

TVGuide.com: Do you feel for Ian and Paul Wesley now that you have to do all the vampire stuff on set?
Ewell: No, not really because it's super-badass to be a vampire. The only thing that I know that they hate is the blood. It tastes horrible. It's like corn syrup and sticky. It's just the worst taste in the world.

Check out photos of The Vampire Diaries Halloween episode

TVGuide.com: Is Vicki a good vampire or a bad vampire?
Ewell: My take is that she's a bad vampire. Whoever you are as a person is [magnified] by 1,000 when you turn into a vampire. I'm a mini-Damon, only a female version.

TVGuide.com: Is Vicki going to be killing anyone?
Ewell: Yeah, Vicki goes on a killing spree. It's super-fun. I don't realize what's happening to me and just start acting on instinct, vampire instincts, instead of really thinking what I'm doing. It's so fun to be able to be a human, but also have the vampire tendencies.

TVGuide.com: Katerina Graham told me that the Halloween episode is very emotional.
Ewell: It is. It was emotional for everyone. We can't really say why yet. There's something that happens that's very shocking. It will be shocking to the viewers. It's going to be great; it's going to create such an uproar. It's going to make the show that much more popular and bring a lot of attention.

Vampire Diaries' Katerina Graham: "Anyone can die"

TVGuide.com: Would you say anyone is safe on this show?
Ewell: I would say no one is safe unless you're on the poster, which would be [Nina Dobrev], Paul and Ian. Even so, I think it's just really scary because on a vampire show, people do have to come in and out and die or come back to life. You're never really safe. We definitely all learned about that.

TVGuide.com: You have a vampire slayer coming in.
Ewell: Yes, Matt Davis. I'm such a fan. His character, Alaric, comes in as the new teacher because the teacher died. Damon killed the first teacher that everyone hated. [Davis] comes in as the super-hot teacher that all the kids are obsessed with. He starts to date Jenna [Sara Canning], who is Elena and Jeremy's aunt. No one realizes that he is a vampire slayer.