'Vampire Diaries' Kevin Williamson :: gay vampires, perhaps?

The hit CW series The Vampire Diaries is well into its second season with no sign of a sophomore slump. How did it avoid this common pratfall? One reason may be the eye candy for its gay viewers. In other words, the buff cast members who are often seen with their shirts off. (Not complaining here, mind you. Just an observation!)

This prompts another question: why haven't we seen any gay characters on the popular CW series? Or at least have a little man-on-man neck sucking once in awhile?

To find out, EDGE's Jim Halterman rang up out Executive Producer Kevin Williamson, who not only developed this series for television from the L. J. Smith books but also was responsible for one of the groundbreaking coming out stories in television when Jack McPhee (played by Kerr Smith) came out on the teen hit Dawson's Creek. (It was also a bit of art reflecting life in that Williamson publicly came out in 1998 about the time the hit series premiered on the CW Network.)

Will we be seeing gay characters mix it up soon on The Vampire Diaries? Could some of our existing male characters - notably hunky werewolf-in-the-making Tyler (Michael Trevino) and sexy Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) - end up more than friends as some of the fans seem to want? How did he decide to make one of the regulars a full-on vampire this season and juggle the life-or-death threat always present on the series? Let's find out...

No one wants advice

EDGE: Was there a concern about a sophomore slump going into the second season?

Kevin Williamson: Yeah, you're always worried that the audience isn't going to follow and you never know when the tipping point is going to be, but I think we have some loyal fans now and they seem to be sticking with us. We're just trying to deliver for them.

EDGE: What advice did you give your actors when they and the show really blew up last year in terms of how to handle it? Except for Ian, the attention was probably a very new experience for them.

KW: Nobody wants my advice and I don't know what to tell people. [laughs] But, yeah, it is overwhelming and there's no right or wrong way to handle it. The good news about this cast is I've got a really good group of kids - they're not kids, they're young adults - and they're very grounded. The fact that they're tucked away down in Atlanta helps a lot. Everyone is sort of their normal self; the same person they were when we cast them.

More Michael Trevino

EDGE: One of my personal wants last year was more Michael Trevino and he's definitely getting more airtime this season! Can you talk about that?

KW: He's really very skilled and he's got the goods. He just needs the material so that's been fun this year to be able to give him more to do. As we move forward, you'll see a lot more Candice and Trevino and actually Zach Roerig (Matt) pops in the middle and comes forward really quick.

EDGE: I just hope you keep Trevino running and sweaty with his shirt off as we've seen this season!

KW: Right?! How about all of them? They should just all take their shirts off. We're sitting in the writer's room going "Stefan enters the room and takes his shirt off and... then what?" [laughs]

EDGE: I didn't realize until I tweeted that I would be talking to you that there was such a drive to get Jeremy and Tyler in bed together! Did you know about this?

KW: Okay, who's saying that?

EDGE: I got at least half a dozen emails about it. I hadn't thought about that but it did make me wonder about having some gay characters and storylines pop up on the show. What are your plans for any of that including Tyler and Jeremy?

KW: Well, certainly not with those two characters, I'm sad to say so we'll just have to dream about that. If I bring on a gay character onto our show... I'm really not interested in a coming out storyline because I've done it [on Dawson's Creek]. A coming out storyline doesn't really excite me. Bringing a gay character to me would be incredibly exciting, but I just want to do it right and I want to do it when it feels good and not force it and bring them on just to have a gay character. I want something I can really dive into and relish. We have Caroline's Dad in the wings. He is set up to be gay and in a relationship with another man and that's really all we know about Caroline's Dad. He is a founding family member so I do envision a day when he comes onto the scene and wreaks havoc.

More than ’frenemiies?’

EDGE: So no Jyler but since Jeremy and Tyler have always been frenemies thus far is that where they're going to stay or is it going to go more one way or another?

KW: They're certainly bonded with so much back story like Vicki and now the werewolf stuff and their founding families but I think it's going to take a lot for them to really trust each other especially now that Tyler is a full-blown werewolf and he's about to transform at the next full moon.

EDGE: You seem to really giving the supporting characters a chance to shine this year. Can you talk about giving particularly Candice Accola (who plays new vampire Caroline) and Trevino more to do this year?

KW: Well, Candice, I just kind of knew that this girl had it. I just knew if I could get to a second season that she would blow up. I knew I wanted to go this route with her. I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off or that the network would support it but I wanted to turn her into a vampire. I knew it would open up the supporting character world and the dynamics. If you noticed last year, if you weren't in the know about the vampires you kind of got side-barred a little in terms of storyline so I needed the story to involve our secondary characters - by that I mean not our triangle - like Tyler. I knew Trevino and Candice would get a lot of focus this year.

EDGE: Now that you know the fans are so committed to your regular characters on the show, does it make it harder to think about killing one of them off the show and keeping those stakes alive, so to speak?

KW: It's very difficult. We're worried. I always worry and I want to make sure that I honor the fans and ultimately please them but at the same time we're a vampire show and if there's no life and death consequences it's going to hurt the show. Unfortunately, people do die in our world and I hate to say it but I'll try to give them a great storyline and a swan song but sometimes those sudden deaths are predictable and shocking. I just can't keep everyone alive unfortunately.

EDGE: I want to ask about the L.J. Smith's books. Are you going to be pulling any new characters from the books anytime soon?

KW: We always try to bring in characters from the book when possible even if they're just sort of small, peripheral characters. I do envision a world in which Meredith [Sulez] does make her way onto the show. I do think there's a world for Meredith. She may not be exactly as written... even though no character on the show has been 100% adapted just as they were written originally. We've taken some liberty and hopefully the audience will let us have some more liberty there, too. I'm not sure when we can bring her in. We have so many characters as it is I don't know what to do with another character at this point... until I kill them off to make room for Meredith. [laughs]

EDGE: Now, we just had a rerun so what can we all mouth water over in anticipation for this coming week's new episode, "Plan B?"

KW: The next episode is the one right before our Halloween episode. We sort of have a two-parter ("Plan B" and "Masquerade") where we set up the Masquerade Ball at the Lockwood estate. It's something that the Mayor had already put into motion before he died so they carry through with it. It is where they sort of put a plot in motion to once and for all take care of Katherine and it's a very Katherine-focused episode. It's all about saving everyone and doing away with Katherine.

The Vampire Diaries airs every Thursday at 8/7 on the CW.