When Jackson first hit the bayou on The Originals Season 1, fans weren't sure about this potential love interest for Hayley Marshall. After Jackson declared his love for Hayley, even some of the diehard Haylijah shippers are starting to come around.

It doesn't hurt that Nathan Parsons is one hot piece of Alpha...

TV Fanatic got the chance to chat with Nathan Parsons to ask him about the Klaus-Jackson showdown coming on The Originals Season 2 Episode 12, whether Hayley will ever love Jack, and, for all you Everwood fans out there, how awesome it was to work with Debra Mooney.

TV Fanatic: Was the plan always for Jackson to return? He was gone for kind of a while there.

Nathan Parsons: Yeah, that has been his goal for quite some time. The wolves used to run the French Quarter until they got run out by the vampires. It's kind of been his birthright to come home, the prodigal son returns to lead his people back to their homeland. So yeah, we're getting into all that.

TVF: What can you tell us about what's coming next for Jackson? Does he have any desires to rule New Orleans and rid the city of vampires?

NP: I don't know. You know, I don't think he'd cause some kind of genocide. Part of what caused this problem in the first place was wolves killing the vampires and then the vampires retaliated and I think it's time for that retaliation to end. There will always be tension, but I think Jackson is smart enough to recognize when it's smarter just to step back.

TVF: Do you think it's a good idea for Jackson to know Hayley and Klaus' secret that Hope is alive?

NP: Absolutely. I think it is. If this wedding does work and Jackson does start to run this pack, he'll have the most powerful way to protect Hope in the city. He'll have an army of super-wolves and they'll be unstoppable when it comes to protecting this girl, so yeah. Definitely. The wolves will always protect their own.

The Originals Season 2 Episode 12 Photo Gallery: Sanctuary

Start Gallery

TVF: Are Klaus and Jack going to have an epic showdown when he comes to the bayou to stop the ritual? A little face-off, perhaps?

NP: Oh yeah, it's more than a little face-off. It's a pretty brutal fight. It's going to be epic.

TVF: Can you tell us anything else about it?

NP: Not about the fight in particular and why it happens, but I can tell you that I love it when I get to shoot fight scenes with Joseph. He's so good because he's had so many fights on this show. It's always fun to work with somebody who has that kind of confidence and experience coming in and we were just able to throw down and go for it all out. So it's going to be exciting. I'm excited for people to see it.

TVF: What secrets is Jack hiding that he might not want Hayley to know about?

NP: Tune in to find out! [Laughs] I can tell you it definitely has something to do with Hayley's past and her family and it's a potential gamechanger. It's hard to keep secrets from the people you love, but sometimes it's better to keep the secret than it is too hurt somebody. Hopefully she won't take it too hard.

TVF: Hopefully.

NP: [laughs]

TVF: Is Debra Mooney as amazing to work with as she seems? Because she really seems like the kind of person you just want to have a beer with.

NP: Oh, she was awesome. She was so much fun. When she showed up on this show, she brought such a great energy and gruffness and it really captured this werewolf matron, this powerful old shamanistic wolf. She's fantastic.

TVF: We know that Jackson is in love with Hayley. Are we going to see her develop romantic feelings for him as this marriage storyline progresses?

NP: That's Jackson's hope, definitely. He's always sort of been there for her and she can't seem to stop looking at vampires, but I hope Jackson's thinking "just stop and look at me" and that she'll see I've always been there and then find that worthy of her love and affection.

The Originals Season 2 Episode 12 Promo - "You're The Threat!"

TVF: Will Jackson have any interactions with Elijah?

NP: Probably. It's sort of inevitable. Elijah is not really good at sharing how he feels, but I think it's inevitable that the two of them will have some sort of contact, conflict, something.

TVF: What would one be like if it happens?

NP: It hasn't been written yet, so I can only speculate, but I know Daniel Gillies and he's a great actor. I would love to have a little showdown with him.

TVF: Jackson sort of seems too nice to be true. Will we ever get to see a darker side of him?

NP: I hope so. I really hope so. Up to this point, he's been pretty reticent about sharing his past and his life and his struggles living under Marcel's rule, but we have to keep in mind that to trigger the werewolf curse you have to kill somebody, so he's definitely killed. I would love to see a flashback to a time when he's 10 or 12 and he's just killed somebody. The potential for it's good, and the violence in his history story-wise it's there. We just haven't seen it yet, but I hope to.

TVF: What is that violence? We know the curse can be triggered by an accident.

NP: It can be, but I think given the circumstances, being hunted by vampires, and having these massive wolf callings, you're forced to sort of live on more of an edge. Wolves will fight and kill to defend each other, will defend their family to the death. It hasn't been written either, but I would like to believe there's part of that in his history.

The epic Klaus-Jackson showdown is coming! Be sure to watch The Originals online to get caught up before it happens!