Significant Mother Preview: Nathaniel Buzolic on Sexy New Series, Love Of Waffles

You wouldn't know it from looking at the shirtless ads from his new CW series Significant Mother ... but Nathaniel Buzolic eats waffles every morning for breakfast.

And even though the actor doesn't look like he goes near carbs, there's more to his new role of Jimmy than just being a shirtless hunk.

In fact, the upcoming series centers around the fact that Jimmy is dating the mother of his best friend and how that complicates things for everyone. It also stars Josh Zuckerman, Krista Allen and Jonathan Silverman.

Last week, when I caught up with Buzolic - who we remember well as the original Kol Mikaelson on The Vampire Diaries, along with roles on Pretty Little Liars and Bones - he talked about moving into the comedy genre for the first time. 

Read on as to find out how he's finding his way in comedy, which mega movie star he wants to play his on screen fad and, of course, why waffles are so amazing...

TV Fanatic: This new series is such a change from what you did on The Vampire Diaries. Was comedy something you were intentionally looking for or did it just happen this way?

Nathaniel Buzolic: I don’t normally audition for comedy and when comedy auditions have come up I generally say no. I just don’t think it’s in my world. This one came along and I wanted to get some more audition experience in and try some different things. I think as an actor you have to be comfortable in the audition experience and the only way you get better is by going into the room and trying different things. I literally went into this as an experiment to get out of my comfort zone with drama and challenging myself. I thought if I could get inside that room and do a good job with comedy it could help with the drama stuff.

I was really, really surprised when I got a call back and then I was even more surprised when I got the job. Maybe they only auditioned one person but then I asked the producers and they definitely auditioned a lot of people so it came as a very big surprise. I would consider myself a funny person in real life but I just think when you give me funny material sometimes I don’t translate it well because I have my own sense of humor and sometimes the challenge is finding the sense of humor that matches yours, especially with American stuff because I’m Australian. We have a different sense of humor, we’re very dry but it’s been a really great learning curve and I think it will be good when I see the whole season.

TVF: We see him hook up with Nate’s mother but you also get the sense that it’s about more than sex. What’s the connection about between them?

NB: I think the character of Jimmy is first and foremost an optimist. He always wants the best situation and goes for the best opportunity. I think he sees this as an opportunity for something great. He’s probably dated younger girls and maybe found something about this woman, Lydia, who is a woman who is really comfortable with who she is. I think both the characters are the kind that most people would say they wouldn’t work but they find this ground where they connect.

TVF: In the beginning, Nate is thrown that his best friend is dating his mom but over the course of the episodes do we see him come around and see that maybe Jimmy is someone good for his mother?

NB: There are definitely moments when you think about your best friend and your mom and then putting it in everyday situations and the problems that come from that are probably what causes the most strain on Nate. It’s such a funny thing and I sometimes forget when someone says ‘Jimmy is dating his best friend’s mom,’ I remind myself that that sentence is just so awkward!

My biggest fear is the moment where someone watching the show says ‘I can relate to the Nate character so much because my best friend started dating my mom!’ I don’t know what I’m going to say to that! It’s really interesting but I am scared that my friends will see this and I won’t be invited to family barbecues anymore.

TVF: Do we get to see Jimmy’s family at all in the first season?

NB: No, we don’t get to meet Jimmy’s family but I think we’d see them in the second season. I’ve been begging the producers to make Jean-Claude Van Damme my father. That was my goal so I was saying on set we needed to get Van Damme some time. If Van Damme is reading this, please consider playing my father! Hopefully we’ll get a second season and that’s a storyline we can explore.

TVF: Does the relationship with Lydia become a good thing for Nate and Jimmy’s friendship? Or is it all conflict?

NB: I think it helps them in the sense that you look at most people in a relationship and you don’t really know someone until something bad happens but then you see how they deal with that situation. I think that’s the true test to someone’s character. Everyone can be great when things are good so how do they react when something bad happens?

I think their friendship will be stronger because it’s a really awkward situation and both parties are trying to make the very, very best out of it and in certain episodes it draws Jimmy and Nate closer together while in others it pushes them further apart but they find their way back to each other because they’ve been friends since they were kids…but some of the situations that happen in this season are absolutely ridiculous and hilarious.

TVF: Most important question since I saw this on your Twitter feed, did you have a waffle for breakfast this morning?

NB: I did! I did! I have a waffle every morning. It’s like my tradition. I’m going for the Guinness Book of World Records. But they’re healthy waffles. I actually just use egg whites and some nuts and almonds and put some spinach in it so it’s pretty healthy so it’s actually a homemade recipe I started making. It’s actually quite good for you so I’m obsessed with them.

Significant Mother Season 1 airs Mondays at 9:30/8:30c on The CW. 

Jim Halterman is the West Coast Editor of TV Fanatic and the owner of JimHalterman.com. Follow him on Twitter.