The Originals Q&A: Leah Pipes Talks Christmas, Klamille and More!

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We're big fans of Leah Pipes around here at TV Fanatic.

She's beautiful, funny, and have you seen those eyes? Amazing. So any time we have a chance to chat with her about what's happening with her character, Cami O'Connell, on The Originals, we're always excited. 

On The Originals Season 3 Episode 9, Cami's celebrating Christmas with the Mikaelsons. What does this mean for Cami and Klaus, aka Klamille, and is she safer now that she's under the compound's roof? 

We asked Pipes those questions and more! Check out her answers below, and watch The Originals online to catch up before tomorrow night's mid-season finale.

Cami the Cop? - The Originals Season 3 Episode 2

TV Fanatic: What’s coming for Cami on the winter finale?

Leah Pipes: She has been staying at the Mikaelsons house because it seems like she’s easily abducted these days and there’s a lot of people who want them dead or to use them as leverage against Klaus, so I think Klaus might be feeling like he dragged here into this whole mess. So he just feels like keeping her at his house will make her safer. It also happens to be at the time of the holiday season, so she gets to participate in the Mikaelson family holiday, and that is not without its complications she’s finding.

TVF: Is anything without its complications when it comes to the Mikaelsons?

LP: I know, exactly. What’s funny is I was like “this kind of reminds me of my family’s holiday.” I mean, it always seems like we’re never going to be able to find a common ground and sit down at the table and enjoy each other but somehow we always do. The alcohol probably helps.

TVF: With the Mikaelsons it’s all the alcohol and the blood.

LP: Yeah, blood and alcohol.

TVF: So, is Cami actually out of danger now that she’s at the compound?

LP: No! No one is ever out of danger on The Originals! She should know that better than anyone. She’s not out of danger completely, but Cami being Cami, she doesn’t like feeling confined or being told what to do. She’s her own independent woman and really wants her independence. She continues to go “leave me alone and let me do my thing.” It’s like “Cami, stop with your silliness! Leah Pipes needs a job!”

TVF: When we saw Cami interact with Aurora, we got a little glimpse of the darker side of Cami’s history. Are we going to explore that any further?

LP: Definitely. Now that it’s open and out there, she sort of has to explore it herself. I think she’s always kind of explored it, but it hasn’t been admitted. If you look over the seasons, she’s drawn to this darkness, which is sort of her exploring her own darkness, and she’s found herself in such a dark world. I think that’s how she relates to these people, is because she has this darkness in herself. You’re going to see some darker times.

TVF: Was it shocking to you to get the backstory that Cami had beaten a man senseless and been arrested for it?

LP: I definitely did not know that prior to reading the script. Our executive producer, Michael Narducci, said at ComicCon that we might explore the darker side of Cami this season and I was like “okay!” and then I read the script. But you know, Cami’s been smashing bottles in people’s faces for all three seasons. That’s kind of her go-to move. She’s in a bind, she takes a bottle and just smashes you in the face with it. That’s her signature move.

TVF: We still have yet to see her bust out with her karate moves, which way back in The Originals Season 1, we learned she’s a black belt.

LP: [Laughs] Here’s the thing, and this was a very poor editing choice, because right after I say “I have a black belt in karate” I say “not really, but I do have mace” and they cut out that last line about the mace and now it’s like I just have a black belt in karate, and I, as a person, do not. So they just left it there. It’s sarcasm, but they edited out the sarcasm. So no, she does not have a black belt in karate. She was bluffing.

TVF: I’ll just set the record straight on that. Signature move is not a karate chop. It’s a whiskey bottle to the face.

LP: Obviously! 

TVF: We know that things are unfinished with Detective Kinney. The last we saw him, he was let go from Lucien’s penthouse. This week features Det. Kinney unraveling his situation, so how is Cami going to help him with that?

LP: You know, she’s been there. She’s been under the compulsion of Klaus and it wasn’t nearly as brutal as what he’s going through, but it was still overwhelming and brutal in its own way. She had to be at peace with something that should’ve been tearing her apart, and Klaus was sort of steering her away from something she knew to be true inside and that he wasn’t crazy. It was something supernatural, and now Detective Kinney has this feeling that there’s something off but he can’t put his finger on it because he’s been compelled to be one step behind, which, as a human being, probably makes you feel like you’re losing your mind because you’re always out of the loop.

TVF: I can totally imagine that would make someone crazy.

LP: Totally.

TVF: So last question, and maybe this is a long answer, but are Klaus and Cami ever going to admit that they have feelings for each other and then act on them?

LP: You’ll have to wait and see!

TVF: Clearly I lied about that being the last question. What is all the tension between them like, because there’s all this build-up there and as fans, we can see the emotion between them, but neither of them will admit it. They do in their actions, but they don’t in their words.

LP: Yeah, I don’t think they will to themselves, and I think a part of that has to do with the fact that for Klaus, he sees her as something so unadulterated by his own darkness, and he doesn’t want to ruin that. And she sees in him that he’s probably a pretty complicated guy to be with and that’s an understatement. So their feelings are not really welcomed. I think it’s like they don’t want to feel the things that they feel, really, but they just sort of do and there’s no getting around it. I think that happens a lot to people. You have a connection with someone and you know they’re not going to be all that good for you, but you can’t resist falling for them.

TVF: Now that we have this revelation about Cami’s darkness, we understand what drew her into this world, but I think Cami also sees the goodness in Klaus, so there’s this great parallel of the light and dark between them that’s interesting to think about.

LP: Yes! She doesn’t want him to see the darkness within her. You know, she was really nervous when she asked him if he’d overheard her conversation with Aurora. She didn’t want him to know that. I loved his reaction. It was so lovely and perfect. He just sort of smiled and made a joke of it and basically said “it’s okay, you’re allowed to be flawed.” But I don’t think she wants to show him her flaws. Girls don’t want guys to know that they’re secretly crazy until they’ve been together, for, like, a year, and then it’s “joke’s on you, I’ve been crazy this whole time.”

TVF: Just don’t go Gone Girl crazy…

LP: I don’t know…don’t piss me off! [laughs]

TVF: It was a really lovely moment when he said he’d already sent someone to kill the guy and she told him not to kill anyone for her and he just responded “whatever you want.”

LP: Yeah, it’s a great moment. One of my favorite scenes with Joe is coming up. They just have this relaxed intimacy to their friendship now and it sort of started after everything with Aurora. Joe and I sort of discovered it in our characters, and it’s coming in this episode and in episode 10 where she actually is seeing the goodness and compassion in him and really praises him for it. They just have this relaxed intimacy in their dialogue now that is really fun to play with.

TVF: Speaking of Aurora, how great was it film with Rebecca Breeds. They’re both psychoanalyzing each other and Aurora is legitimately crazy.

LP: That scene was great! Becca Breeds is such a cool chick. She’s so not Aurora. She’s so cute and nice and she and I both just recently got married so we’re at a really similar place in our lives, so we’re just sitting around and having girl talk and then we cut to that scene and it was so not that.

TVF: She’s playing Aurora so well in just being totally crazy, so hat’s off to her.

LP: I know. I know. She kind of reminds me of some of the girls I used to be best friends with growing up. Just like, you’re so hot, and you’re so cool, and you’re so crazy, but you’re fun.

TVF: I think we all have one of those friends!

LP: Exactly!

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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The Originals Season 3 Episode 9 Quotes

My feelings for Elijah are complicated, Jack. But that doesn’t mean that I love you any less. I chose you. And I choose you again every single day. Can’t that be enough?

Hayley

Elijah: Hello, sister.
Rebekah: Tell me I didn’t miss Christmas.