‘The Originals’ Brings In A New Rebekah In More Ways Than One

Fans of The Originals have no doubt noticed that the character of Rebekah Mikaelson is no longer being played by Claire Holt. That change has been written into The Originals storyline in a unique Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of way, allowing showrunners to introduce Maisie Richardson-Sellers as the new Rebekah.

Possibly even more so than the meat of the storyline within The Originals, some fans want to know how Claire Holt is responding to her Originals doppelganger. If anyone is expecting rivalry or jealousy, those fans would be sorely disappointed because Ms. Holt couldn’t be more supportive, as Maisie tells it.

“I met her a couple weekends ago, by accident, actually. I was out with some of the writers in LA and she stopped by. We had a great chat about it all; she’s very warm, very welcome and very encouraging about the work I’ve been doing, which is great. She’s a sweetheart, and an amazing actress, so it’s a privilege for me to take on after her.”

It’s all working out so well for Holt and Richardson-Sellers, but not so much for Rebekah Mikaelson herself. In the context of The Originals’ storyline, Rebekah is having a real bad time, to put it mildly. Of course, there are two sides to every coin and, on the upside, Rebekah is now a supremely powerful witch. However, as fans learned in last week’s episode of The Originals, Rebekah’s new body hasn’t come without its share of consequences. Rebekah is sharing the body of Eva Sinclair and Eva, clearly unhappy with being pushed aside so arbitrarily, is now reasserting herself, as well as revealing a fascination with killing.

Although Maisie is new to The Originals, she seems to grasp the show’s dynamic pretty well, as she analyzes the future for Rebekah and Eva.

“Well, there’s definitely going to be a battle. The fact that she suddenly woke up as Eva at the end of the last episode with absolutely no warning is definitely a concern. And the more we discover more about this other character, we realize she’s pretty powerful.”

Ms. Richardson-Sellers finds herself in a unique position on The Originals. Unlike her co-stars, Masie is portraying two characters at once, and that forces her to explore the pasts of two separate individuals as they come together and add to the troubles currently facing The Originals‘ Mikaelson dynasty. When Eva Sinclair’s body was introduced, her first appearance on The Originals was within a witch’s insane asylum, so, Masie suggests, that alone should give fans a clue as what to expect through the remainder of The Originals‘ second season.

In last week’s episode, Eva was just starting to emerge, so the audience hasn’t really seen much of her, and it’s unclear what to expect from this dynamic. Richardson-Sellers told Access Hollywood that the story is just beginning to unfold, and that there may be an intense conflict for Rebekah/Eva coming to The Originals.

“I think what happens is these flashes start to get more and more frequent and more and more vivid, so I think as that happens it shows that Eva’s becoming more powerful, so certainly there’s gonna be a development of that.”

Maisie also revealed that she watched the first season of The Originals to prepare for her role. Most compelling to her was the subject of forbidden love that has been a running subplot on The Originals between Rebekah and Marcel.

“[Marcel is] the one constant in her life, apart from her brothers, so I think their relationship is actually very tender and loving. They have a deep caring for each other, which really comes through in their scenes together. I’m excited to see how their relationship develops, but her being in a new body is going to make that a little awkward for her — there are going to be a lot of problems there.”

Between Marcel and Eva, it seems this new Rebekah definitely has her hands full, but, as is usually the case on The Originals, there’s still more drama headed her way. It won’t be long before Rebekah and Dahlia come face to face as the two storylines converge.

“We’ll see about that soon enough,” laughs Maisie Richardson-Sellers. “In the next episode, we learn more about Freya’s backstory with Dahlia, so we’ll know exactly who we’re dealing with and how serious the threat is. The fact that the family also has this Rebekah/Eva situation to deal with isn’t going to make it easy for any of them.”

It sounds like there’s much to anticipate on tonight’s episode of The Originals, and as drama between Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder mounts, could that be making room for a visit from Elena Gilbert to The Originals as well? That remains to be seen.

The Originals airs Mondays on the CW network.