Yusuf Gatewood Interview – ‘The Originals’ Season Three

Yusuf Gatewood says that fans of The CW’s The Originals can expect a season three that’s vastly different from seasons one and two. Chatting about the upcoming season debuting on October 8, 2015, Gatewood (‘Vincent’) gave the new season high praise, saying it’s the best yet in his opinion.

“This is almost like a new series that we’re being presented with. I think that was the intention of Julie [Plec] and Michael [Narducci] when they set about setting up this season. We’ve got new characters coming in,” explained Gatewood. “We’ve got big bads – plural – coming in. We’re going to see some of the first vampires that the Originals sired. There’s going to be some conflict with that.”

And speaking of season three’s big bads, Gatewood said he hoped his character would be interacting with the new additions to the cast. “It seems as though that’s a possibility with the direction that the writing’s going in. But, I think Vincent has a few things that could creep up for him. I mean, I think he certainly wants to have some connection with Davina. He threw her into what is a political firestorm, so to speak. Though I think she can hold her own, I think he still wants to help her out with that,” said Gatewood during our roundtable interview at the San Diego ComicCon. “And also with these new big bads, I have to believe that there’s going to be some overlap there so I’m excited to see how that plays out. But the writing for these new big bads that I’ve seen so far is insane. It’s insane.”

Does Gatewood hope Vincent helps out Davina? Is that what he’d write for Vincent’s storyline in season three if he were to have his way? “Let me just say this. Every choice that the writers have made so far has worked out perfectly so I don’t want to put my finger in that dip,” replied Gatewood. “I love the opportunity that I get to do. They lay down the framework and I build upon that. That’s the most fun for me. But I would love working with Davina only because I love working with Danielle [Campbell] as an actress. I think that we play off of each other pretty well. But I can say the same thing with Leah. And fortunately, in this first episode especially, I get to work with Leah Pipes a little bit and I love working with her. I get to work with Charles Michael Davis, a great actor. He shows me up with the body that he has!”

Gatewood admits he never anticipated the direction his character would take and never predicted Vincent’s arc going into season three. “Absolutely not. When I first got this gig it was supposed to be two episodes. This is why I say I just let the writers do their job, because it’s served me well this far. And it expanded beyond that and it’s just such a blessing. I went to drama school for four years but I think the year that I’ve been working with these guys and doing this work over and over every day I’ve learned so much more than I could have learned just by studying,” said Gatewood. “It’s been a blessing. I’m so happy to be a student and I’m loving the work we’re putting out. Loving it.”

Fans have been wondering about the tone of this upcoming season and whether the rumor that it will be more action-oriented is true. I asked Gatewood that, and he replied, “If it is true, I’m excited by it because there’s a hell of a lot of action in the first two seasons. I got my ass kicked by a couple of different people. I will say this: there is a boxing MMA gym set that has been built and it ain’t going nowhere, so I think that speaks to some of the things that we have in store for this upcoming season.”

More Season 3 Interviews: Leah Pipes / Daniel Gillies / Danielle Campbell / Phoebe Tonkin / Charles Michael Davis

Watch the full interview with Yusuf Gatewood on The Originals season three: