Annie Wersching would have preferred that her character Lily Salvatore didn't die on "The Vampire Diaries," but she understands the positive ramifications it had for her TV son Damon, who was able to face some of his mommy issues in the wake of her death. Plus, this isn't the first time she's had her character sacrificed for the greater good of the show.
"I die so other people can have cool things to do," Wersching joked in an exclusive interview with Headlines & Global News. "My '24' death obviously sent Jack Bauer into a huge downward spiral," she said, referring to her character Renee Walker dying on the Fox thriller.
Wersching returned to "The Vampire Diaries" last night following her death two episodes ago. Although she sacrificed herself to keep alive her Heretics family and her sons, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) had no sympathy for his mother's actions. Even on her deathbed, he told her, "You made your bed. Have a nice nap."
Trapped inside the Phoenix stone, Lily continued to haunt Damon while he flashed back to a traumatic experience that occurred during his time as a Confederate soldier.
"He keeps seeing his mother in different places and in order to get out of the hell that you're trapped in, you have to face the traumas in your life and your issues, which for Damon has a lot to do with his mama issues," she said.
At the same time Wersching learned about her impending death on "24," she also found out she was pregnant with her first child. Now raising two young boys, she has tried to take roles that keep her closer to home in L.A. and working a few days at a time. Only "The Vampire Diaries" has pulled her away from the West Coast, filming in Atlanta for a few months.
"When they were tiny babies, a guest star role was nice to do because I could literally go do something and remember what [the work] was all about, but only work for three days," she said and acknowledged the luxury of her flexible schedule compared to many other working moms.
Wersching will next be seen in an episode of "Code Black" on CBS. She also will return for Amazon's "Bosch" season two as Julia Brasher. Conflicting schedules with "Vampire Diaries" limited the time she could appear on the Titus Welliver-starrer, but it was more than she could imagine for her character that was supposed to die in season one.
"In the book she dies, but they changed it, which was awesome. But the scenes they have her in now, [the writers] are creating on their own and not pulling from the book," she explained.
The second season of "Bosch" premieres on Friday, March 11 on Amazon.
