We can say this for Gale Harold: The man loves his destruction. Fictional destruction, that is.
We recently chatted with Harold about his killer role on the CW's new drama The Secret Circle, which centers on a young coven of witches. Harold plays Charles Meade, the father of one of the coven members, who is also a witch and is manipulating his daughter Diana (Shelley Hennig) & Co to accomplish...something. Just call him the wicked witch of Chance Harbor.
So is it just going to be all killin' and mind games for Harold on Thursday nights? Here's what he told us:
It's no secret now that when we first meet Charles in the pilot, he's using his power to murder Cassie's (Britt Robertson) mom. If Harold has his way, Charles will only get more evil as the series goes on.
"I hope he gets worse and darker," he said. "Charles doesn't really understand, I don't think, how far he's going. It's still somewhat out of his control. He can't control his intention, his desire." See? He loves his fictional chaos.
The character's dual nature—"some days, always hiding; other days, just going straight for the heart, killing people"— is something that attracted Harold to the role.
"What's interesting about this character trying to do this job is to be convincing as what is perceived to be a decent guy. He takes care of his daughter and he seems to participate in his school, veiling all of these other things that are going on, the secrets that are happening," Harold explained. "And conversely, playing someone who really has this pretty serious obsession with power and wants enough to try and bring it back after a horrible accident that was a result of playing around with it in the first place. People have been hurt and somehow that wasn't enough to take me off the path. It's interesting to try and play two very different sides within the same person."
Harold's main love interest on the show? Power. "It's too seductive. The potential for the power is too seductive, I can't let it go."
While he knows "kind of rough lines" about the tragic accident that killed several members of his circle 16 years ago, Harold said, "The way that I've sort of rationalized with Dawn (Natasha Henstridge) is, 'how are we going to make this better?' I'm going to kill someone else. What else would you do?" Seems simple to us!
While Charles and Dawn are working together, don't expect everything to be smooth sailing. In fact, prepare for a power struggle. "It's going to be interesting to see how she can guide my character or try and keep him in check, if that's possible, and then how my character will try and destabilize what she's doing without being conscious of it," he told us. "It seems to me there's going to be ongoing conflict and it just gets worse and worse and worse, so there are messes to clean up and things to hide from."
Not enough Gale Harold goodness for ya? Watch this exclusive clip from tomorrow's episode, where you get to see just how threatening and sinister Charles can be. Even with his old friend, Ethan (Adam Harrington). And don't miss the series premiere of The Secret Circle Thursday, Sept. 15 at 9 p.m. after The Vampire Diaries on the CW.