Liane Hentscher/The CWHow to describe The Secret Circle's Jake Armstrong (Chris Zylka) in two words? Murdering manwhore.
At least that's how the actor describes the show's new guy in town. What is the witch (and witch hunter) really up to? We chatted with Zylka about tonight's Halloween extravaganza, romance (there's lots of it!) and if Jake really is a bad boy...
"He gets around," Zylka laughs about his character. "Not only is he a witch-hunter witch, but he is a manwhore!"
Zylka made his Secret Circle debut last week as the deceased Nick's (Louis Hunter) bad-boy brother who returns to Chance Harbor after three years with a few secrets, like the fact that he's a witch and a witch hunter. Doesn't get more complicated than that now does it?
Though he's returned to his hometown with a pack of witch hunters to avenge his family and plans on murdering the coven he is a part of, Zylka doesn't see Jake as a bad guy. "I mean he's just not a bad guy. I think he's just misunderstood," Zylka says. "That is where the connection with Cassie is starting to take off so much. She kind of tells him out loud like you don't seem like a bad guy and I'm like, 'Okay, maybe I'm not, I still want to kill you. I don't know why I still want to kill you so much, but I do!' [Laughs.] He's the bad boy and whatever but I don't think he is a bad guy."
Speaking of Cassie, whom Jake may or may not want to kill (chivalry isn't dead, ladies!), she's just one of the coven's witches Jake is sharing some steamy chemistry with. "Jake is a creature of emotion obviously, he wears it on his sleeves so much, but if Faye comes up and turns him on he's going to, you know, go for it. Why not?" Zylka explains. "There is that chemistry between Cassie and him right now, but there is nothing real happening yet. It may or may not happen, but right now there is just this odd feeling that we get each other, there is just something more here that we are even seeing. We can feel it but what the hell is it? There is no solidarity going on in that relationship."
As for Cassie's epic Halloween party that takes a dangerous turn (we're thinking Jake and his "Ding dong! The witch is dead" line may have something to do with that), Zylka would only say, "You're going to see a bunch of little gorgeous girls in their outfits and they all look so amazing, which is what you need for Halloween and then there may be some party crashers, or there may not be and we'll see what happens." Chris Zylka: Master of the tease since 2011.
Despite the fact that Jake murdered someone in his first episode, Zylka reveals we haven't even seen the darkest side of him yet. "I am excited for fans to see the real dark side of Jake because we haven't really gotten to see that, he says. "I'm excited for fans to see how much he really does hate witches and hates where dark magic can go and the lengths he will go to cover up himself and cover up these lies that he has created."
When we asked Zylka, who is billed as a guest star, how long he'll be sticking around on The Secret Circle, he answered, "Hopefully forever! [Laughs.] But I don't know." We're hoping you stick around forever too, Chris!
The Secret Circle airs tonight at 9 p.m. on the CW.