Jenny Boyd is on quite the adventure on Legacies!
The actress stars as Lizzie Saltzman -- twin to Josie (Kaylee Bryant) and daughter to Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis) -- the fiery witch who may have difficulties expressing her emotions, but is powerful beyond measure.
“The character of Lizzie is so dynamic because she has a lot of vulnerability inside of her, but it manifests in a way that can be seen as lashing out and aggressive,” Boyd recently told ET over the phone. “But really, it has to do with her fragility. People got to see that in the ‘There's a World Where Your Dreams Came True’ episode. At the end of that one, she doesn’t remember what’s happened, but going forward she is recognizing and trying to be a better person. That effort is still coming out of her, but this time in a different way. I think, more and more, she is seeing that she needs to change and striving towards that.”
It’s been a wild ride for Lizzie, who recently learned, and was then made to forget, that twins born to the Gemini Coven must eventually turn on one another in the Merge. So how will the rest of the season play out now that fans are fully aware of what the future holds for the Saltzman twins? Boyd spills details on what fans can expect from Lizzie for the rest of the season, if they twins will learn of the Merge and Kai Parker, and if there really is a Stefanie Salvatore.
ET: Your last two episodes have been incredible and pushed your story forward. What was one of your favorite alternate worlds to film in “There’s a World Where Your Dreams Come True?”
Jenny Boyd: They were all really fun. It’s a toss up between the last world, which was very dystopian, Hunger Games kind of feeling, the costumes were all so gritty and layered. But I did also love filming in the Mystic Falls public high school, where Josie is the mean girl and Lizzie is the outcast. Those were both really, really fun. I think maybe the high school [is my favorite], but it’s a close call.
We see Lizzie’s memory get erased, meaning she has no knowledge of the alternate worlds and the Merge. Is the reveal of the twins’ merge a major topic for the rest of this season?
You’ll have to wait and see what’s coming up. Lizzie gets told about it, but doesn’t remember it, but maybe on some deep, subconscious level [she does]. The twins are very resourceful, let’s just put it that way.
How will Lizzie better her relationship with Josie moving forward?
That one is more complex. I don’t know how much detail I can go into (laughs). The audience learns about the Merge, and that is something that the twins don’t know about. Their relationship, until that information is given to them, remains very codependent and much of the similar dynamics of them really relying on each other in different ways.
Fans are really interested in Josie’s relationship with Penelope, whom Lizzie is not a fan of. Will Lizzie and Penelope set aside their differences for the sake of Josie?
You will have to wait and see!
Is there any chance of Lizzie getting along with Hope before the season ends?
Lizzie’s past and her relationship, especially with Hope, develops even more throughout the end of the season. You see a lot of growth with that, which has been really awesome to play. There are conversations between them down the line that deepens that relationship and brings more clarity to it. That is something to look forward to.
What do you know of the Ascendant and Kai Parker (Chris Wood), who is Lizzie and Josie’s evil uncle?
Yes, so I watched The Vampire Diaries and know all about that storyline. I know Kaylee from the very beginning said she would love to bring Kai back and get him involved. There is talk of that, so hopefully that storyline plays out next season. It would be really cool to have the twins find out more about him and maybe even potentially meet him at some point.
What is a fun fact that fans should know about "We're Gonna Need a Spotlight?”
Everyone is super talented. There is so much work that went into it, so many dance rehearsals. They wrote Kaylee’s song especially for her. It’s a modern, one-of-a-kind song that they did for her. She had to learn it and record it.
At the end of that episode, you say, “Everyone just assumes that I am going to be a bitch. Maybe I should just be what they want me to be… That is why I have decided to permanently unleash my inner bitch.” How much truth is there to that statement?
There is definitely still a darkness there, and the thing with Lizzie is that it’s baby steps. Two steps forward and one step back. As much as she acknowledges that she should change, it’s probably harder for her to do it than she would like to admit. I think the whole atmosphere of the school really lends herself to being who she is. She is still the Headmaster’s daughter. She still feels the need for attention and the need to protect her family dynamic. As long as she is in the same circumstances, it’s going to be difficult for her to fully change her ways.
What would you say is the most challenging aspect of playing Lizzie?
I think it’s trying to bring the truth to her layers, because there are so many different aspects to why she does what she does. Her behavior is a reflection of her insecurities and her emotional rollercoaster that she is experiencing inside. A lot of thinking goes into what she does, every action that she has, everything that she says comes from a place of multi-layered feelings. Her relationship with her sister is very different than her relationship with other classmates. Her relationship with her dad is so multi-layered and there is a lot of hurt there, but there is also a lot of love and protectiveness. So getting that distinction of the different relationships is also very important.
Legacies has been picked up for a second season -- who would you love to have as a guest star from The Vampire Diaries or The Originals?
Julie Plec, the show’s creator, has always said the door is open for anyone who would like to come back. I would love to see any of the Vampire Diaries or The Originals cast to come back. There has been a lot of pressure on Candice King to come back, we’ll see how that turns outs. I think the beauty of our show is that it lends to the future generation and it would be great to see new students at the school, and maybe they have some ties to the past. Maybe family tied to some of the other characters of the other shows.
There was a mention of a Stefanie Salvatore in the previous episode!
Yes, Stefanie Salvatore was mentioned in one the last episodes. And that was in one of the alternate worlds, so she may or may not exist in the real world, or it might be in the future. But the beauty of our show is that it is so forward-looking and even though it has this amazing heritage of the previous shows, the younger generation is what is making it. Like the whole Pedro storyline.
What can you tease for next week’s episode, “There's a Mummy on Main Street?”
It’s Spring Break and it’s a fun, adventure-filled episode that doesn’t take place at the school We will be road-tripping and it’s a lot of fun. A lot of humor and a departure from school life.
Legacies airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
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