Why Balthazar From Supernatural Looks So Familiar
By Daniel Kim
"Supernatural" is not Sebastian Roché's only dip into the, well, supernatural genre. In 2011, he joined the cast of The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" which follows Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and the two Salvatore vampire brothers, Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Together, the trio experience the dangers and oddities of the fictional Mystic Falls, Virginia, which has a history bloodied by werewolves, vampires, witches, and other ghostly beings.
In "The Vampire Diaries", Roché portrayed Mikael, who is one of the oldest living vampires. In his first appearance of the character, he was an ally to the Salvatore brothers, wanting to help take out his stepson Klaus (Joseph Morgan), a vampire-werewolf hybrid who also served to be the primary antagonist for most of the show. He was present in five episodes before being killed off by Klaus.
Mikael returned in the spinoff series "The Originals," which was a spinoff following Klaus and his siblings Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Rebekah (Claire Holt), the other two original vampires. The show starts after the events of "The Vampire Diaries" and covers Klaus trying to protect his daughter Hope. Roche appeared once again as Mikael, trying to kill off his stepchild Klaus and willing to burn down cities to make it possible, believing that Klaus was unnatural and pure evil. After being resurrected, he sets off again to kill Klaus and then is thwarted and killed by his stepson a second time.
