With only five episodes left to the season, things on The CW drama series Beauty and the Beast are only going to get more dangerous and intense. As things are heating up for Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk) and Vincent Keller (Jay Ryan), and more people have discovered their secret, the stakes are raised to an all-time high, putting everyone’s life at risk.
While at WonderCon, actress Kristin Kreuk spoke at a roundtable about what she likes most about her character, how she contributes her thoughts on almost every episode, what they’re able to do with this incarnation of Beauty and the Beast that past versions haven’t, that everything will be escalating as things move toward the season finale, that she hasn’t even had a chance to think about a possible Season 2 yet, and how much fun they have behind the scenes on the show. Check out what she had to say after the jump.
As you continue to play Catherine Chandler, how have you grown even more fond of her than you were, initially?
KRISTIN KREUK: She has proven to be so incredibly strong. Every episode, I sit down and I work on the script, and I look at the choices she makes, with her honesty and her communicativeness, and there’s just a strength that she has. Even with Vincent (Jay Ryan), who I think, at times, wants to bail on stuff, she’s always there going, “We can do this! It’s possible. We’re going to fight for it.” It’s not very often that our faith in that wavers. And yes, it comes from a tortured place, but that aspect of her, I love so much.
You said you work on the scripts. Do you mean just reading it, or do you get to contribute to what’s happening?
KREUK: I do contribute. I send my thoughts on almost every episode. I work a lot on these scripts, and I mean that from an actor perspective, as well. Our pace is so fast that I don’t have the luxury of spending as much time as I would like, but I go through the entire thing and I really find that, if something doesn’t work for me or doesn’t make sense, I talk about it. We’re very collaborative about that stuff.
How has that paid off for you? Do you have any specific examples of times that you’ve contributed something that’s been incorporated?
KREUK: There are a lot of examples. I’m trying to think of something super specific, but I think that it’s reflected in the entire arc of the character. It’s just a collaborative environment to build Catherine, and I have never experienced that before, in that way. I wish I could give you something more specific.
How do you think this Beauty and the Beast is different from every other Beauty and the Beast that we’ve seen before, and what do you think your story does that the others haven’t been able to do?
KREUK: I think we’re telling the same story, ultimately. I feel like we’re still looking at love and love in its purest form. What does that look like? How do you get there? How does love help you find your humanity? I feel like that’s all very much the same themes. The mythology is much more dense, in our version. If you look at other Beauty and the Beasts, except for the ‘80s series, it’s a tale that has a beginning, middle and end. It’s a morality story, in a way. But, ours has a lot more layers and roots that haven’t been done before. It’s a little darker, too.
Have you already pitched ideas for next season?
KREUK: It’s weird, we’re in the second to last episode and my brain is so focused on where the character is at now that I haven’t really sat down to think about where I think she would go. Our cliffhanger is pretty big, at the end of the season, as it is. So, to figure out where it would go next season is a big task in my brain that I can’t get to yet.
What can you tease about the remaining episodes?
KREUK: Well, since we’ve moved away from the procedural, everything is escalating with these characters. Tess (Nina Lisandrello) knows about Vincent now. Evan (Max Brown) is on a mission. Gabe (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is involved. We don’t quite know what’s going on with him. Muirfield is closing in. Everything is escalating. There are going to be big reveals about Catherine’s family, how they’re involved in everything and where the organization is at. Every episode is bigger than the one before it. There’s just a lot of stuff happening.
You’re in almost every scene of this show, and now you’re almost finished shooting the season. What are you looking forward to doing?
KREUK: Sleeping. Sleeping in the night time. I’m so excited for that. I think I’m going to have a little vacation. Toronto has been cold. It’s been good, but I’m tired. I forget how exhausting it is.
What’s the time been like, living on your own with this? Have you had self-discovery time?
KREUK: No, it’s been discover Catherine Chandler time. I might know her better than I know me, at this point, if I was really honest. I went grocery shopping once this month. I’ve just been busy.
If Cat could go back and maybe alter an event that’s happened, what would she change?
KREUK: That’s an interesting question. I think that Catherine, in her head, would want to not have her mom die, but I don’t think she realizes how much that event has made her into the force of nature that she is. Her entire drive is to never have that happen to anybody else. With every person that she loves, she’s trying to stop that from happening to. So, if she could change that, I think she would.
Is there a character that you wish didn’t know about Catherine and Vincent?
KREUK: Well, I think Catherine beats herself up because she feels like she should have told everybody, but she couldn’t. It’s a big struggle for her because she sees her responsibility in everything that happens to each of those characters. But, once we get back after this little hiatus, when you see what happens with Evan finding out and the way that he takes all of the information, I think that’s the hardest for her.
Does she feel more of a burden that Tess knows now?
KREUK: It’s a relief, and it’s a burden. In some ways, it’s easier because, if someone knows, you can actually protect them better because you can be direct with them. You can’t go there because of this really horrible organization that is going to destroy everything and everybody on the planet. It’s nice for her to have a friend.
How tough of a choice was it for you do another series?
KREUK: It was tough. It really was about Sherri [Cooper-Landsman] and Jennifer [Levin], for me, that I chose to do this show. I’ve been really lucky with the cast and the environment. Jay is so good. He’s so fun to work with. He’s so talented. And Nina and I have become incredibly close friends. I think that relationship comes across on screen because the way that Tess and Catherine are is kind of the way that me and Nina are. So, that’s been really rewarding for me.
How is the relationship between you and Jay Ryan, behind the scenes?
KREUK: I think that our whole cast has this wonderful connection. We’re the silliest people you could ever meet. There’s a lot of singing. There’s a lot of dancing. It’s just pure silliness. And I think that there’s a deep trust. I don’t know how we got it, but I feel so lucky that it’s there. It’s really great.
With all of that singing and dancing, when will we get a musical episode?
KREUK: God, never! I can’t sing! Everyone else in the cast is a decent singer, but not me. I’m bad!
Beauty and the Beast airs on Thursday nights on The CW, with new episodes returning on April 18th. Click here for all our WonderCon coverage.