Nathan Parsons howls about 'The Originals,' Hayley and fighting back

As werewolf Jackson on "The Originals" (Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. on The CW), Nathan Parsons is on the cusp of diving into a potentially bloody new battle as the werewolves attempt to rise up and wrest back control of New Orleans from those pesky vampires and witches. It won't be easy, but Parsons has high hopes -- though he, like Jackson, doesn't think Klaus (Joseph Morgan) can be trusted. I talked to the "General Hospital" alum about his role, howling fans and why it's okay for the girl his character was meant to marry -- Hayley -- to hang out with the enemy.

It seems Jackson is in cahoots with Klaus. Is that a good idea?
I don't think Jackson is even remotely interested in being a hybrid. I put my pack first, but at the same time Klaus is really powerful and has a lot of connections the werewolves need, and they need some way back in. I don't think he trusts Klaus at all. But at the same time, he's about to become the father of a werewolf.

Making Klaus part of the family!
Hopefully not. We're not sure what he's bring to the potluck dinner. He is now involved; whether we like it or  not, he's connected to us. With Hayley, it forces a relationship that never naturally occur, so the werewolves have to ask how far they are willing to go to regain power. It was hinted that he would wait for the baby to be born and then off Hayley, but that was a long time ago and it seems his attitude toward her has changed We want her to come back and join the werewolves, though.

And you want her to get away from Elijah.
Eljah's fine, but he's not as fun as we are. We have the bonfires, the potluck dinners.

Yeah, but Hayley seems to be pretty taken with the guy.
I don't know if I'd put it that way. She doesn't know a lot about us, about her family. As much as we want her back, because she's the last hope and she can make us whole again, she has this connection with the people in charge. The vampires don't seem to be going anywhere. If the werewolves want to move back home, then maybe it's okay if Hayley keeps walking this line. If she gets into the family, maybe that gets us into the city again. There are possibilities, of course, I don't know.

You were on "General Hospital." Did that kind of demanding schedule help prepare you for series work?
It was definitely helpful. I had auditioned for "The Vampire Diaries" years ago before "The Originals" happened, so I was familiar with that mythology. Then I went in again on "The Originals" for a different part, so I've been very well rehearsed on the show over the years. It is such a rich mythology, but the werewolves haven't had their say. As much as we know about everyone else, we don't know about the wolves, so we have so much freedom to create in who they are, how they work, to be able to add more depth to those characterizations. It's all new.

Can you offer input, such as ideas for the plot or your character?
To an extent. This is a new show and where we end up going is anyone's guess, but because we are the first family of werewolves, I've had great conversations with Julie (Plec) and others about the thought process and where they want to go, and it's really awesome. See more