'The Originals' at PaleyFest: Claire Holt hopes to return, and five more things we learned -- VIDEO

Rebekah fans can breathe a sigh of relief. As far as Claire Holt is concerned, the Original sister’s absence is only a temporary fix. But that was only one thing fans took away from the Originals PaleyFest panel, where cast and crew also discussed Elijah’s journey, the things they aren’t allowed to show on The CW, and whether The Vampire Diaries‘ Caroline might be making her way to New Orleans anytime soon.

Here are six things we took away — plus one bonus tidbit — from executive producers Michael Narducci and Julie Plec, and cast members Charles Michael Davis (Marcel), Leah Pipes (Cami), Phoebe Tonkin (Hayley), Daniel Gillies (Elijah), Joseph Morgan (Klaus), Claire Holt (Rebekah), and Danielle Campbell (Davina).

The series was originally going to be set in Chicago.
When asked about their decision to put the TVD spinoff in New Orleans, executive producers Julie Plec and Michael Narducci reminisced about how Narducci originally “wanted to make it in a pizzeria.” “It was going to be Chicago,” Narducci said. Plec explained that their “original Originals pitch” was to take the family back to the history they’d revealed a bit of in season 3 of The Vampire Diaries, when fans got a glimpse at Stefan’s ripper past with Klaus and, of course, his relationship with Rebekah. But when they realized they were going to shoot in Atlanta, it could cause a problem. “I think we said Nashville,” Plec continued. “Pretty much every city in the United States of America.” But when someone brought up the idea of New Orleans, one trip (and a lack of open container laws) brought about the final idea of moving things down South. See more