“Van Helsing” Exclusive: Aleks Paunovic Talks Julius’ Big Change & Teases Backstory Episode
Syfy’s latest episode of Van Helsing ended with a crazy cliffhanger, Julius was turned human and thankful about it! It was an unexpected twist for fans, but no one was more shocked than Paunovic himself! OMFGTV jumped on the phone with the busy actor to quickly discuss Julius’ journey this season!
Julius was a vampire determined to overthrow the current ruler, Dmitri, and ruled his minions through fear and violence. Paunovic was thrilled with the way his character’s arc went in the series’ first season, so he was very excited to see his arc this season.
“I got thrown a little curve ball — I get bit,” Paunovic tells us. He was very excited when he learned that Julius would be turned human because “it’s such a different arc for the character.”
When Julius is turned human, the first thing he does is thank Vanessa for what she did, revealing a lot about the character. “That line said a lot to me, that it was a big relief for him.” Vampire Julius and human Julius are complete opposites from each other, making him a fun challenge to play.
When we spoke with Aleks earlier this summer at SDCC, he revealed to us that “everyone gets an origin story.” In this week’s episode, titled, “Love Bites,” we will be seeing Julius’ backstory! It’s an installment that the actor is very excited about and proud of.
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“People will get to see why Julius is the way he is,” he shares. “The idea of who Julius is as a human, I really wanted to get the empathy and compassion there to really make a juxtaposition of what he was as a vampire, it’s a complete 180, and I really enjoy doing that.”
Though Aleks couldn’t reveal too much about the upcoming episode, he did reveal that his character as a human has something in common with himself, they’re both boxers. This was something the writers threw in to help Aleks connect with Julius even more.
Aleks has joined the list of cast on this show who has gotten to play their character as both human and vampire, and he enjoyed playing both very much.
“I love playing Julius the vampire because it’s so opposite of what I would ever do in any situation. The depths for revenge Julius has, and the thirst for power is something where your ethics are out the window.”
On the opposite side of the coin, Aleks doesn’t really get to play the good guy too often, and it sounds like he’ll be team good guy as a human! “Most characters I play in my career are obviously antagonists, so it’s nice to be on the other side of it every once in a while!”
If you recall from season 1, Julius was a real momma’s boy. Or at least he was before Sam killed her. Even though he’s human, Paunovic promises an epic battle between the two.
Looking for more Aleks Paunovic? You’re in luck, because he produced and starred in a Christmas horror film called “Puppet Killer” that will be coming out soon!
Van Helsing airs Thursdays at 9pm on Syfy.