Why Vampire Diaries & Originals Boss Julie Plec Said Yes to Containment

Showrunner Julie Plec is a busy, busy gal! She has not one but two shows — The Vampire Diaries and it’s popular spin-off The Originals — both of which air Friday nights on The CW. Beginning Tuesday, April 19, a third will be added to the network’s lineup, Containment, a drama about a mysterious fatal outbreak in Atlanta.

But with Plec already overseeing the two supernatural dramas, how does she have time for a third?

RELATED | Why We’re Looking Forward to The CW’s Containment

“I basically have time for this and that’s about it,” Plec tells OMFGTV and other outlets in a recent roundtable interview. “When you’re doing one show, you throw every single ounce of yourself into that show. So you are already working the maximum amount of hours in any given day that you can work and not die and you manage every detail.”

Those details include everything from the look of the title card, to the volume of the music, and even the looks of the hair on the talent. She explains that when more work is added to the table, you still have the same amount of time in the day, and that’s when she cuts down on micromanaging those details and handing it off to someone she trusts to take over. “Weirdly enough, it’s the same amount of work, it’s just delegated differently and executed differently.”

Julie Plec had originally told Warner Bros. TV that she was not available to develop another series, but when they learned that she was “obsessed with virus movies,” the studio presented her with a quarantine format they had acquired out of Belgium, and she was giddy with excitement.

RELATED | Officer Riley Searches for a Child in “Containment” Sneak Peek

She reveals that “it was the material 100%” that made her agree to jump on board.

“It worked because I watched [the original] and I thought it was so good,” she says. “It’s the kind of show that I would binge-watch on Netflix tomorrow–easy. And I thought if it’s this good, then I know it works. The proof of concept exists; all I have to do is make it my own, make it better, make it different, whatever.

“I can do that with the two other shows juggling because it would be an honor to be involved,” she continues. “I call it my little cable piece. I love it. It’s smart. It’s like Homeland. It’s gritty and cool and grown up and I love the tone and lets me play in that world that makes me happy.”

Containment premieres Tuesday, April 19, at 9pm on The CW.