First Kill is the new Netflix series you need to sink your teeth into. Sarah Catherine Hook takes center stage in Netflix’s queer vampire drama, which premieres June 10. The actress is having her breakout moment as Juliette Fairmont, a high schooler who happens to be a vampire. Her life gets infinitely more complicated when she falls for Calliope “Cal” Burns, who is a monster hunter.
The first season ended Juliette and Calliope’s devastating breakup after Calliope learned that Juliette turned her brother into a vampire. Sarah Catherine spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about Juliette’s future, her hopes for a “darker” Juliette, and the fate of Calliette. Read our full Q&A below:
As someone who grew up loving vampires and watching them on television and in the movies, First Kill was right up my alley. This show is really unlike any vampire show I’ve seen before because of the queer love story at the center of it. Going into this, how did you feel about Juliette and Calliope’s relationship being the center of the show, but being queer was never an obstacle for them?
Sarah Catherine Hook: First off, it was such an honor to be cast in this role. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I think that’s definitely my favorite part about the show, too. Just the fact that their queerness is normal. It’s never a question. It’s not the point of conflict for them. It’s more that they have to kill each other. I find that to be way more exciting, so I’m thrilled about that. I’m just honored.
So much of the show hinges on the chemistry between you and Imani Lewis. What was it like meeting each other and forming that bond that we see onscreen?
Sarah Catherine Hook: It’s funny because we say now that we’ve been through a whole show together, we were evil twins. I mean, it was crazy how much we have in common. But also the way that Juliette and Calliope are yin and yang, that is the same with Imani and myself. We kind of complete each other, if you will. I feel so fortunate that she was my co-star. I felt so supported. She always had my back, and we always had a really wonderful, open line of communication with one another. It was a really special experience getting to work with her.
We have to talk about that ending. There’s a brutal confrontation between Juliette and Calliope after Cal finds out Juliette turned Theo into a vampire. A devastated Juliette drives off in tears. Do you know where she’s going?
Sarah Catherine Hook: We don’t see where she’s going. I’m going to assume she’s driving to the hair salon to bleach her hair blonde. I don’t know. I think she’s going to have a dark side where she sort of becomes Elinor and Margot Fairmont, the southern scary Barbie dolls. That’s kind of where I’m hoping she’ll head for my selfish desire as an actor who gets to play with these things. Obviously, I’m very sad for Juliette, but I’m hoping that we’ll see a different side of her. But I don’t really know where she’s going. Someone asked the question for Imani as well where she’s running. We think that Calliope is just running and Juliette is just driving because, I know for myself, I’ve had those moments where I don’t really know where to go or what to do when I’m super sad after hearing some tragic news or something. When I just need to bawl my eyes out, I’ll just go on a drive and be cathartic, and I think that’s what they’re both doing.
I was raised on Shakespeare, and with the Romeo & Juliet vibes here, my mind immediately goes to… we know what ultimately happens to Romeo and Juliet.
Sarah Catherine Hook: We can’t let these two die!
I’m worried Juliette is going to do something. Not to herself but she’ll just go wild!
Sarah Catherine Hook: I think that’s what’s going to happen or I hope so. I think you hit the nail on the head. She’ll just go wild, have her emo phase, and maybe fully embrace the vampire out of anger and frustration and heartbreak. That’s where she headed for sure. I hope so.
Juliette and Calliope hit their breaking point when Cal found out Juliette turned Theo into a vampire. The fight between them was visceral. Even though this is a vampire drama, it was a very real fight. What was it like filming that confrontation?
Sarah Catherine Hook: It is a harrowing scene. It really is. It’s so heartbreaking and it feels real because we’ve all had that breakup before. Sheryl Crow said it best: the first cut is really the deepest. I think when we were filming it, I know that was towards the end. It was probably 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. in the morning. The boys had just been doing this crazy fight on the front lawn. There was a lot going on. It was a lot of pressure to make sure that we nail it and to be able to reach those emotional places. I’m really happy with the way that it turned out in the show. From what I can remember when we were filming it, we all made sure that we were very delicate with it and with our emotions. People really gave us time to get to the place that we needed to be. Imani and I made sure to be generous with each other’s emotions, even if the close-up was on her or on me. We really wanted to give each other our all, so it was emotionally draining. I will say we made sure to have a few laughs to make sure that there was a nice healthy balance.
Obviously, this changes a lot for them. Do you think they can come back from this? Or could this deepen the divide here?
Sarah Catherine Hook: I do. I mean, they better [get back together]. I do think that there is hope for the relationship. I think they’re both going to have to do some growing as individuals, which is fine. They’re both 16. Young love is a fickle thing, and I think that they’re going to have their ups and downs. They’re probably going to duke it out a couple of times, hopefully, in season 2. I’m thinking they’ll have to eventually team up, and then by the end of season 2 let’s say they get back together. It doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me!
We’ve seen Juliette’s parents and how far they went to be together. Ultimately, Sebastian was turned into a vampire. It’s a very deep love that they share for each other. Do you think that it’s ever crossed Juliette’s mind that Juliette and Cal could end up like her parents and make that pledge to spend eternity together?
Sarah Catherine Hook: You know, maybe it’s crossed her mind, but she doesn’t want to indulge in that thinking process because she personally doesn’t want to be a vampire. She wouldn’t wish this on anyone. There was a bit of a tease earlier in the season where Oliver says, “Oh, my witch girlfriend over here knows a spell that can make you human.” I think that there’s more wishful thinking in that direction, and I’m curious to see more of that. I know we kind of let that go briefly, but I’m hoping we can look more into that journey and see if she can fulfill these dreams of being human. I doubt it’ll happen.
Speaking of Oliver, poor Juliette. This girl can never get a break from her family. However, I feel like she is a sort of kindred spirit with Oliver. At the end of the season, we see that Oliver has ulterior motives with the monsters and Theo. Do you think Juliette trusts Oliver or are there parts of her that don’t?
Sarah Catherine Hook: I think she has trust issues with pretty much everyone, and I would say she probably still does with Oliver as well because she doesn’t know him fully. He is kind of a last resort. But I agree, I do think they are kindred spirits. I think you really see that when you see them both interacting, especially when they first see each other in episode 3. There is this familiarity between the two of them even without them knowing each other super well. The more Juliette is told about the truth, the more I think feels closer to him. So I’m really curious to see more of their dynamic because I totally agree… I think that they are more similar than different.
On the flip side, Elinor is grace but Gracie’s performance is so good I can’t help but root for her. We saw that Juliette has a little bit of Elinor in her when she flipped the tables on her sister. Juliette is the one who has Elinor arrested, and we see that look between them. In that moment, do you think Juliette likes the power that she has in that situation?
Sarah Catherine Hook: I think she likes it a little too much. Juliette isn’t so different from Elinor or her family, and I think that’s just it. She is closer to this monster than she would like to be, and it might feel really good in the moment for her, too. And then of course a few days later, you see her crumble again. This poor girl. She’s just a hot little mess.
I’m kind of scared about what Elinor is going to do if somehow gets out of this situation…
Sarah Catherine Hook: I know. I think that Juliette will seriously take her up on teaming up with her and actually embracing the whole vampire with her, personally, as Sarah Catherine and not Juliette. I am worried about Juliette falling into that, but honestly, some of my favorite scenes are with Elinor. When we go out clubbing and drain that man, that’s one of my favorite scenes of the show. I want more.
Do you think Juliette ultimately thinks she did the right thing by saving Theo, that it was a better choice to have him be a vampire than not be here at all?
Sarah Catherine Hook: It’s been hard for me to grapple with, especially when I first read it. I was confused, too. I wasn’t sure if Juliette quite knew what she was doing. I don’t know if she was trying to put him out of his misery and completely let him die instead of him suffering on the bathroom floor. I guess we’ll find out. I think it could be a good thing if we see Theo maybe becoming a vampire who’s also still a monster hunter. Maybe he’ll be like, “You know what I have? I have even more skill and extra superpowers to be able to do the thing that I’ve always wanted to do, and that’s kill monsters.” I don’t know. Maybe he’ll have a dark phase where he’s just ravenous and bloodthirsty and just goes crazy on the human race. That is a tough question. I think we will find out in seasons to come whether or not was a good decision or not.
So much of this show is about family and how you’ll go for your family. In the end, I’m not really sure where Juliette stands. Do you think in the fallout of what happened with Calliope that we’ll see Juliette embrace her family more? There are lots of layers to her mother and her father. There’s a lot going on there that I feel like hasn’t been touched just yet.
Sarah Catherine Hook: I think the relationships are still going to be a bit strained. They’re a little bit wounded. But I do think with time, she will be able to relate to them more if she does decide to embrace her true nature in being a vampire. I’m really curious to see what the dynamic will be. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. I wish I could be in the writers’ room dishing out ideas. I’m hoping that she will do more teaming up with them, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
What do you think Margot thinks of Juliette throwing Elinor under the bus?
Sarah Catherine Hook: Juliette and Margot’s relationship is interesting. I’ve had a few conversations with Elizabeth Mitchell about this actually. She told me that she thinks that Margot had a similar situation to Juliette when she was young where it was hard for her, and then she accidentally killed the wrong person. Someone who was very close to her, and it just changed her a bit and made her bitter. I think that she doesn’t want Juliette to be like that. It’s almost like Juliette’s her last hope because Elinor’s fully embraced being a vampire since day one. I think there would be a moment of her being like, well, that was unkind. That was rude of you. But also, we all know Elinor has these powers where she can manipulate people into believing that this didn’t actually happen. I feel like they’re not really worried about Elinor. She’ll probably be like, that was rude, Juliette, but also good for you. You finally grew a pair.
This show is also about legacy. When we talk about legacy, this show certainly has one with Juliette and Calliope’s relationship. Did you feel any pressure bringing this relationship to life knowing what this will mean to young queer people watching this show?
Sarah Catherine Hook: Imani and I just really wanted to do this right. We knew we had a certain level of responsibility, and we both just really loved that. Their queerness was not the point of conflict for the story, and we’re just extremely excited for queer viewers to see themselves in these characters. I’m absolutely honored to be a part of the story.