Spoiler alert for the first season of ‘First Kill’:

Netflix’s vampire drama First Kill finale delivered a series of shocking twists of events– and star Imani Lewis is weighing in on where Calliope and Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) could go from here.

The importance of being a young, dark-skinned lead of a YA supernatural drama series as a queer character is something that’s not lost on Lewis.

“I’m so, so honored,” she told Shadow and Act in a recent interview. “I feel like the best part [is how] all the other young Black girls that have hit me up like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy. I feel so seen. You look like me, you have a nose ring, you [have] piercings and you’re dark-skinned like me.’ That is what I do it for, and it just makes me feel that much more honored. There’s so much representation on this show for so many different communities that deserve to have a light shined on them — the Black community, the queer community, the LGBTQ community, the adolescent community, interracial couples, all kinds of stuff. I feel like they really hit the nail on the head with this one.”

The actress, who previously starred in Netflix’s critically-acclaimed Radha Blank film, The Forty-Year-Old Version, also noted the reasons why she thinks that her “monster hunter” character Cal is attracted to vampire Juliette.

“I think what pulls her into Juliette is the fact that Juliette does not look like a monster,” she said. “She does not act like one, she doesn’t act ferocious and all things that Cal was taught that a monster would do or the actions and behaviors that they would display. She sees someone that’s meek, shy, gentle and sensitive. She’s the first person to talk to her at the school. So I think that’s another thing that breaks the ice. She’s the first person to even approach her and be kind to her and be welcoming and all those things. So, I feel like it’s almost hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that Juliette is a ‘monster,’ because she doesn’t portray any of those monster-like habits or behaviors. I think she just sees another teenage girl.”

In the finale, it is revealed that Juliette bit Cal’s oldest brother, Theo (Phillip Mullings Jr.), who was about to bleed out after being accidentally stabbed by their other sibling, Apollo (Dominic Goodman), who was tricked by Juliette’s sister Elinor (Grace Dzienny). Though Juliette thought she did what she needed to do, Cal is furious and cuts her off and swears revenge.

“At this point in the story, she’s oh so overwhelmed,” said Lewis of the moment. “There are so many things happening simultaneously with herself with her relationship with Juliette, with her family [and] with how she’s seeing her family’s dynamics change with each other. That united front that we once saw feels like it’s starting to crack. To see that crack in the armor, I think it had her feeling a little by herself. And I feel like in a lot of ways throughout the story, when Calliope feels like she can’t communicate certain things to her parents or to her brothers because they are all monster hunters, she’s able to have that outlet and that that like beacon of like hope and space in safety to express herself with Juliette. Once Juliette crosses that line, she feels like she compromised that space for her. I feel like at that moment, Cal almost feels a little silly that she allowed herself to fall so far. Cal feels like she doesn’t have many places she can turn now.”

If the show were to get a season 2 — is there hope for the two star-crossed lovers to find their way back to each other?

“We’re all hopeful that they make their way back to each other because they are so lovely together and they support each other and help each other in so many ways,” she added. “I think sometimes love trumps all. I feel like it’s no different with Cal and her brother. I feel like Jules brings out a different side that Cal has never seen in herself. I have hope that Cal will be able to see the intent– although intent and impact don’t always look the same…and sometimes the impact is strong enough to make someone [forget] the intent, but I don’t know. I feel like when love is strong enough, especially young love, it could go either way. I feel like Cal is also headstrong, so I feel like she could be like, ‘I don’t care. I told you I’m going to kill your family. I don’t want to hear it.’ I feel like it could go a bunch of different ways. But of course, we all are like secretly rooting.’

Watch the full interview below:

First Kill season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

Imani Lewis

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