The Boy and the Beast audio excerpt from Vampire Diaries stars Joseph Morgan, Persia White
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Klaus Mikaelson may have met his end on our TV screens years ago, but that doesn't mean you can no longer be soothed by his voice.
The Vampire Diaries and The Originals star Joseph Morgan has added another title to his resume: author. Morgan's new book The Boy and the Beast follows the story of a family and the lengths they'll go to to protect their own. When a little girl is stolen from their village, Jacob, her 12-year-old brother, vows to hunt down and kill the beast that took her, but what he finds in the forest forces him to confront a truth more terrifying than the monster itself. In addition to writing the story, Morgan, alongside his wife Persia White who produced the project, also recorded an audiobook and EW has your exclusive first listen.
Storm Santos; Andromeda Creative Inc. Joseph Morgan and Persia White's 'The Boy and the Beast'
"The story itself, The Boy and the Beast, I actually wrote a while ago. I wrote it in free-hand in my dressing room for The Originals. There's just always been something that has fasciated me about family and the lengths that we'll go to to protect the people we love and I think that's timeless," says Morgan.
Morgan explains that the story may have been written years ago, but he wasn't quite ready for it to be released into the world until White convinced him. "I read it out loud to Persia and for a long time she was the only one that had heard the story," says Morgan. "Then, Persia was the one who encouraged me to record it as an audiobook. She had the idea of producing it in this form that it is now."
White knew right away that this book needed to be recorded as an audiobook. "We constantly read books out loud to each other, like when you're a kid, and so when he had this idea to do a fairytale for adults it was really nice hearing it. I think it's part of what me, and a lot of people, love about Joseph is his voice. So it felt like a no brainer," says White.
Morgan may be no stranger to recording, considering his time doing countless voiceovers for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, but when it came to recording for a book, he approached it a little bit differently. "I listened to a lot of audiobooks and [learned that] you definitely want to try to find a certain rhythm and pace so that it's interesting and engaging for people to listen to, but that it has momentum so people continue listening. I really wanted it to be punchy and for the story to move," explains Morgan.
"I feel like I relate more to the fans than Joseph when it comes to [his voice]," White says. "There was a moment where he was sounding a little less like Joseph and I was like 'Wait a minute. No. You need to sound like you. You don't understand.' And he was like 'Ok. Alright.'"
"She encouraged me to find my true voice in the studio. There's a character in the audiobook, the Mayor, and I remember my impulse was to do a more character-based voice for that, a little more further than myself, but it was too much," says Morgan. "Persia went in and had me surgical remove those bits from the recording and record it so it was much more grounded. She was also very insistent when it came to Jacob, the narrator, calling out for his sister Maria that I shouted like myself."
White explains that she told him to shout "Maria!" as though he were Klaus Mikaelson shouting "Rebekah!" "Rather than hold back, give us some 'Rebekah!' in it," was the note that White made sure to give Morgan. "We love that! We don't want you to hold back like other people do," says White.
Vampire Diaries fans can expect to hear hints of Klaus in the audiobook, but more than that Morgan explains that he believes fans will love the story because it was written with the sub-genre of dark fantasy in mind. "I think that's something that has definitely bonded us with the fans — sharing that passion for that kind of story. So we wanted to do a project where they would be able to delve into another world similar to that and be a part of it," says Morgan.
White wasn't the only family member who had a hand in making this project come to life. Morgan's brother, Jack Martin, was also called in to do the cover art for the audiobook. When asked if they feel more pride in a project that hit so close to home, White replied, "I never thought about it like that, but yeah."
Morgan explained there's a different sense of pride when you are creating something "for the people you love, surrounded by the people you love."
This won't be the end of Morgan's "spoken word" journey, White revealed that he will be featured in her upcoming song "Vampire," out May 16th. "I took me out and just put in all these poetic words of just Joseph talking and he was like 'No. You have to put you singing.' But I just wanted to hear him," says White.
Let Morgan transport you to a whole new world in the EW exclusive first listen of the audiobook above.
The audiobook of The Boy and the Beast is available for preorder now.
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