Janina Gavankar got a bigger part on “The Vampire Diaries” than she realized. Soon, we will all be falling under the spell of Janina Gavankar on “The Vampire Diaries” as she takes on the role of an ancient and powerful witch. But it was as much a surprise for her as it will be for the audience.

Janina Gavankar didn’t know she was playing the ancient witch Qetsiyah on “The Vampire Diaries.” She found out she was cast while she was in Washington D.C. visiting her sister who was about to have a baby.

Janina Ganankar signed on to play a “snarky girl” named Tessa on “The Vampire Diaries,” she didn’t learned she’d be playing the show’s most powerful witch Qetsiyah until after she saw the script.

Qetsiya is a 2000-year-old witch who will completely mesmerize fans of “The Vampire Diaries.”

Janina Ganankar told TV “I didn’t know I was playing Qetsiyah! I thought the character was some snarky girl named Tessa. I knew nothing… I got a call that The Vampire Diaries wanted me to do an arc, but if I wanted to do it I had to leave tomorrow. So I got on a plane and flew to Atlanta. As usual I said, ‘Fantastic. Let me read the material.’ They send me sides, which give me no information, but when I got a script it ends up being 18 pages of monologue. I was ushered to my dressing room with a bunch of DVDs in hand and stared at the wall for a second like, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ ”

Janina Gavankar “I do think that they’re going to find her to be a bit extreme and scary and ruthless. So, people will either love her or despise her… It’s a bloody arc. My hands were stained for days.”