Last week Freeform's Shadowhunters, which is based on the Cassandra Clare book series, The Mortal Instruments, introduced the character of Meliorn. The actor who plays the faerie knight, Jade Hassouné, recently talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview about his work on the show.

The actor auditioned for other roles on the series before he got Meliorn, which he thinks was perfect for him. "It was an audition, just a regular audition. I got to audition for Alaric first, and from that I got a call back about a week later for Raphael Santiago, and then a week later for Meliorn, and by that point I'd really delved into it, and I think Meliorn was the perfect one. And from that audition, I got a call back, which was my final call back.

"And then it happened really, really fast. I mean, the whole process took about a month, but then everything happened really, really quickly after that. You know, after that, I was on set probably about a week later.

"...I really wanted to be a part of it. From the first audition I was super excited to get a part, but then when I got Meliorn, it was just so perfect. I kind of intuitively knew what to do and it seemed clear to me who he was and I kind of went from there.

"You know, I read the books, and I feel like I'm in the world, and I think it's working, and I think the design department, and the costume department, everybody came together and really created him, and it feels pretty fluid to be him. And I think the writers did such a cool job to add a voice to him, because you don't get to see him that much in the books, but yeah, I think they wrote him in really well."

Hassouné has since read most of the novels and has become a fan. "I started reading the books as soon as I knew that I got the part. I had already started reading a few things online, and it got me so excited. I remember getting so many chills and that I really wanted to be a part of that world. And then I went through them really fast. I saved the final book of The Mortal Instruments for later; I read one through five, and the fans online told me that I had to go back and read the prequel of The Infernal Devices, so now I'm reading Clockwork Angel, the first one, and I'm going to finish that and then read the other two. Then I'm going to go back to The Mortal Instruments and complete the saga.

"...I've become such a fanboy since. It's so much fun to be as excited as the fanbase, it's really great."

The actor really enjoyed getting to play scenes that weren't in the books. "I find the storyline so epic, and it's so exciting to think of what's going to come, but the cool thing that we get to see, is that we get to see the thing that we didn't get to see in the books, because Meliorn comes in in book two. You know about his relationship with Isabelle (Emeraude Toubia), but you don't really get to explore it. They're usually in the background talking, so it was really cool to get to live that backstory, and what the writers did with Meliorn is pretty cool. I'm so excited for people to see it all."

Hassouné went on to talk a bit about his scene in his first episode that fans had been waiting for. "[There's] the scene that people have been waiting for; they've seen some parts of it in teasers and things, they've seen a kiss, so you'll get to see why that's happening and how Meliorn comes into the story at that point. Clary (Katherine McNamara) needs to save Simon (Alberto Rosende) so Isabelle can get some information out of her favorite Seelie, because she knows that he has to tell the truth, and it's a good plan I think."

The actor really enjoyed getting to work with Toubia. "Emeraude is such a cool girl. I came in, met her at the read-through, and we had to kind of break the ice, and we just kind of laughed about it, because we knew what we had to shoot first, and then it was great. We have such a good brother-sister relationship, and I think we built a really good trust and went into it feeling safe, because you have to know people's boundaries when you have to do stuff like that.

"I think it was very well done, and the set had a beautiful environment, and I think it was a good foundation for our friendship. And she's so awesome and so beautiful and so so funny. I laugh a lot when I'm with her."

The Institute is his favorite part of the set. "The Institute is breathtaking, to see and how it's built; it's really beautiful. There're so many cool things that I can't talk about yet, but it's really cool to be in a production like this. It's really a dream come true, and it kind of seems unreal while it's happening. Is this my life right now? But it's great that we get to share it. I can't wait to see what it looks like."

Hassouné couldn't reveal much about his character's future on the series, or if fans will get to see the rest of the Seelie Court. "I can't really say, but I think people will be happy with what they do get to see, and, you know, it's just the beginning of a huge saga. I hope that we get to see it all, but right now, it's just introductions here and there to the faerie realm, because there're so many other things they need to establish in the Shadow world, like the vampires, the werewolves. So I think it's well done. A little taste here, a little taste there."

The actor was, however, able to reveal that he does have some fight scenes coming up. "It's a little later in the season, but there definitely are some fight scenes, and I got to fight with a sword and a dagger alongside one of the Shadowhunters, and it was pretty wicked."

He got in as much training as he could. "I did have some training on my own through theater school, and there were some workshops that I'd done. On set it was whenever we could squeeze in rehearsals. I know the rest of the cast, they do get a lot of rehearsals, but I was shooting something else at the time, so I had to learn the choreography pretty quick, but we took some time.

"And it was really cool, because our location was in the forest, which was pretty fun. And we started the day with it. It was a two day fight scene that we shot."

Playing someone who is half-faerie, Hassouné goes through the makeup trailer each day. "It was so much fun. It's so cool to get on set, because they put all their vision boards on the wall, and you could see, you know, all kinds of photos of different artists and different illustrations and graphic stuff, and you really get a feel for the world. And there were some faeries and photos that they had in different places, and in the makeup trailer as well.

"The head makeup lady, such a sweet heart, she was super excited to kind of explore with it, because she gets to do it with Magnus (Harry Shum, Jr.) as well, but for Meliorn, because when you first get to see him, he'll be in his domain, you don't really see him going out, but then as the season progresses, he goes out, and you get to see how he dresses to go out.

"Also every time I shot, I had to put on the ears. They did a mold of my ears, and then they have to apply it every time we shoot, every day. I mean, they'd throw it out, and then they'd make another one when I come in. It takes about an hour to put on, but it gets faster and faster, and it's really cool to see. The artist glues it on, and then he paints it to match my skin, and it's great."

Besides Shadowhunters, Hassouné has some other projects he's been working on. "There's a web series that I'm part of, the second and third season; it's called That's my DJ, and it's super exciting. And for me it's kind of a turning point, because season two follows one character, and then season three follows my character, and I get to experience what it's like to be a lead in a story, and I'm having a really turning point experience in my life right now, just in my career and my understanding of the craft and everything. It's very exciting, and I think people will love it as well.

"I am also working on a video game as well; it's a lot of fun doing some face and body motion capture and voice work. I can't wait to show some stuff."

For now, don't forget to catch Jade Hassouné tonight in an all-new episode of Shadowhunters as Jade Meliorn, who he describes in three words as "playful, passionate, and centered."