CBC’s Being Erica made a few changes in its second season, the most notable among them being the addition of Sebastian Pigott as Kai, the mysterious barista at Goblin’s café. Since his introduction during the Season 2 premiere (in which we discovered that he is in the same time-travel therapy as Erica), Kai has remained infuriatingly in the background; luckily, that all changes with tonight’s episode. When Dr. Tom grants Erica a do-over day, in which all of her various misdeeds will be erased, she decides to share it with Kai, the one person who can truly enjoy the day with her. As the day progresses, we finally find out more about the mysterious boy and what his friendship will mean for Erica.

Tonight’s episode of Being Erica is a big one for Pigott, as it’s not only his most high-profile gig since competing on Canadian Idol in 2008, but he’ll also be performing a song he wrote with his brother (and fellow Idol contestant) Oliver. Here, Pigott discusses tonight’s episode, his song-writing process with his brother and what can be expected of Kai in Being Erica’s future.

Tonight’s your big episode.
Oh, God, I know.

Are you excited?
I’m really nervous about it.

Were you as frustrated as I was that they introduced Kai and his big mystery in the Season 2 premiere, and then pretty much ignored him for the next several weeks?
[Laughs] Were you frustrated by that?

Yes!
I’m glad! I guess that means people will tune in, I hope.

Kai kept telling Erica that he didn’t want to talk about their magical therapy, but who wouldn’t want to talk about it?!
Not Kai!

Obviously, you’re a new cast member this season. Was it difficult to enter a show that had already established itself and its characters?
It’s a difficult thing to do, but they made it easy. I don’t know how much time you’ve spent talking to Erin [Karpluk], but she’s a joy. A real pro, as well, on top of being really good at what she does. So they made it easy, but yeah, it was really nerve-wracking. I didn’t really know the show when I got the job, but I watched it and got caught up really quickly, and it’s really good, you know? I actually have a friend who’s a big fan of the show, and he heard I got the job and he said, “That’s great, man! Don’t mess it up!”

What was the audition process like?
It was odd. It’s a weird thing because you never really know how you do. It’s almost impossible to judge your own work while you’re doing it. I really felt like I screwed up the first audition.

Why?
Well, I don’t know. We’re so neurotic and I’m sitting there, judging myself. But I got a call three months later to fly out to Vancouver to meet Erin and do a screen test. I flew out there and the plane was two hours late, so I got off the plane and I’m taken right to the audition. I’m all tense and anxious and I’m about to meet Erin Karpluk and I get in there and right away, it’s like, “Go! Act!” I did it and once again, I felt like I screwed up. I got out of there and I was like, “Oh, God, I can’t believe I just screwed up this amazing opportunity.”

It all worked out, though.
It all worked out. Just goes to show what I know.

Once you got the part, did the writers fill you in on Kai’s past, or did you only find out once you got the scripts?
A little bit of both. The funny thing about being a series regular, which I’ve never done before, is you don’t know where it’s going. You’re given some general direction, but there were lines that I had to say that spoke to things that were going to happen, but I had no idea what they were. You’re flying blind through much of it.

How do you approach the character when you don’t know where the story’s going?
You just have to make choices. I made choices that were completely wrong, ultimately. But it doesn’t matter, right? As long as you’re committed and you mean what you say, then the audience will fill in the blanks with their theories.

What was your original theory about Kai?
Uh…

You can’t tell me?
Well, I knew who he was and where he was from and all that. I’m more talking about little things – references to friends and things like that.

Most people will know you from Canadian Idol. While you’ve acted before, has it been difficult to get past being seen as “the guy from that reality show”?
You know, I’d rather people recognize me and know who I was than they didn’t. I think it’d be kind of silly to resent the association; I mean, geez, that’s why I did the show, to get my face out there. That said, I’m really looking forward to the day when people know me for other things as well; when the first response isn’t, “Oh, you’re that guy who got booted off Canadian Idol!” I’m really proud of my work on Erica. I’m on pins and needles.

The song you sing tonight, you wrote that yourself.
I did; me and my brother, Oliver, we wrote it.

Was it a song you two wrote before the show, or did the producers ask you to write it?
The producers came to me and said, “You’re going to sing a song, and we’re going to write it.” And I said, “Oh, yeah? Can I have a chance to try? Because me and my brother write!” I gave them my new CD, called Pigottry, which is coming out. That’s my little pitch, by the way. But the producers said, “OK! You’ve got a weekend to write it.” So we rented a motel room and just holed up there for a weekend and wrote three or four songs. We brought them in and pitched them, and the producers really liked them. They picked the one on the episode – obviously – and the response has been awesome.

What’s your song-writing process with Oliver?
We had never really written together before, per se. I’d always been a little bit overwhelmed by his talent, so it was interesting to get in there with a bit more sense of equality than we’ve had before. It was a new process. We wrote our lyrical parts separately and then we come together and work out the melody, but it’s always a shot in the dark, you know? I think if you get too clinical about it, it can become like churning out a product instead of pure artistry. You just try to catch accidents, like, “Oh! That was kind of cool.”

So you’re now doing a combination of acting and singing, or are you just getting into anything that’s performance-based?
I’m doing a lot of knocking on wood. I’m just trying to keep the momentum going. I’m keen to make good art whenever I’m given the opportunity, and that’s what’s great about playing Kai: I get to make music and I get to act. I get to go deep places with the character, and you’ll start to see that. That’s the beauty of the show, because you’ll get to see somebody who, first of all, is sort of messed up. But you also get to see somebody throughout time. People aren’t really people, you know; they’re just different points in time. You meet somebody at one point and they’re – I mean, I can’t imagine meeting myself at 18. He was a very different guy, you know what I mean?

So we’re going to see Kai at different points in his life?
[Sing-song voice] I’m not telling!

Oh, come on.
[Laughs]

Are you still filming Being Erica?
No, we finished last Friday. It’s really surreal. I feel all out of sorts. You’re in this vacuum for so many months; you have blinders on, and then it’s done. I don’t know what to do. Right now I’m just pacing nervously, up and down my apartment.

It has to be encouraging, though, that people are so curious about Kai. He’s certainly more interesting than Erica’s boyfriend, Ethan.
Oh, but Tyron [Leitso, who plays Ethan] is awesome.

Oh, no, Tyron seems lovely.
And Ethan’s very much written like that. You’ve got to cut him a bit of slack, but that’s the character! He’s a schoolteacher, and I get the impression that Ethan’s kind of a fearful sort of guy. He likes his life to be safe. He likes his interactions to be safe, and that’s what’s interesting about their relationship, because Erica’s not that way and Erica is a bit more adventurous. I think, as she starts to come into herself over the course of the season, we’re going to see that more and more.

Is there anything you can tell me about what’s coming up on Being Erica?
I’ve said too much! But I will say, my favourite episode for my character, as far as the stuff I get to do and the parts of my character I get to show, is Episode 7. That’s an extra-special episode.

So two weeks from now, is when that airs?
Two weeks, yes. That’s my favourite one. I just saw parts of it yesterday and I really like it. I’m really happy with it so I hope people like it. The worst time is right now, because I’m all nervous and I just hope people like it, you know? Otherwise I’m going to kill myself. [Laughs]

That certainly sounds like an appropriate response.
Really! I’ve been joking around about hurling myself off a downtown building as a promotional thing. As I plummet to my death, my last words would be, “Tuesday nights at niiiiiiine!” Splat!

…Wow.
[Laughs] Wow!

I don’t have a witty response to that.
Welcome to the inside of my head! It’s not pleasant!

I’m delighted and a little terrified by you right now.
That’s pretty much what I’m going for.

Being Erica airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBC.