The Vampire Diaries is a beloved supernatural television series that ran for eight seasons. It is based off the books of the same name by author L.J. Smith. When the series premiered on The CW, it had the largest audience since the network began. It has received a ton of nominations and even won several People’s Choice Awards and Teen Choice Awards. Needless to say, the show is loved by many.

What sets The Vampire Diaries apart from so many others are the talented actors and their amazing storylines. Some of the lead characters include Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, and Paul Wesley. The show didn’t have much drama with their characters in the first several seasons, but unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

Here are 3 actors who hated their time on The Vampire Diaries and 17 who loved it.

20 Loved - Kayla Ewell Will Always Remember the Vicki-Damon Dance Scene

Kayla Ewell played Vicki Donovan in the first season of The Vampire Diaries. She told Entertainment Weekly that she would always remember the dance scene she had with Damon. Ewell remembers that she was only 23 years old while Somerhalder was fresh off of Lost and that it was just such a fun scene.

19 Loved - The Beginning Of Sara Canning's Career

Sara Canning played Jenna in the first two seasons of The Vampire Diaries. She was the Aunt of Elena and Jeremy who became their guardian after their parents died. She was grateful for the lessons she learned during her time on the show, especially since it was at the beginning of her career.

18 Loved - Paul Wesley Found His Love Of Directing

Paul Wesley played the role of Stefan Salvatore for eight seasons. Stefan was known as the good brother, well for most of the series anyways. Paul played a huge role in the series and even found himself on the other side of the camera a few times. Now he finds himself both directing and producing.

17 Loved - Matt Davis Is Most Proud Of Season 3

Matt Davis was phenomenal in his role as Alaric Salesman who started as a history teacher and vampire hunter. He told Entertainment Weekly that he is most proud of season three when his character went to the dark side and got possessed by Klaus. Matt Davis continued his journey as Alaric in the spin-off series, Legacies.

16 Hated - Nina Dobrev Needed More Challenges

This probably comes as no surprise considering she shocked the cast and fans when Nina announced she was leaving the show after the sixth season. She told E! News that she needed more challenges and wanted to work with great filmmakers. I’m not sure how well that came off with creators of The Vampire Diaries.

15 Loved - Candice King Loved Turning Into A Vampire

The first pilot Candace ever did was for The Vampire Diaries, and the rest is all uphill from there! She remembers her time playing Caroline Forbes fondly. She told Entertainment Weekly, “With her turning into a vampire, I thought that was such a fun and beautiful, defining arc for her.”

14 Loved - Steven R. McQueen Liked Becoming A Hunter

Steven R. McQueen’s character, Jeremy Gilbert, had one of the biggest transformations on the show. He started as an insolent teenager obsessed with the wrong girls to a mature young man ready to have his own life. His character left the show before the ending, but he was okay with the way Jeremy left.

13 Loved - Persia White Says The Cast Is So Humble

Persia White didn’t play a huge role, but loved every minute she was on set. Having worked on a ton of other sets, Persia has had her fair share of good and bad experiences but had nothing but good things to say about all the cast members. She even met her husband on set who plays the role of Klaus.

12 Loved - The Show Was A Healing Process For Zach Roerig

Zach Roerig played Matt Davis, loving friend to all. And interestingly enough, one of the only characters who stayed human the entire show… sorry spoiler alert. The Vampire Diaries was his longest job and a lot of his life took place during filming. Zach told Entertainment Weekly that it was just a very healing process.

11 Hated - Kat Graham Just Wasn’t Interested

Kat Graham did an amazing job playing powerful witch Bonnie Bennett throughout the entire show. She hasn’t said a whole lot of affirming words after the show has ended. However, when asked if she would reprise her role on the spin-off show, Legacies, Kat replied that she simply wasn’t interested.

10 Loved - Joseph Morgan Uses Music To Get Into Character

Joseph Morgan’s portrayal of Klaus Mikaelson on both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals is absolutely perfect. Klaus is a playful and dangerous sociopath, which takes a lot of preparation. Joseph told Entertainment Weekly that he felt Klaus wouldn’t have gotten to his age without having an appreciation for opera and poetry.

9 Loved - Malese Jow's Role Was Extended

Malese Jow played the role of Anna, an older vampire with ties to the Salvatore brothers. Her recurring role was just supposed to be for a couple of episodes but ended up being extended until the third season. While she was heartbroken about leaving, the show really rerouted her career.

8 Loved - Arielle Kebbel Enjoyed Playing Lexi

Arielle Kebbel played Lexi, a vampire who was best friends with Stefan. Her character had a rather tumultuous path on The Vampire Diaries. Her death was sudden but Arielle still showed up every so often as ghost Lexi. Arielle told Hypable, “The exciting thing about Lexi is that you never know when she’s going to pop up.”

7 Loved - David Anders Said It Was Fun While It Lasted

Uncle John is one of the characters that fans loved to hate. You never knew if he was the good guy or the bad guy. Although he ended up redeeming himself with his death. David Anders loved playing John and told Entertainment Weekly, “I was sad to leave the show, but it was fun while it lasted.”

6 Hated - Michael Trevino Ran Out Of Storyline

Michael Trevino’s character, Tyler Lockwood, was one of the first werewolf hybrids made by Klaus. Because of that, there were times in earlier seasons when a lot of the storyline was focused around him. As the show progressed we saw less and less of Tyler, until his storyline ran our completely.

5 Loved - Phoebe Tonkin Knew She Was In For The Long Haul

When Phoebe Tonkin signed on as the role of Hayley, a lone werewolf, she knew that she was not only signing up for The Vampire Diaries, but also The Originals. However, no one else knew that, so she had to keep all plans quiet. The Vampire Diaries was a big launching pad for her career and she was really grateful for the opportunity.

4 Loved - Daniel Gillies Wanted To Fiercely Protect His Character

Elijah Mikaelson was one of the most beloved original vampires in both The Vampire Diaries and then later in The Originals. In the very beginning stages, Elijah wasn’t even supposed to be Klaus’ brother! And they also weren’t in a rush to make him a good guy. I definitely couldn’t imagine Elijah any other way!

3 Loved - Michael Malarkey Compares His Character To James Bond

Michael Malarkey played a vampire named Enzo. He started as a guest role but then got more and more screen time. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly he compared Enzo to James Bond saying, “He is kind of a mix between a Bond villain and Bond himself, which is a cool line to toe.”

2 Loved - Claire Holt Loved Her Character's Sassy Side

Claire Holt plays the dangerous yet vulnerable original vampire sister, Rebecca Mikaelson. She was on The Vampire Diaries for four seasons before transitioning only to The Originals. Claire made the choice to leave because she felt her character lost some of her sass which was her favorite part, but she loved her time on TVD.

1 Loved - Marguerite MacIntyre Loved Her Character's Death

Marguerite MacIntyre played lovable Sheriff Forbes for six seasons. She had a beautiful storyline and her character grew immensely throughout those six seasons. Marguerite was happy that her character didn’t die sooner as she would have left things unfinished. In the end, she feels like Sheriff Forbes died a contented woman.

Sources: Entertainment Weekly