It's hard to believe it's been over a decade since The Vampire Diaries hit the air. The CW series quickly became a hit that made stars of Nina Dobrev and the rest of its cast. For eight seasons, fans were enthralled by the show's twists, dark humor, hot romances, and wild action. It spawned two spin-offs but the original TVD is still the best of the bunch. Given all its fun antics on screen, it's no shock it also had exciting stuff going on behind the scenes.
From surprising connections to each other to some other interesting bits, there's some unique trivia about the TVD cast. Dobrev gets the best of them, but her co-stars also have some interesting touches. They got along well (see the numerous off-screen romances), but there are still some tidbits fans may not know. Here are 18 facts about Dobrev and her TVD co-stars that just makes the show more notable.
18 Ian Wanted Damon Killed Off For Real As He Hated Being The Good Guy
A major plotline is a hunt for a vampire cure, which ends up going to Katherine. But if Ian Somerhalder had his way, this would have been a way to write off Damon. Somerhalder had been pushing for Damon to be killed off as he preferred him being a bad guy.
The plan would have been for Damon to get the cure and perhaps end up dying afterward. But when fans figured out that plot, it was altered, and Damon stuck around for the rest of the series.
17 Nina And Ian Weren't The Only Real-Life Couple Behind The Scenes, Candice And Zach Were Also A Thing IRL
It's well known how Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder were a real-life couple, broke up, but continued to play a couple on screen. But they were hardly the only on-set romance for TVD. Candice Accola and Zach Roerig dated just like their characters did.
Also, Paul Wesley was married to Torrey Devito before the series. After their divorce, Wesley dated Phoebe Tonkin for a bit.
16 Elena And Damon Were Never Supposed To Be A Couple, But Their Chemistry Was Too Hard To Ignore
The original idea for the series was for Elena and Stefan to be a serious couple. Yet the chemistry between Dobrev and Somerhalder was too much for the writers to ignore. However, the plan was never to have them be a couple as Somerhalder wanted Damon to remain a bad guy.
At the most, Julie Plec figured they could wait a few seasons for a Damon-Elena hookup. Instead, it was pushed to become a central part of the series.
15 Nina Wears Fake Hair When Playing Katherine (And Occasionally Elena Too)
One would think that Nina Dobrev doesn't have to do much to play Katherine. After all, the point is Elena and Katherine are doppelgangers. The reality is that Katherine's long and lush curls are different from Dobrev's naturally straight hair.
So for almost any scene as Katherine, Dobrev is actually wearing a wig that looks almost exactly like her real hair. She also donned a wig for some Elena scenes too, so Dobrev rarely showed her real hair on the show.
14 Candice King's Real-Life Pregnancy Had To Be Written Into The Show
A big turn on the show was when Caroline found herself the first vampire to become pregnant. It was a twist pushed by real life as Candice King had found herself expecting in 2015. As writing her off the show for a time wouldn't work, they needed to fit it in.
The crazy explanation was that Caroline was given the twins of Alaric's late wife to save them. Even for this show, that was a wild story.
13 Nina Dobrev Loves Strawberries, So They Became A Signature For Katherine
A recurring touch with Katherine is her love of strawberries. On the show's DVD audio commentaries, it was explained that Dobrev was snacking on them between takes, and the producers loved how she did it.
Dobrev admits to loving the fruit in real life, and that helped create one of Katherine's signature touches.
12 Paul Wesley Does Believe In The Supernatural
While "vampires" are in the title, the series used just about every other supernatural thing you can think of. Werewolves, ghosts, demons, and more would show up over its run. It turns out that Paul Wesley was more open to the supernatural than his cast members.
Wesley even claims to have once seen a ghost as a child when his family rented a home in Rhode Island. Little wonder he could accept all this weird stuff.
11 That One Time Half The Female Cast Got Arrested For Public Disturbance While Doing A Photoshoot
This is a rare case of a show not minding its stars getting in trouble with the law. In 2009, Nina Dobrev, Kayla Ewell, Krystal Vayda, Sara Canning, and Candice Accola were doing an outdoor photoshoot to promote the show's premiere.
Complaints from drivers over the group led them to be arrested for public disturbance. The gals literally smiled through their mug shots as it didn't affect the series too much.
10 Steven R. McQueen Is Older Than His Big Sister On The Show
The early plots of the show revolved around Elena helping raise her younger brother Jeremy. Jeremy went through a lot (including coming back from the dead) to mature over the course of the series. In reality, he was more mature than his "sister."
In real life, McQueen is six months older than Nina Dobrev, while Jeremy is supposed to be a few years younger than Elena.
9 Elena Was Almost Played By Nina Dobrev's Real-Life Doppelganger
Before Nina Dobrev, the producers looked at various actresses, many blonde like Elena in the books. Ashley Tisdale was offered the role but turned it down. A major candidate was Alexandra Chando who bears a striking resemblance to Dobrev.
In fact, when Dobrev left the show, some fans pushed for Chando to take over as Elena. Chando would appear on the show's final season as a different character.
8 Dobrev And Paul Wesley Didn't Get Along Well At The Beginning
A key of the show is the love triangle of Elena, Damon and Stefan. Elena and Stefan were close at first, which is ironic given how Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley admit they didn't get along well at the start. The two laughed at folks imagining them together when they "despised" one another.
Obviously, they got over that to work well together, but Dobrev notes the irony of how she dated Ian Somerhalder in real life while not liking the "good" Salvatore brother.
7 Dobrev Made Sure Katherine Stayed Around Longer To Give Fans What They Wanted
Initially, Katherine Pierce was only going to have a couple of episodes and then be killed off. However, the audience fell in love with Nina Dobrev's performance of this deadly vampire.
So despite various attempts, Katherine kept coming back (at one point taking over Elena's body) and becoming a far more critical character than planned.
6 The Salvatore Brothers Are Also Directors For The Show
It's become commonplace for actors on CW shows to also try their hand at directing. On TVD, both Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder have stepped behind the camera. Somerhalder directed three episodes as well as being a producer for the final season.
Wesley directed five episodes and also for the spin-off Legacies. Besides handsome actors, the pair are capable directors.
5 Half The Male Cast Auditioned For Damon
It's hard to imagine anyone but Ian Somerhalder as the smoldering Damon. As it happened, several male stars auditioned for the role. Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig, and even Paul Wesley all tried out for the part.
Also in the running were David Gallagher and future Arrow star Stephen Amell. It's fascinating how Somerhalder co-starred with three guys who nearly got his part.
4 Nina's Professional Gymnastics Career Helped Her With Her Stunt Work
One episode has Elena doing a handstand and perfect split while at a college party. As it happened, this wasn't a double but Nina Dobrev herself. She represented Canada in the Junior and Senior World Championships as a gymnast.
She was good at it but decided to go into acting instead. It's little wonder the show had Dobrev using her old skills for stunts.
3 Nina Dobrev Nearly Wasn't Cast Because She Was Brunette
Nina Dobrev liked to joke about nearly bombing her first audition. But that wasn't her only challenge to winning the role. In the books, Elena is blonde and the producers were looking at various actresses with that color hair.
They loved Dobrev and realized dying her hair wouldn't look right. At first, book fans weren't happy about a brunette Elena, but Dobrev's excellent performance won them over to prove you don't have to be beholden to the books.
2 It Took About 3 Hours Per Episode To Create The Vampire Faces
TVD didn't have a flashy budget for special effects, and fans assume the "vamp faces" were just makeup. The reality is that the actors had to put up with some CGI to make the black eyes and veins popping out look real.
Each actor had dots placed on their faces to go along with the fangs and contact lenses. This "mapped" their features for the effects team. In all, it took at least three hours per episode to bring every vampire to life.
1 The Actors Were Very Happy When Showrunners Cut The Scenes Where They Had To Be Suspended By Wires
Pilot episodes often have stuff that's never used in the regular series. TVD was like that as the pilot had Stefan turning into a bird. For a fight scene, Damon and Stefan were literally flying about punching each other, which required a lot of wirework.
When the show was picked up, that was dropped to make the series more grounded. The actors were happy to abandon that part of filming.