Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert might’ve had an epic love story on The Vampire Diaries, but according to star Nina Dobrev, she and Paul Wesley didn’t always get along on the set.
On the latest episode of the Directionally Challenged podcast, hosted by former Vampire Diaries stars Candice King and Kayla Ewell, Dobrev opened up about her time on the series and what it was like working with Wesley when the pair didn’t see eye-to-eye in season 1. “Paul and I didn’t get along at the beginning of the show,” Dobrev says. “I respected Paul Wesley; I didn’t like Paul Wesley. I remember everyone would walk up to me after the show aired and they’d be like, ‘Are you and Paul dating in real life?’ because everyone thought that we had such good chemistry. I realize now that there’s a fine line between love and hate and we despised each other so much that it read as love. We really just didn’t get along the first maybe five months of shooting.”
And there was one interaction in particular that Dobrev hasn’t forgotten over the years: “I remember Paul Wesley in the pilot walking up to me, and I can’t remember if it was on set or if was when we were all out one night … and he looked at me and he was like, ‘Ten years from now when we’re not on this show, you’re going to really miss me. Like you’re going to miss these times and you’re gonna look back and this is gonna be the good ol’ days and we’ll appreciate each other in 10 years.’”
The verdict? “He was so f—ing right,” Dobrev says. “We ended up getting to a good place and it was fine, but of everyone, I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most [now]. We’re probably the closest, like, we hang out a lot and we’re really good friends and I love his wife. It’s so funny how much has changed because I never thought that he would be one of my best friends.”
Speaking to why they butted heads in the first place, Dobrev admits, “When you work with anyone or are spending a lot of time with anyone, little things are going to annoy you about them. It’s like a relationship; we were basically married. We were together every day, we were kissing and doing all this stuff but we didn’t have sex, so yeah, just like a marriage,” she adds with a laugh.
As fans know, The Vampire Diaries went on far past that first season, ultimately airing eight seasons on The CW. Dobrev left at the end of season 6 when her contract expired, though she returned — and Stefan and Elena shared one final scene — in the series finale.
You can listen to the full episode of Directionally Challenged here.
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Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, and Paul Wesley star in the CW’s romance-infused vampire soap opera.
