“That person doesn’t exist”: The Vampire Diaries Novel Almost Made It an Impossibility to Cast 1 Character, That Surprisingly Wasn’t Damon Salvatore

SUMMARY

• The character of Stefan Salvatore was the hardest to cast in The Vampire Diaries due to the complexity of the character.
• Paul Wesley was initially passed over for the role of Stefan multiple times since the production team not seeing him as a heartthrob.
• However, Paul Wesley eventually bagged the role after a chemistry read with Nina Dobrev, who was cast as Elena Gilbert.

The Vampire Diaries is based on a book series of the same name by L. J. Smith. When it comes to cross-media adaptations, it is not easy to find the perfect actor to play fictional roles with which fans are already familiar. The process becomes even more arduous when it comes to casting ‘Vampires,’ creatures who are supposed to be perfect in every way.

The Vampire Diaries | Credit: The CW

And this was the challenge that the production faced while developing The Vampire Diaries. While most people would normally think that Damon would have been harder to cast given his suave and charismatic demeanor, it wasn’t the case. Rather there was another character whose casting even had the production push back the schedule since they couldn’t find any actor perfect enough for the role.

The Vampire Diaries character that was near-impossible to cast

Paul Wesley on The Vampire Dairies | Credits: The CW

The Vampire Diaries was not an easy one to cast since the show deals with ever-lasting and immortal vampires, they had to make sure that not only did an actor fit the role but was also not as old. However, while the production managed to find their perfect Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvator fairly quickly, the other vampire brother was the toughest to cast.

The production even had to push back the shoot a bit since they were unable to find the perfect actor for Stefan Salvator. In an oral history of the show, via Entertainment Weekly, co-creator Julie Plec remarked,

Stefan was the hardest to find. It’s the kind of role that you can’t just cast the smoldering pretty boy because there’s such depth and layers of loss and loneliness living in that character. So you really need a true actor. But you also can’t just hang your hat on a great theater-trained actor who doesn’t also make people’s hearts go pitter patter.

Meanwhile, co-creator Kevin Williamson remarked that the book destroyed them since that person doesn’t exist as per the description. Hence, they had to find an actor who could not only show Stefan’s blood lust and struggles but also show the little bit of humanity left in him. Shockingly, what is funny about this whole ordeal is that the production passed on Paul Wesley several times before casting him mere days before the shoot.

Paul Wesley was almost never cast for Stefan Salvator

Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev in The Vampire Dairies | Credits: The CW

As per the oral history of the show, Paul Wesley was one of the first to audition for The Vampire Diaries. However, initially, they had him audition for Damon due to his age. But when they cast Ian Somerhalder (which is another interesting casting story), who was older than Wesley, he was called back for Stefan thanks to one casting director Lesli Gelles-Raymond.

Julie Plec revealed, that she and Kevin Williamson just never saw Wesley as a heartthrob even though he could act the part, which was the biggest challenge for them. Even though others were adamant about him, they just never saw him as a worthy male lead. But it all changed when Nina Dobrev was cast, and director Marcos Siega had her and a couple of other guys come to his house for a chemistry read.

During the chemistry read while every other guy was busy flirting with Dobrev between reads, Paul Wesley was the only one who didn’t even look at her since he wanted her to meet him during their first read. Williamson, after seeing their chemistry read, revealed that it wasn’t until he read with Nina did they saw him as their Stefan Salvator. So while Wesley’s plan did work, he almost did not get the job due to the creators’ lack of vision.

After the casting was done and the shoot started, Plec recalled having the Arrowverse creator Greg Berlanti state— I firmly believe that every actor has the role that they are meant to play that opens the lock to the power of their career and this is that role for Paul Wesley. Well, even Plec admitted that once Paul Wesley became Stefan, he did make their hearts go pitter patter, just as they wanted.

The Vampire Diaries is available to be streamed on Max.

Written by Maria Sultan

Articles Published: 1978