For six seasons, Elena Gilbert has been the beating heart of The Vampire Diaries. From her epic love story with Stefan Salvatore to her death—and subsequent epic love story with Damon Salvatore—she’s been at the center of it all. And actress Nina Dobrev has been even more central to the show, taking on multiple roles thanks to Elena’s doppelganger history. There was Katherine Pierce, there was Amara, and on The Originals, there was even Tatia.
But now, all that has come to an end as Dobrev prepares to leave TVD to explore new adventures. And although the show will continue on without her—as we all know, you don’t need a beating heart to live on in Mystic Falls—she will surely be missed … and not just by the Salvatores.
EW spoke with Dobrev and TVD executive producer Julie Plec about the journey that took Elena Gilbert from innocent human to badass vampire, and then back to a (less innocent) human.
CASTING ELENA
Plec: There were two [audition] scenes. It was meeting Stefan in the cemetery and then dragging Jeremy into the bathroom and telling him, “Don’t be this person” when she catches him with eye drops. The funniest story about the first impression of Nina is that she didn’t make an impression. None of us remembered seeing her for the first time. And then she, through her agents and the casting directors, said, “Hey, listen—I was sick that day, I didn’t do my best work, I really really want this part.” [She] put herself on tape, which then got sent to us and it was so magical and so perfect that she basically had the job from that minute forward.
Dobrev: This was my first pilot season ever, actually. I had just finished Degrassi, and I decided to move to LA and give it a shot. I went in and ultimately got a film that shot in Canada, so I got shipped back to Canada. I did an audition tape because I didn’t feel good about my first audition, and then thank God I did. As a Canadian, living north of the border, that’s the only way you do get a job in the States. I’d say I booked 80 percent of the jobs I’ve ever gotten from tapes. You’ll do the tape, you’ll do an audition, they’ll send it. Sometimes they’ll fly you out to do a chemistry read or fly you out to meet you after that point, but for the most part, everything’s audition tapes. Continue Reading at Entertainment Weekly
