Upon locking eyes with actress Nina Dobrev during her brief pitstop in New York City, two things were immediately apparent. The first? She’s just as gorgeous in person as she is onscreen in The Vampire Diaries. The second? She’s…blonde!

“I went ombré,” she explained with a laugh, twirling the ends of her hair. “I actually did it for a role. I’m filming a project called Final Girls, and it’s the first time that I’m playing this sassy best friend.”

So her slightly meaner-than-normal character required a little bit of bleach, huh? (Does this mean blondes are just having more fun at the expense of others?) “Riawna Capri does my color, and she’s awesome,” Nina said. “But honestly, this is more of an extreme change than I would have done normally. I got to play with it for fun, but I probably wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

Accompanying her new ombré, though, was another something new. (And we’re not exactly talking lipstick or eyeshadow here.) “Today, I’ve worn four different shades of color contacts,” Nina said with a smile through her (artificial) hazel-green eyes. “What’s funny is it doesn’t seem like a big change. But I tried out some colors and I didn’t feel like I was cheating myself. I felt like I was just enhancing what I had.” Continue Reading 

Just because we we’re itching to get The Vampire Diaries spoilers scoop from the show’s star Nina Dobrev at today’s CW Upfronts, doesn’t mean we overlooked her major hair change.

The actress debuted a new blond ombré hair color at the New York City event on Thursday, telling E! News’ Kristin Dos Santos the makeover was for an upcoming role in The Final Girls. This is a huge change for the 25-year-old, who up until now has always stayed loyal to her signature long brunette locks. And while everyone knows ombré is the gateway to going all the way Goldilocks, we probably won’t see the star become a blond bombshell. She dished that she will be dyeing it back as soon as she can. Watch over at E!Online