It’s a busy life, being the star of a hit new TV series and the centre of a steamy vampire love triangle, but Nina Dobrev seems to handle it all in stride. The dark-eyed brunette, who famously got her start on Degrassi: The Next Generation, has more in common with a normal girl her age than you’d think.
Dobrev recently acquired a U.S. driver’s licence (and a brand-new Audi that co-star Ian Somerhalder talked her into getting), celebrated her 21st birthday at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and talks to her mom every chance she gets.
Of course there are indications she’s one of Hollywood’s hottest commodities, such as having her late-night “cherry” popped by Jimmy Fallon on May 5, or her 121,000-plus fans who follow her on Twitter (her account was just verified after months of trying).
It’s been a whirlwind year for the Canadian, with long hours of night shooting, moving first to Los Angeles and then Atlanta, where The Vampire Diaries films, and the multiple press junkets, interviews, magazine covers and photo shoots that go along with the job.
With less than a week away from the show’s anticipated finale and a hectic travelling schedule, Dobrev still managed to find the time to chat with TV Guide Canada last Friday about her past year on the hit show as she made her way to a New York airport.
TVGuide.ca: This must have been the craziest year for you.
Nina Dobrev: Yeah! It’s been pretty crazy, literally an entire year since we first started the pilot. This time last year I was at my first CW upfronts and here we are in Season 2, starting in a couple of months. It’s just been doing so well; it’s so nice and refreshing. It’s what everyone always hopes for – they want their show to be successful and for people to enjoy it.
TVG: As a younger star, how do you stay grounded? Because we always hear these stories of young people reaching stardom and going a bit crazy.
ND: I don’t know, it’s not really something that I necessarily thought about — I didn’t sit down and make a checklist on how to stay grounded. It’s just not taking myself too seriously and I guess my upbringing has to do with it. I have a really cool mom who I talk to all the time and I hang out with and she flies down to see me in Atlanta. And I think that’s a lot of it too, the fact that we shoot in Georgia instead of a big city like L.A. or New York. We’re kind of away from all the media and the press and the temptation.
TVG: And maybe when you’re hanging out on a bridge and it makes the news, it doesn’t necessarily become an international story.
ND: (Laughs.) Yeah — that kind of stuff … it really made me realize being in the spotlight on a show that has this much publicity and how many people watch it, how much the media sensationalises and how many stories are made up out of nowhere. Like that story! People can write anything they want and put it on the Internet. It makes me laugh what people can make up.
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TVG: Obviously you’ve read The Vampire Diaries books, but what’s your take on the changes that happened from book to small screen — things like Elena’s hair colour or her overall attitude towards people even?
ND: Purely on a physical level, no — I’m not blond, I’m not blue-eyed. That’s just a superficial difference that can go either way. I understand the readers that get upset that I’m not blond because everyone kind of reads and creates their own characters in their own mind and they have their own way of viewing them. But if we had to please every single person it would be impossible.
Elena in the books is kind of that high school girl who gets what she wants and is all about the boys, money and popularity. With us, we wanted to ground it in reality and make her more of a real person who was relatable and lovable and you could root for, not that you would envy or hate. It’s kind of a conscious decision that we made. |
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TVG: Executive producer Julie Plec mentioned that the Meredith character from the book will surface at some point in the future — do you know anything about that?
ND: I have no idea what’s happening with that character. She hasn’t shown up right now, but people keep coming in and out, so we’ll have to see what the writers decide to do in the future.
TVG: Over the course of the season, Elena went from this innocent kind of girl to someone dealing with all of this stuff: she knows about the vampires, the mother she never knew she had pretty much shunned her, her brother hates her and now her best friend has betrayed her. How is all that going to affect the character moving forward?
ND: Yeah, life for Elena isn’t all sunshine and flowers, but then again it isn’t really for anybody. She’s a very complex, multi-dimensional character and she has problems — more so than normal people because yes, she is dating a vampire, her mother is a vampire, her boyfriend’s brother is a vampire and her best friend’s a witch. That complicates things.
But, she’s very strong, and courageous, and she takes on every challenge to the best of her ability, so no matter what happens in the future and what gets thrown at her (which is a guarantee that something will happen and things will continue to be difficult), she will gracefully try to deal with it as much as she can.
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TVG: It’s almost surprising how invested fans have become with the Elena/Damon/Stefan love triangle, and people almost mistaking you the actress for you the character. Do you have any crazy fan stories pertaining to that?
ND: It was actually funny — I tweet, and there’s a fan who asked me, ‘Hey, does Elena have a crush on Damon?’ and I thought it was cute so I responded, ‘I’ll ask her and let you know.’ |
Some people can’t kind of separate that I am Nina and I play Elena and Katherine. But I think it’s cute and I understand it because I’m in their living room once a week at least on Thursday nights and they feel like they know you and you are this person. If anything I take it as a compliment because it means that I’m convincing and I’m doing my job.
TVG: Getting to kiss two cute guys probably never hurts either.
ND: (Laughs.) It’s my job!
TVG: I noticed you’re really big on Twitter — is that important for you, to add an extra element for fans?
ND: I think so, yeah. It’s important to stay connected to the fans because it’s an experience. They’re investing their time and energy — it’s like going to theatre where you’re watching and breathing and crying when the characters are dying … there’s a lot going on. And if it wasn’t for the fans we wouldn’t have jobs, and we wouldn’t be making the show.
TVG: Every since Kayla’s character was killed off the show, executive producer Kevin Williamson has said as a fact, no one is safe. What’s that like for you guys, getting a script and not knowing what the next page is going to contain?
ND: That’s actually really funny, he’s right — no one is safe. It’s not The Elena Diaries or The Stefan Diaries or The Damon Diaries. It’s The Vampire Diaries, so anyone at any given time is vulnerable to not being there anymore. And so there’s always a little bit of tension as you get the script and flip that first page and see who’s in it … there’s a little bit of anxiety. We talk about it all the time, we’re always on point. Everyone’s always like, ‘OK … we gotta be really, really, really, really good. We don’t want to die.’
TVG: So what can you tell us about tonight’s big finale, without giving away any spoilers?
ND: Um … um, um, um, um, um … yes, OK. I know that between (one thing) and a few other things, and couple of other things that happen in the episode, the fans will be angry and sad and shocked. Which is exactly what we want and need them to feel. It’s the finale and there’s a lot at stake. It’s going to be a Founder’s Day bloodbath.
The Vampire Diaries finales Thursday, May 13, 7 p.m. ET, CTV and 8 p.m. ET, The CW.
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