Nina Dobrev Says She and Paul Wesley ‘Despised Each Other’ on ‘Vampire Diaries’
Fans may have loved Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) together on The Vampire Diaries, but it wasn’t all love from the pair at the beginning of the series.
The actress recently recently spoke about their off-screen relationship on former costars’ Candice King and Kayla Ewell’s podcast Directionally Challenged. While the women talked about many subjects, The Vampire Diaries was a topic visited many times throughout, but towards the end of the hour-plus discussion, Dobrev got candid about something fans may not have known before.
King and Ewell asked Dobrev if there was something that she looks back on now and didn’t appreciate it at the time but does now. That’s when the Dobrev said yes before launching into her explanation.
“Paul and I didn’t get along at the beginning of the show,” she said. “I respected Paul Wesley. I didn’t like Paul Wesley. And 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 we had such good chemistry from the show…”
(Credit: Nina Dobrev/Instagram)
When the podcasters pointed out that Dobrev and Wesley did in fact have good onscreen chemistry, she interjected.
“Yeah, but 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, but… we really just didn’t get along for the first five months of shooting.”
Fear not though, the pair eventually became super-close friends as Dobrev explained, “I remember Paul Wesley in the pilot walking up to me… I can’t remember if it was on set or if it was when we were all out one night… We had a moment where we connected… and he looked at me and was like, ‘Ten years from now, when we’re not on the show, you’re going to really miss me. You’re going to miss these times… We’ll appreciate each other in ten years.’ And he’s so f**king right,” she admitted. “He’s so right.”
So while it may have been a rocky beginning for this duo, they’re probably closer than they’ve ever been.
“We ended up getting to a good place and it was fine. But of everyone [in the cast], I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most,” Dobrev revealed. “We are probably the closest. We hang out a lot. And we’re really good friends and I love his wife… It’s so funny how much it changed, because I never thought he would be one of my best friends.”
(Credit: Nina Dobrev/Instagram)
Before moving on from the subject, the actress reiterated the possible reason for their initial dislike of one another, “He’s not a bad guy,” she said. “I think it was, when you work with anyone or spend a lot of time with anyone, it’s the little things that are going to annoy you about them. It’s like a relationship.”
No matter the case, the former costars have more than made up and have frequently seen each other since The CW hit wrapped, as is evident in their social media posts.
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