Why Paul Wesley Gives a "Hard Pass" to a Vampire Diaries Reboot

2024/04/09

Would Paul Wesley star in a potential reboot of The Vampire Diaries? According to him, fangs but no fangs.

The actor, who rose to fame playing the vampire Stefan Salvatore in the CW drama series alongside Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder, told InStyle magazine that that would be a "hard pass" for him.

"I would never do another vampire anything, period," Wesley said, "let alone Vampire Diaries."

The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009 and ended in 2017 after eight seasons. The series spurred the spinoff The Originals, which later had its own spinoff show, Legacies. No plans for a reboot of the franchise have been announced.

"I don't really miss anything about playing him, and I don't mean that in a [negative way]," Wesley, 40, said in his InStyle interview, posted July 6. "Eight years is a long time, and I'm so glad to put that to rest. Eight seasons."

He continued, "But I loved how dynamic he was. Because the show ran for such a long time, in order for it to not become monotonous, every season, he sort of had a different arc. At one point he was pure evil, and he started out as the good guy and then he ended as the good guy. But I liked the challenge of trying to keep the character fresh."

Wesley is currently starring on Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a spinoff of the franchise's prequel series Star Trek: Discovery.

He plays a young Captain James T. Kirk, a role made famous by William Shatner. But Wesley still draws most attention due to his role on The Vampire Diaries.

"When I get recognized, it's because of Stefan," Wesley told InStyle. "It's the biggest thing I've ever done, as far as popularity."

Despite leaving The Vampire Diaries in the dust, Wesley occasionally attends cast reunions at fan conventions and remains friends with Dobrev and Somerhalder, with whom he shares the bourbon brand Brother's Bond.

The latter actor, who played Stefan's brother Damon Salvatore on the show, offered his opinion on the idea of a reboot in 2021.

"What would happen? Damon has like, gray hair and they have canes, like, 'Oh, I gotta feed the baby.'" Somerhalder told Andy Cohen on Sirius XM's Radio Andy. "Listen, it ran a great course and now it's still living. That's what so amazing."