Talk about teen angst! It’s hard enough to be dating a fangster like The Vampire Diaries’ Elena Gilbert does. But to stand by her undead man after catching him chowing down on another girl, now that marks a woman who doesn’t give up until she gets what she wants.
Minus the blood and biting, Nina Dobrev, who plays Elena, shares that same drive. It’s how she got the role. “Nina was one of the first girls to come in,” recalls executive producer Julie Plec. “She was sick, and we didn’t really look at her twice. So she went home to Toronto, put herself on tape and sent it in. It was so perfect our jaws fell on the floor.” Says Dobrev, “I loved the role so much that I had to keep fighting for it until I won it.”
The 21-year-old Bulgarian-born, Canadian-raised actress is no newcomer at reaching for the gold ring. As a former gymnast, she competed around the world. When she switched to acting at age 16, she landed the first three roles she auditioned for, including teen mom Mia Jones on the popular teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. After three seasons on the show, she hit the Hollywood pilot circuit and soon won the role of Elena on The Vampire Diaries.
Dobrev felt an immediate connection to the character. “She’s not a one-dimensional high-school girl who’s just about boys, popularity and clothes,” she says. “Elena’s strong and courageous and looks out for her loved ones.”
It’s not much of a stretch for the actress. “Nina is the happiest one on the set,” says Plec. “She’s the one who will throw her arms around you, take a picture, put it in a frame and send it to you as a gift. She’s that sweet, nice girl who encourages people to hang out and have fun.”
Indeed, the cast celebrated the season’s wrap by watching the show together, then heading out for dinner. “We are such a family,” says Dobrev. “Paul [Wesley], Ian [Somerhalder] and me are going on a promotional tour to Australia, Monte Carlo and London. I always feel so protected and taken care of by them. We’re like a three-way married couple!” She’s also hoping to chill out on a beach vacation with some of the girls on the show, including BFF Katerina Graham (Bonnie) and roomie Sara Canning (Aunt Jenna).
The day after shooting the season finale, Dobrev carefully hints that blood will stain the long-awaited Mystic Falls Founder’s Day Celebration. “The finale will exceed all expectations,” she says. “There’ll be a lot of vampires in town. There will be a battle. There will be fatalities.” Caught in the middle are Elena, her boyfriend Stefan (Wesley) and his brother, her new dangerous ally Damon (Somerhalder.) “The finale might make a lot of people angry,” Dobrev predicts. “You’ll be shocked and exhilarated.”
And things won’t get any easier next season. “The events that happen in the finale are going to affect Elena in many ways,” reveals Dobrev. “She’s starting to understand the reason for everything Damon does, and that troubles Stefan. Her relationship with Stefan is going to get a lot more complicated.”
The star-crossed lovers’ torments are just fine with Dobrev, who admits to being “a sucker” for weepy romantic sagas. “I do have hope that true love exists somewhere out there,” says the single actress. But right now, she’s focused on her career. “I want to get into producing and writing, and I want to get into films,” she says. Plec has no doubt Dobrev will succeed. “Nina’s very, very smart about what she wants from her career. We’re all going to work for her one day.”
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