The Vampire Diaries fans who were hoping for a reunion between stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder will not be seeing one happen anytime soon. It was recently revealed that Dobrev has found a new beau. The actress is currently dating Dominic West, the drummer for the band Muse. The two first started showing up at events together back in April, but were recently photographed at the Grand Prix in Monaco. The Vampire Diaries will not be back until this Fall, but we have prepared some reading material to tide you over, at least for a little awhile. Here are ten facts about your favorite vampire drama.
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1. Stefan and Damon were not originally going to have the last name Salvatore. The first script drafted for The Vampire Diaries listed them as Stefan and Damon Whitmore. The name had to do with an uncle named Zach Whitmore that was not approved for the final draft of the script. Executive Producers Julie Pelc and Kevin Williamson decided to use the surname that was in the book series. At first, they though Salvatore sounded too Italian and wanted it Americanized for the TV show. The name Whitmore was used for the name of the college that Elena attends.
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2. In the book series, the town is named Fell’s Church. The name was changed to Mystic Falls for the television series. Executive Producer Julie Pelc felt the original name was too based on religion and spirituality. They wanted the concept of the show to be more than just about heaven vs. hell. There is no story behind why the name Mystic Falls was selected for the name of the town. Mystic Falls is located in southwestern Virginia and was founded in 1859. The current population is 6,923 citizens. The Mystic Falls Daily is the local newspaper.
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3. A majority of The Vampire Diaries cast is fluent in other languages. Nina Dobrev is Bulgarian and can speak the language perfectly. She was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and moved to Canada when she was two. Paul Wesley’s speaks Polish. Both of his parents are from Poland and a majority of his family still lives there. While growing up, he would spend four months out of the year living in Poland. Kat Graham was exposed to many different cultures at an early age because her grandpa was a United Nations Ambassador. As a result, she speaks Spanish, French, and Hebrew.
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4. Stephen Amell auditioned for two different characters on The Vampire Diaries. He tried out for the roles of Elijah and Mason. Amell did guest star on two episodes of the series during the second season. He played Brady, who was Jules’ easily angered werewolf boyfriend. Amell is no stranger to the CW network. He also appeared on two episodes of 90210 in 2011 and now currently stars as Oliver Queen on the drama Arrow. Ashlee Simpson auditioned for the role of Elena but was selected to star as Violet on the short lived CW drama Melrose Place that also debuted in 2009.
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5 .Before The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder auditioned for another vampire themed show. The show was the very adult True Blood that debuted in 2008 and will be airing its final season this Summer. Somerhalder auditioned for the role of dim-wit Jason Stackhouse. The role would be given to Ryan Kwanten. Somerhalder is from New Orleans, where True Blood is filmed, and thought that the character would be perfect for him to play. He ended up giving a horrible audition. He was unable to watch the show for the first few seasons because he was so upset over how poorly the audition went.
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6. There are a lot of off-screen romances on the set of The Vampire Diaries. Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder dated for three years before calling it quits in May of 2013. Zach Roeig who plays Matt and Candice Accola who plays Caroline dated in 2011. Accola is now engaged to Joe King, guitarist for The Fray. Paul Wesley married Torrey DeVitto who portrays Dr. Meredith Fell in April 2011. The couple divorced in December of 2013. Wesley is supposedly now dating Phoebe Tonkin who stars as Hayley on The Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals.
7. The Red Cross teamed up with The Vampire Diaries for a campaign to get teenagers to donate blood. The slogan urged students to “Starve a Vampire. Donate Blood” and was used on posters featuring cast members of the show and information about giving blood. The blood drive ran for five weeks and took place at over 230 different high schools and colleges. It was expected that 3,500 people donated during the campaign. Each person that donated blood was awarded a Vampire Diaries T-shirt and “fang floss” and “sunscream” to ward off vampires. While giving blood, students could view special footage from the TV show.
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8. The show was named the Top Television Series in 2012 and 2013 by the ASCAO Film and Television Music Awards. In 2013, Joseph Morgan who plays Klaus, won the TV Guide Award for Favorite Villain. The show also cleaned up at the Teen Choice Awards in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Nina Dobrev won for Choice TV Actress, while Ian Somerhalder was awarded the surfboard trophy for Choice TV Actor. Co-star Paul Wesley was also nominated in that category. The show took the top prize for Choice TV Show in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi category those years.
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9. The pilot episode of The Vampire Diaries was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. Once the show was picked up as a series, production was relocated to Georgia. The state of Georgia has tax credit incentives that made it less costly to film there. A majority of the filming for the drama takes place in the city of Covington. The population is 13,347, which is double the size the fictional town Mystic Falls populates. Many of the residents of Covington dislike the noise from the set because many scenes will be filmed very earlier in the morning or later in the evening.
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10. Nina Dobrev who stars as Elena Gilbert was born January 9, 1989. Steven R. McQueen plays her younger bother Jeremy and was born July 13, 1988. On the show, Elena is two years older than Jeremy, whereas in real life Nina is six months younger than Steven. When the show premiered both actors were in their 20’s when the characters they were playing were still in high school. This is also true for Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer from the comedy Friends. On the show, Ross is one year older than Monica. In real life, Courteney is two years older than David.
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