Why Did Kaylee Bryant Leave ‘Legacies’?
The Vampire Diaries aired its final season in 2017, but its legacy has continued through equally popular shows like The Originals and Legacies. Legacies ran for four seasons before its cancelation in 2022 and paid homage to shows in the TVD universe before it in many ways.
One of the tribute episodes was a TVD musical, and Kaylee Bryant played Elena Gilbert. Like her musical character’s TVD actor, Bryant pulled a Nina Dobrev and left the show early. So, why did Bryant leave Legacies?
Kaylee Bryant’s role in ‘Legacies’
Kaylee Bryant plays one half of Alaric’s Gemini twins, Josie, who studies at his and Caroline’s Salvatore School. She and her twin Lizzie are siphon witches, each sharing many similarities with their parents. Lizzie, like the human Caroline, is the perpetual mean girl who frequently has outbursts, while her twin Josie is more level-headed but is a people pleaser.
The Saltzman twins are very different, but these differences make them the perfect duo. They balance out one another and are some of the most powerful witches of their time. Josie and her sister are the only supernatural kids from the original show TVD, and potentially the reason Legacies was developed in the first place.
Although the series focuses more on Hope Mikaelson’s journey, the Saltzman twins and Candice King’s real-life pregnancy influenced the decision to have a spinoff following TVD‘s supernatural’ kids.
King fell pregnant during the filming of TVD, and instead of having her take a leave of absence from the series, showrunner Julie Plec decided to write her pregnancy into the show. Her character Caroline became Alaric and Josette’s surrogate after Josette’s evil twin Kai stabbed her on her wedding day while still pregnant.
Caroline carried the full pregnancy to term, thus giving birth to Alaric’s kids and raising them as her own. “Pregnancy in real life came before the storyline of the pregnancy. So would there have been the whole Gemini twins at all? No,” King said at a panel.
Kaylee Bryant left ‘Legacies’ to pursue other ventures
Kaylee Bryant joined the show in 2018 and remained a major part of the cast until her departure in the series’ fourth season. Although she was a powerful witch, Josie had been battling with her internal darkness.
After going through some harrowing experiences, Josie decides to put some distance between herself and her witch side. Ultimately, she decided the best way to truly live her life is to pack her bags and leave Mystic Falls, buying a one-way ticket out of town.
The episode marked Bryant’s exit from the show, with the actor taking to Instagram to make it official, thanking the show and fandom for the opportunity. “Josie has helped so many beautiful humans feel comfortable in their sexuality and I hope her legacy lives,” Bryant wrote in part.
According to Cinemablend, the star didn’t leave the show due to bad blood between her and her cast mates but because she’d landed a role in the Ryan Phillippe thriller The Locksmith. Bryant landed the role in 2021, prompting her exit from Legacies.
‘Legacies’ got axed that same season
Despite being a descendant of the wildly popular TVD, Legacies failed to match the original show’s popularity, with every episode witnessing dwindling ratings. Season 4’s ratings were even worse, and in May 2022, Deadline reported that the show would end.
Legacies was one of the three shows connected to Julie Plec that were announced to have received the boot. The same day Legacies got axed by The CW, news broke that NBC canceled The Blacklist-esque show The Endgame after only one season. It was also announced that Roswell, New Mexico, wouldn’t return, marking the end of its four-season run.
