‘The Vampire Diaries’: Nina Dobrev Knew She Was Leaving 2 Years Before Her Exit
The Vampire Diaries fans were devastated when they learned that Nina Dobrev was leaving the show after season 6. The actor played the main character, Elena Gilbert, in the series ever since the pilot episode. So Dobrev’s departure was shocking, to say the least. However, the actor knew she would leave The Vampire Diaries years before her announcement.
Nina Dobrev announced her exit from ‘The Vampire Diaries’ in an Instagram post
A month before The Vampire Diaries Season 6 finale, Nina Dobrev shared that she was leaving the show on Instagram. She posted a photo of herself with co-creator Julie Plec. And she wrote a lengthy caption that detailed her gratitude to the CW series.
“I’ve just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries,” Dobrev said. “I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn’t just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party. I always knew I wanted Elena’s story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years, I got the journey of a lifetime.”
The actor added, “I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there’s still so much more to come … Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I’ll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever.”
Nina Dobrev concluded, “There’s more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you’ll get to hear all about my experiences … as we approach the season finale … but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert’s life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her — and to my work family — as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you.”
The actor revealed how long she knew she was leaving the series
Before her final episode as a series regular on The Vampire Diaries aired, Nina Dobrev spoke with The Hollywood Reporter. And she revealed what it was like when the world finally knew of her departure.
“I’ve known [I was leaving] for such a long time — for a couple of years — so it’s been a big secret I’ve been having to keep for a while,” Dobrev shared. “But once people finally knew, people were really upset and outspoken. But ultimately, supportive, which I was very appreciative of.”
She continued, “It was strange, one of the days after it was announced, I had people come up to me in the street, crying, like, ‘What are you doing?’ and angry. And then I told them, and they were like, ‘You go, girl. Do your thing. We support you. We can’t wait to see what you’re doing next.’ It’s 50-50 [support].”
Nina Dobrev wrote in her Instagram post that she believed that Elena’s story should be over after six seasons. And the actor knew while filming season 4 that the sixth season would be her last.
Nina Dobrev describes her last day on the set of ‘The Vampire Diaries’
During her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nina Dobrev shared a story from her final day filming The Vampire Diaries.
“My last scene was with Ian Somerhalder,” she recalled. “And we were shooting a scene I can’t talk about outside that was very beautiful. I’m in a gown, we’re outside somewhere, and the last shot, a camera operator came up and said there was something in my hair, was trying to help me, and then he pulled me into a bear hug so I couldn’t escape, while the entire crew got a cake and whipped cream and dumped it all over my body.”
Dobrev added, “And they filmed it. And put confetti and a whole bunch of stuff [on me]. It was amazing. I couldn’t have been happier for that to be my sendoff. I knew something was coming, I could feel it in my bones. I’m a prankster, I would cake people on set all the time, but no one ever got me. And they got me good this time. If they hadn’t done something like that on my last scene, I would have been really disappointed.”
The Vampire Diaries is available to stream on Netflix.
