‘The Vampire Diaries’: Why Paul Wesley ‘Was so, so Obsessed With’ Stefan
The Vampire Diaries made Paul Wesley the obsession of Stefan stans for eight seasons. Turns out, Wesley counted himself among them. Landing the lead role on the series fulfilled that obsession.
Wesley was on a Television Critics Association panel for The Vampire Diaries in 2009. He explained his obsession with his character.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ was unlike any role Paul Wesley played before
Wesley already had 10 years of credits under his belt, but most were straightforward teen roles. A vampire was a bold new opportunity for him.
“That was what was so appealing about this role,” Wesley said. “There were so many pilots. I was reading so many pilot scripts. A vampire who is born in the 1860s and then has to mask himself as a high schooler, there was nothing like that. I was so, so obsessed with this character. I love this character so much.”
The reason Paul Wesley was obsessed with Stefan in ‘The Vampire Diaries’
Wesley elaborated on his obsession with Stefan. Part of it came down to his co-stars, like Nina Dobrev and Kat Graham, who played human teenagers on The Vampire Diaries.
“It’s so challenging for me to do this because Nina and Kat and all the people on the show, we’re all sort of the same age-ish,” Wesley said. “And we all are friends, and it’s hard for me to, when I’m on set, I have to really get into this place where I’m like, ‘Wait. I’m, like, their grandfather.’ You know what I mean? But I’m pretending. It’s really challenging, but fun, and, I think, comes really kind of innately. I really enjoy this, I don’t know why. It comes to me.”
A second chance for Stefan
Playing a 150-year-old vampire had its challenges for a then 27-year-old Wesley. The century and a half of wisdom didn’t change much for Stefan in high school. Wesley likened Stefan falling for Elena (Dobrev) with a teen romance.
“And it’s a rebirth,” Wesley said. “This is a rebirth. He’s been alone, isolated. And this girl that he falls in love with, all of a sudden, it’s like he can have that teenage experience and that young-adult experience, that college experience or whatever, the high school experience, the first love that he has been lacking for hundreds of years. So it’s not like he’s putting on a facade and he’s a conman. It’s not like some pervy thing. He’s genuinely experiencing all this with the naivete of an 18-year-old kid.”
Vampire Diaries co-creator Kevin Williamson, who adapted the L.J. Smith books with Julie Plec, confirmed that Stefan is still a teenager in many ways.
“What we love about this character is he may be 150 years old, but he’s a teenager, and he still can’t get it right,” Williamson said. ”He’s been doing it for a while.”
