‘The Vampire Diaries’: Paul Wesley Had to Shave His Chest For the Show

Starring in The Vampire Diaries took a lot of work, not just because of the demanding shooting schedule. The premise required many of the leads to be teenagers, but most of the actors were older than their characters. To hew to that classic CW teen drama vibe, the cast and makeup artists aimed for youthfulness. Paul Wesley, in particular, had to change a prominent aspect of his look to sell his teenage character. And though he wasn’t alone in such challenges, Wesley is likely happy he no longer needs to shave his chest for the job.

Paul Wesley did more than shave his chest to look younger in ‘The Vampire Diaries’

When The Vampire Diaries aired on cable TV, The CW was awash in teen content. Aside from Supernatural, the network’s slate heavily leaned toward youthful leads. But even within that context, doing a vampire show added an extra challenge.

Longer-running teen dramas have the inevitable march of time on their side. Four seasons in, your high school freshman characters are already moving on to college. But vampires, including those turned at 17 like Wesley’s Stefan Salvatore, aren’t supposed to age.

Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer handled the dilemma by generally having vampire characters that were turned when they were a bit older. The Vampire Diaries didn’t leave room for that, thanks to the book series from which the show draws. So how did Wesley make himself look younger?

“A lot of tanning. A lot of shaving of my chest. Well, I was playing a 17-year-old, so I kind of didn’t have a choice in the matter,” the actor, then in his 30s, told People.

How did Paul Wesley feel about shaving his chest for ‘The Vampire Diaries’?

A San Diego Comic-Con interview gives a good idea of how Paul Wesley felt about shaving his chest: not great. During the quick chat, the good-natured actor seems downright relieved to be between seasons. He happily shows off his sparse, returning chest hair in the hilarious clip, posted on YouTube.

“What do you think of my chest hair, by the way?” the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor says while proudly unbuttoning his shirt. “I have to shave it for the show.”

The clip cuts to Wesley looking wistfully into the camera, noting that “all the men in my family have hairy chests. I’d like to keep that.”

Then co-star Ian Somerhalder shows off his chest, pointing out his nearly invisible hair regrowth.

How the show’s other actors maintained their eternal youth on screen

Nearly every principal cast member on The Vampire Diaries was older than their on-screen character, Insider reports. Some of the age gaps were manageable initially, such as a 20-year-old Nina Dobrev playing a 17-year-old Elena Gilbert. But many were in positions like Paul Wesley (who still has a youthful look) and had to play teenagers while joining the series at 27 years old.

Even Ian Somerhalder, who needed to look 25 to play Damon Salvatore, had to shave his chest constantly and wear youthful hairstyles. However, he was largely spared from the intensive facial and body hair removal that other cast members endured. A recurring feature of The Vampire Diaries red carpets was a cavalcade of 5 o’clock shadows never seen on the actors in the show.