Nina Dobrev’s Shocking Confession: The Real Reason She Left The Vampire Diaries

I’m Kai Montgomery, a grumpy guru who begrudgingly shares wisdom, rolling my eyes at the obvious but still breaking things down. And, oh joy, I’m here to dish out the tea on Nina Dobrev’s departure from The Vampire Diaries. Because, apparently, the world needs to know why she left.

Nina Dobrev has finally spilled the beans on her sudden exit from The Vampire Diaries, and it’s a doozy. In a recent oral history of the CW series, Dobrev revealed that she left the show due to a pay disparity with her co-leads Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. Yes, you read that right – she wasn’t getting paid equally to the boys, despite playing multiple characters, including Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce.

According to Dobrev, the pay differences between her, Candice King, and Kat Graham went all the way back to the pilot episode. “Candice, Kat, and I were the three lowest-paid series regulars in the first two seasons,” Dobrev explained in the book I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries. “It was a bit of a tricky situation because my contract only said to play Elena, but I was playing multiple characters, which doubled my workload. I had to be on set for double the amount of time, I had to memorize double the amount of lines.”

Dobrev wanted to play Katherine, but she also wanted to be compensated fairly for it. She wanted to be an equal to the boys, but it seems like the studio wasn’t having it. “They just said out of principle they wouldn’t bump me up to being equal to the boys,” Dobrev said. “So that was probably the most hurtful because it felt like I was really working hard, and we shot 18-hour days sometimes, and nights, and I was putting my absolute heart and soul, blood, sweat, and tears into it.”

The situation got heated, and the writers were told not to write Katherine into the show anymore. But, as co-creator Julie Plec remembered, they had to negotiate with The CW president Mark Pedowitz to get permission to use Dobrev’s character again. “I literally think we had to say ‘We’ll kill Katherine,’ in order to get permission to use her,” Plec said. Katherine dies in season five, after all.

Dobrev eventually made the decision to walk away after season six. But, she did return for the series finale in 2017, albeit in a limited capacity due to salary disputes. “The reason we couldn’t have her for more than the one episode,” Plec said, “is because they just wouldn’t pay.” Pedowitz claimed that it “was not easy to get Nina for one episode,” adding that it was a long negotiation.

Dobrev said she was initially offered “five times less” than her pay rate on her sixth and final season to return for the finale. “I needed to be paid parity to the boys,” she said. “I had to put my foot down and say if it didn’t happen I wouldn’t be able to come back. And it wasn’t about the money. I didn’t give a s–t about the money at all – it was the principle.”

It’s not hard to see why Dobrev felt undervalued. After all, she was playing two characters, and her workload was essentially doubled. It’s about time someone stood up for herself and demanded equal pay. And, honestly, it’s not like she’s the only one who’s had to deal with this kind of nonsense in Hollywood.

As it turns out, Dobrev isn’t the only star to walk away from their hit show. There have been plenty of other celebrities who have had to deal with similar issues. Take, for example, the cast of Saturday Night Live. Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, and Devon Walker all announced that they wouldn’t be returning for the show’s 51st season.

And then there’s Jax Taylor, who announced that he wouldn’t be returning to The Valley. It’s clear that there are plenty of issues behind the scenes in Hollywood, and it’s about time someone started talking about them.

In any case, it’s good to see Dobrev speaking out about her experiences. Maybe it will inspire other women to stand up for themselves and demand the respect they deserve. And, who knows, maybe it will even lead to some changes in the industry.

But, for now, let’s just take a moment to appreciate Dobrev’s strength and determination. She’s a true queen, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.

And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things – at least, not when it comes to fair pay in Hollywood.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, People Magazine
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed