Why Nina Dobrev Left The Vampire Diaries | E! News
Nina Dobrev shares rare insight about her sudden departure from The Vampire Diaries. More than a decade after Elena Gilbert went into her magical sleep at the end of season 6, the 36-year-old who occasionally played Elena’s vampire doubleganger and Catherine Piers shared insight into how behindthe-scenes pay disparity with co-leads Paul Wesley and Ian Summerholder led to her seeking a life outside of Mystic Falls. In fact, she recalled the pay differences she Candace King and Cat Graham face went all the way back to the pilot. Dobrev explained in the book I Was Feeling Epic in oral history of The Vampire Diaries out now. Candace, Cat, and I were the three lowest paid series regulars in the first two seasons. 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. She continued, “I wanted to play Catherine, but I wanted to be compensated fairly for that, and I wanted to be an equal to the boys.” However, as the book noted, she never quite reached that equal pay despite a salary bump. In addition, a new conflict arose as the studio tried to limit the use of Doug Brev, pulling double duty as Elena and Catherine due to needing to pay the Degrassi alum for playing the villainous vampire in addition to her human counterpart. The show’s co-creator, Julie Plex, said in the book, “It got really heated, and so it basically got phoned back down to us writers that we were not allowed to write Catherine in at all, ever.” Which of course was not something that I felt was right or fair. The way Dobrev saw it, they just said out of principle, “They wouldn’t bump me up to being equal to the boys.” she 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. After tensions simmerred, more episodes with Catherine were granted. But as Ple remembered of the negotiations which involved the CW then president Mark Pedawitz, I literally think we had to say we’ll kill Catherine in order to get permission to use her. ENS has reached out to Pedawitz for comment and has not heard back and ultimately Dobrev made the decision to walk away after season 6. However, she returned for the series finale in 2017, but even that was limited due to salary disputes. Flex said, “The reason we couldn’t have her for more than the one episode is because they just wouldn’t pay.” Pedawitz is quoted in the book as saying, “It was not easy to get Nah for one episode.” Adding, “I remember it was a long negotiation that the studio managed and that we cooperated with.” Derev said she was initially offered five times less than her pay rate on her sixth and final season on The Vampire Diaries to return for the finale. She said I needed to be paid parody to The Boys. 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 about the money at all. It was the principle. [Music]
Nina Dobrev offered rare insight into her Vampire Diaries departure, alleging in a new oral history of the CW series that she never received equal pay to costars Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.
Full Story: https://www.eonline.com/news/1422270/nina-dobrev-on-dating-ian-somerhalder-during-vampire-diaries?query=nina%20dobre
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18 Comments
more confused with every second… i’m hooked 🌺💚
the mood works pretty dope— like 's on 💚🍓
More bankable stars get higher pay but Nina should’ve gotten equal pay since she was playing multiple characters and being the main star.
Before that, possibly the show was bad. Like once they did the Elena was a double of a double of a double they had to know they went too far. Like they went too far
That's ridiculous that she was paid way less than the boys. She should have been paid way more since she was the main character and the show revolved around her. She played many characters, so she should have been compensated for her time and energy. I'm glad she stood up for herself because that's really unfair.
More females should come forward w their similar stories- it's time to shame Hollywood
This is more than appalling and the fact that women were running this show is insane.
Yeah, after season 6 I did stop watching. 😢
She was literally the star of the show. The show centered around her. And she still got less than the boys. I hate society. Good for her for standing up for herself. Just sucked it ended up having g her leave early
She will always be Elena Gilbert to me🤧😍😍
She should have always been paid at least as much as the boys. Such unfairness. Hope it meant she got it for the finale since she came back..
Its like every year more bs come out about TVD…. Im CONVINCED everything is wrong with that set.
Wow, good for her!
I am so sick of this. Does anyone remember that Nina was not up for an award with the kids choice awards one year and she was written in so much that she won. Maybe if these executives weren’t so busy effing little boys they would have time to think about paying women as much as they should be paid. She was super super famous and hot on that show and for a while, she even surpassed the two male leads.
NO ONE CARES
She was literally a icon and a star of the show. She definitely should've gotten more money cause she is the best main character on the show. Good for her for finally speaking her truth!
I mean they definitely did Nina dirty, because the show centered around her. The show went downhill significantly after she left because it just didn’t make sense anymore. But with that all said, Kat got the shittest end of the stick so if there’s anyone I feel super sorry for it’s Kat
She should have been paid just as much or even more than the boys. She played multiple characters perfectly. I mean she made me dislike Elena Gilbert and LOVED Catherine pierce. Not a lot of actors/actres can have that effect on television. Nina was & is an Icon.