Why Paul Wesley Doesn't Miss Playing Stefan in 'The Vampire Diaries'
Paul Wesley doesn't miss his days as The Vampire Diaries heartthrob Stefan Salvatore.
The actor, who currently plays young James T. Kirk on Paramount+'s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, spoke to In Style about putting that chapter of his life behind him and revealed why he has no interest in revisiting the world of vampires.
"I would never do another vampire anything, period, let alone Vampire Diaries," Wesley told the mag quite adamantly.
On Vampire Diaries, which ran for eight seasons on The CW from 2009 to 2017, Wesley played good vampire Stefan, who falls in love with Mystic Falls teen Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and becomes embroiled in a complicated love triangle when his immortal bad boy brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder), comes into the picture. Based on L.J. Smith's popular novels, the series -- and the cast -- quickly enraptured audiences and became part of the pop culture lexicon.
Asked if he'd entertain a Vampire Diaries reboot or update, Wesley shut down any possibility. "Hard pass," the actor said.
Wesley went on to explain that he "[doesn't] really miss anything about playing [Stefan], and I don't mean that in a [negative way]," he said of his iconic TV character.
"Eight years is a long time, and I'm so glad to put that to rest. Eight seasons," Wesley continued. "But I loved how dynamic he was."
"Because the show ran for such a long time, in order for it to not become monotonous, every season, he sort of had a different arc," he noted. "At one point he was pure evil, and he started out as the good guy and then he ended as the good guy. But I liked the challenge of trying to keep the character fresh."
At the moment, Wesley is exploring strange new worlds as young Kirk in the latest Star Trek series and he spoke about being a part of the beloved franchise.
"My favorite episodes in general are the ones where they time travel or go to Earth. There's one specific episode that I love, 'City on the Edge of Tomorrow,'" he said of his favorite episode from the original Star Trek series. "I love Kirk's moral dilemma of meeting somebody who he can't sort of take with him when he goes back to his timeline and his world that he lives in. I thought it was a really powerful episode. And also just something about Kirk and Spock being fish out of water in the past or on Earth. [There] was just something really special about breaking free from being on the Enterprise and going to Earth. And we actually did a little bit of that in season 2 of Strange New Worlds."
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