How Paul Wesley Really Feels About His Vampire Diaries Ending
Paul Wesley has no issue with the direction the "The Vampire Diaries" writers chose for his character, Stefan Salvatore. From 2009 through 2017, "The Vampire Diaries" — a teen vampire drama — aired on The CW. Unfortunately, viewers were forced to adjust to losing several actors throughout the show's run. However, "The Vampire Diaries" fans really suffered in 2015 when they lost Nina Dobrev, who played Elena Gilbert. "I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime," revealed Dobrev on Instagram. "Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever."
Dobrev also quieted rumors that she was giving up her starring role, which netted her $40,000 an episode (via Life & Style), for Ian Somerhalder, her co-star/love interest and real-life ex-boyfriend. With that said, Dobrev wasn't the only Mystic Falls resident to realize that the spooky city wasn't the best place for her. Interestingly, Dobrev's premature departure didn't sentence her character to an early grave. However, Paul Wesley, who played Stefan Salvatore and appeared in all 171 episodes, can't say the same.
Paul Wesley felt that his character deserved to die
Although Paul Wesley lasted eight seasons on "The Vampire Diaries," he was eventually killed off during the series finale. According to Bustle, Stefan offered up his own life in an effort to save his hometown of Mystic Falls from being destroyed by an evil witch. Fortunately, he wasn't bothered by the storyline, even if fans were.
During an interview with Andy Cohen, Wesley shared that he actually rooted for Stefan's death. "I was very happy he died and I had actually requested that he died," revealed Wesley (via Seventeen). "He did a lot of bad things and I felt like he deserved death." Actually, Wesley would've weaved even more death into the series finale if he'd been the one dictating the story. "I honestly think both brothers should've died," added Wesley. "I would've liked that we both died and that Elena, the girl at the end of the show, like all her memory was wiped and she went on to live a normal life and forgot that we ever existed. I think that would've been nice." Although Wesley's version didn't get integrated into the script, he did succeed at getting the writers' to give his goody two-shoes character a darker side. "I really tried my best to influence them to allow me to be the bad guy and they made that happen in Season 3," added Wesley.
Would Paul Wesley want to play Stefan again?
"The Vampire Diaries" ended over six years ago, which means fans have had plenty of time to mourn the show. Wesley, however, doesn't feel there's anything to mourn. "I would never do another vampire anything, period, let alone 'Vampire Diaries,'" shared Wesley during a profile with InStyle. Unsurprisingly, Wesley couldn't list a single thing he missed about playing Stefan. "I don't really miss anything about playing him, and I don't mean that in a [negative way]," he added. "Eight years is a long time, and I'm so glad to put that to rest. Eight seasons." However, Wesley, "loved how dynamic he was ... 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."
Wesley's former on-screen girlfriend, Nina Dobrev, feels the same about reprising the role of Elena Gilbert. During an appearance on "Radio Andy," Dobrev was completely closed to the idea of returning to Mystic Falls, claiming it's "way too soon to be talking about a reboot" (via Radio Times). However, unlike Wesley, Dobrev could be convinced about taking part in a different vampire series if Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese was attached. Hmm. Now we're wondering if Wesley could also be swayed.