The Vampire Diaries premiered 10 years ago, and ended two years ago as of March 2019. But we all know vampires are pretty hard to kill, and the stars have been revived all over TV. Some of the actors have stayed connected to The Originals and Vampire Diaries' joint spinoff Legacies, while others have boarded different The CW series. And several more have branched out on other networks. Sink your fangs into these updates and prepare to hear more about the stars as the year continues...
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev was the top star of The Vampire Diaries for six seasons, before leaving for a year and coming back for the Season 8 finale. She's filled her time with some film roles in the past couple of years -- including xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Flatliners, and Dog Days -- but she recently returned to TV in another lead role with Fam. The CBS sitcom marked a huge change for her, and she said she had an anxiety attack before filming the premiere in front of a live studio audience. But now she loves it, and seems to be having a blast in her role as Clem. She's still close with her TVD family, and several stars attended her recent 30th birthday party -- including Candice King (Caroline), Kayla Ewell (Vicki), Michael Trevino (Tyler), and The Vampire Diaries Universe producer Julie Plec. Dobrev's Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore (see below) are still living in Mystic Falls as of The Vampire Diaries finale, but Dobrev isn't likely to bring Elena back on Legacies since Fam is a full-time gig. She's been clear about that so far, but still, maybe someday...
Michael Trevino
Michael Trevino played Tyler Lockwood on all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries. This year, he's keepin' it in The CW family by starring as Kyle Valenti on Roswell, New Mexico. Julie Plec is also an executive producer of that new show. However, that's where the similarities end -- or at least, that's where Trevino hopes they end. During the recent TCAs, he emphasized that it has been 10 years since Vampire Diaries aired. He was 24 back in 2009. And the "very principled" surgeon character he's playing now -- Kyle -- is more mature than the, well, frankly, the dick that Tyler could be on TVD. As you might expect, Trevino was interested in playing someone different from Tyler, and found that character in Roswell's Kyle.
Paul Wesley
Hey, speaking of Roswell --The Vampire Diaries' Stefan Salvatore actor Paul Wesley directed the March 5 episode of the series, called "I Saw the Sign." That airs just two days before the Legacies episode Wesley directed, called "The Boy Who Still Has a Lot of Good to Do." Wesley returned to his Mystic Falls roots to direct that March 7 episode, and apparently he had a blast doing it. Wesley has been keeping himself quite busy. He also starred in the CBS All Access series Tell Me A Story. And he just announced a new production partnership, allowing him to both star in and executive produce some shows. One of the shows he'll star in will reportedly be based off the non-fiction article Confessions Of a Drug-Addicted High School Teacher. He has shut the door hard on bringing Stefan Salvatore back, which makes sense considering how The Vampire Diaries ended. But hopefully he comes back to direct another Legacies episode in Season 2, because having Stefan in the Salvatore school is just good karma.
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder is keeping Vampire Diaries fans well fed on Instagram, often sharing behind-the-scenes photos from the series. It's clear he has nostalgia for the show himself. However, that doesn't mean he's planning to bring Damon Salvatore to the spinoff Legacies. Damon did end TVD as newly human. He and Elena were seen living together in Mystic Falls, where she became a doctor and runs a practice. Legacies recently revealed that Damon and Elena have kids, including a daughter Stefanie named in honor of the late Stefan. Maybe someday we'll see young Stefanie on Legacies. For his part, Somerhalder may be too busy with his own new vampire show, V-Wars. It's based on the anthology series by Jonathan Maberry, and it got a straight-to-series order from Netflix. Somerhalder plays a human this time, Dr. Luther Swann, and it's his best friend Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes) who turns into a vampire. Netflix has yet to give the series a premiere date, but it's expected in 2019. Oh, and Somerhalder also directed an episode of V-Wars; get a preview courtesy of his (NSFW) set video.
Michael Malarkey
Michael Malarkey joined The Vampire Diaries relatively late in the game, recurring as Enzo St. John in Season 5 before becoming a main character for the final two seasons. TVD ended with a flash forward showing Bonnie Bennett getting ready to travel the world, and spirit Enzo was still there beside her (trying to remind her not to forget her passport). Now Malarkey is playing the character of Captain Michael Quinn -- opposite Game of Thrones alum Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger) -- in the History Channel's new historical drama series Project Blue Book. The UFO series, set in the 1950s and '60s, just premiered in January 2019, and was already renewed for Season 2.
Candice King
Someday maybe Candice King will bring Caroline Forbes to Legacies. Until then, Caroline will just be name-dropped every other episode, as the mother of twins Lizzie and Josie Saltzman and co-owner of the Salvatore school. The Legacies cast has said they have an open door policy with alumni from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. They'd be thrilled to have Caroline on the show, but totally understand if Candice King just wants to take a break from the role. King did recently return to TV as an alien on The Orville. It was a pleasant surprise to see her as Solana Kitan, the newly engaged older sister of Lieutenant Alara Kitan (Halston Sage), in the January 2019 episode "Home." King also has a podcast with fellow Vampire Diaries alum Kayla Ewell called "Directionally Challenged."
Kat Graham
Since 2019 has just started, there's a good chance we'll be seeing even more of The Vampire Diaries cast in other roles on TV throughout the year. There's also the film world, where Kat Graham has also been picking up roles after leaving TVD as Bonnie Bennett. She was on Netflix's The Holiday Calendar in late 2018 and it looks like she has some big screen roles lined up for 2019 including The Poison Rose, Emperor, and Cut Throat City. I'd love to see Bonnie back in Mystic Falls for Legacies -- she ended TVD traveling the world, but at some point she might want to return home, right? -- but that doesn't seem to be in the cards anytime soon, if ever.
Legacies returnees
Many Vampire Diaries stars have kept the show alive by bringing their characters back on the spinoff Legacies. Matt Davis has a main role as Salvatore school headmaster Alaric Saltzman. The Vampire Diaries ended with Damon giving Caroline and Alaric the Salvatore home to use as the school, seeing it as what Stefan would've wanted. Zach Roerig has appeared in a couple of episodes so far as Sheriff Matt Donovan. Steven R. McQueen's Jeremy Gilbert showed up in a cameo (we need more!) to save Landon and Rafael early in Legacies Season 1. Demetrius Bridges' badass librarian Dorian Williams is a recurring character on Legacies, and the most recent episode as of this writing showed Dorian punch Alaric in the face over their shared affection for guidance counselor Emma Tig (Karen David). Earlier in Legacies, Alaric's almost-wife Jo (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) made an undead appearance to bond with Josie, one of the twins she never got to know.
We know someone else from Hope Mikaelson's past on The Originals is showing up on Legacies soon, but anyone else from The Vampire Diaries? Maybe, or we may have to wait for Season 2.
Since it has only been two years since The Vampire Diaries ended, and not quite one year since The Originals series finale, it's understandable that some stars may be taking breaks from TV for a while. Fans are eager to see more of their favorite stars on the big and small screen, so we'll keep an eye on them going forward. Keep up with all of the current TV news and bookmark our handy midseason 2019 schedule to see what else is airing.
