Summary

• Julie Plec convinced co-creator Kevin Williamson to create The Vampire Diaries, even though he previously thought it would be a Twilight rip-off.
• Katherine Pierce's nationality was changed from German to Bulgarian because actress Nina Dobrev speaks Bulgarian.
• Klaus was originally supposed to die at the end of season 3, but became a fan-favorite character, leading to the creation of The Originals spinoff.

The CW's The Vampire Diaries is the longest-running vampire TV show ever, beating out Buffy the Vampire Slayer and True Blood. The Vampire Diaries follows Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as she is pulled into a love triangle between vampire brothers Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), at least until the show's focus shifts to the brothers' relationship in the later seasons. Why this change happened is just one interesting story about the show's development.

Even die-hard Vampire Diaries fans might know everything about what went on behind the scenes. This includes storylines that were abandoned and people who were almost (or almost weren't) involved with the show. In various interviews, the creators, producers, and stars have shared their favorite parts of the show, but also their ideas that never came to fruition.

10 Julie Plec Convinced Kevin Williamson To Co-Create The Show

Williamson didn't want to create The Vampire Diaries because he thought it would be too much like Twilight.

Julie Plec is better known for creating The Vampire Diaries than her co-creator Kevin Williamson. This is primarily because Williamson left the show after season 2 and only returned to help Plec write the finale. Yet Williamson didn't even want to be involved with The Vampire Diaries to begin with.

"In the beginning when I read it, I didn't want to be involved with it because I felt it was a sort of Twilight rip-off, no matter which came first," Williamson says (via The Independent). "The premise was exactly the same: girl falls in love with vampire, and I felt that it had been done and that nobody was going to do another vampire story. But then Julie kept telling me to keep reading the books and then I began to realise that it was a story about a small town, about that town's underbelly and about what lurks under the surface."

The Vampire Diaries works hard to set itself apart from Twilight, even though the show arguably only exists because of Twilight. The show has a distinctly different magic system and mythology, and the characters themselves occasionally make fun of Stehpenie Meyer's books.

9 Katherine Pierce Was Originally German

Katherine's nationality was changed to Bulgarian because Nina Dobrev speaks the language.

Elena's evil twin Katherine is a fan-favorite character and one of Vampire Diaries fans do not know everything about Katherine, including the many hoops Dobrev jumped through to play both her and Elena. Additionally, Katherine is German in the Vampire Diaries books. Katherine's nationality was changed to Bulgarian for the show because Dobrev was born in Bulgaria and speaks Bulgarian. In the books, she was born as Katherine von Swartzschild, while in the show she is Katerina Petrova.

8 Taylor Swift Inspired Stefan's Friend Lexi

Williamson wrote Lexi with Taylor Swift in mind, and hoped Swift might play her.

Stefan's longtime best friend Lexi Branson is undoubtedly a Vampire Diaries character who deserved more screen time. Additionally, Williamson imagined someone who he itted was "too big" for the show to play her. Williamson told E! News that he was "desperate to have [Taylor Swift] come play a vampire," and even wrote Lexi with her in mind. The role of Lexi eventually went to Arielle Kebbel. Kebbel gives an amazing performance, making Lexi both a no-nonsense and heartbreakingly kind character. However, it would still be fun to see Swift someday play a vampire.

7 Klaus' First Appearance Was Delayed Because Of Casting

Klaus doesn't appear until near the end of season 2 because the casting team was still looking for the perfect actor to play him.

The Vampire Diaries season 2 introduces the Originals, the family who was the beginning of the vampire species. Elijah Mikaelson (Daniel Gillies) appears midway through the season, while his brother Klaus (Joseph Morgan) is teased as a looming threat before finally appearing in time for the season finale. Klaus' first appearance was replaced with Elijah because it took longer than expected to cast him.

The adjustment paid off, as Morgan is perfectly terrifying and charistmatic as Klaus. Additionally, these circumstances might have lead to the creation of the rest of the Originals and subsequently their spinoff TV show. Klaus is also the only member of the Miakelson family who appears in the books, and IMDB suggests that Elijah was only created to be a placeholder until Klaus could appear.

6 The Vampire Diaries Pilot Was A Record-Breaker For The CW

At the time, The Vampire Diaries Pilot drew in the largest audience ever for a series premiere on the CW.

The series premiere of The Vampire Diaries broke a record for the CW, drawing in an audience of almost five million viewers. It was the CW's most-watched series premiere until that record was broken by Walker in 2021. The Vampire Diaries had a large audience due to its existing fanbase among books fans, as well as the massive popularity of Twilight at the time. Walker also unsurprisingly benefited from the popularity of another property; the show was Jared Padalecki's first big project following the conclusion of Supernatural.

5 Sarah Michelle Gellar Was Offered The Role Of Rose

The Vampire Diaries hoped to cast a legacy with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a ing role.

Season 2 also introduces Rose, a vampire who has spent most of her existence on the run from the Originals. After the death of her best friend, she forms a strong emotional bond with Damon. Rose is played by The Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan. However, Williamson told Page Six that he and Plec had hoped vampire show veteran Sarah Michelle Gellar would play the character.

"Originally me and my pipe dreams – the ones that led me to tell you I wanted Taylor Swift for Lexi – had us trying to get Sarah Michelle Gellar for Rose," says Williamson in the interview. "She was very appreciative but just said no. She was the only stunt casting we’d have ever agreed to." Gellar possibly rejected The Vampire Diaries because she was happy for her vampire days to be over.

4 Klaus Was Supposed To Die At The End Of Season 3

The Originals spinoff saved the main Mikaelson character.

After two seasons of causing terror in Mystic Falls, Klaus was supposed to die in The Vampire Diaries' season 3. However, Klaus became a fan-favorite character during season 3, leading to the extension of his character arc in The Vampire Diaries and the creation of the show The Originals. In an interview with Tommy DiDario (via Instagram), Morgan said:

"...From the beginning, it was always thought that Klaus would die at the end of season three. So I would come in at the end of season two, season three would be my big season of being this villain throughout the whole season and then the good guys would defeat me at the end of season three. [...] Then a few things happened. One was of course the degree of ion with which the fans responded to the character and the other was that I was just having so much fun playing [him] and I always felt that for the character there wasn't enough room to grow in the setting of The Vampire Diaries.”

Klaus' siblings do briefly believe he is dead when he is staked by Alaric (Matthew Davis) in the season 3 finale. However, Bonnie (Kat Graham) saves Klaus by transferring him into Tyler's (Michael Trevino) body in order to protect her friends and family who belong to Klaus' bloodline.

3 The Creators Made Changes To The Books So The Vampire Diaries Wasn't "Too Supernatural"

The Vampire Diaries books include "angels, foxes, mystical creatures, and hell dimensions."

Arguably, most long-running fantasy shows struggle with things getting "too supernatural," especially towards the end. As long as the show continues, the writers will need to come up with new supernatural threats. However, Plec and Williamson wanted to avoid this. The creators stopped looking to the source material when “angels, and foxes, and mystical creatures, and hell dimensions" started appearing (via The Hollywood Reporter). On the other hand, Supernatural included many of these things in its long run. And what were the sires in The Vampire Diaries season 8 if not "mystical creatures?"

2 The CW Wanted Ashlee Simpson To Play Elena

The CW eyed several bigger stars before Dobrev was cast as Elena/Katherine.

The CW advocated for Ashlee Simpson to play Elena before Dobrev was cast (E! News). Allegedly, Ashley Tisdale was also offered the role. Simpson bears more resemblance to book Elena, who has blonde hair, blue eyes, and is the most popular girl in school. At the time, Tisdale had also just finished staring as a blonde diva in the High School Musical movies. Elena being a brunette initially incited backlash among fans of the books. However, Dobrev earned their approval with her amazing dual performance as kind Elena and wicked Katherine.

1 Stefan And Damon Were Originally Both Going To Die At The End

But Dobrev's exit changed everything for The Vampire Diaries.

The Stefan-Elena-Damon love triangle is a central part of The Vampire Diaries, but Plec and Williamson planned on it being even more so. Dobrev leaving the show at the end of season 6 changed the show's main themes – and its endgame.

"If Nina had never left," says Plec (via Entertainment Weekly), "I would've loved to have been able to see if Stefan and Elena could've found their way back to each other. I don't know if they could have, but had that departure not been a part of it, the long game would've been to see if we could bring the love triangle back around before the series ended and really leave a choice. But her departure sealed the romantic contract between Damon and Elena. In that moment, to me, the show ceased to be about a love triangle and became a show about the power of these brothers and their love for each other. And so there was no way in hell I was killing both of them and leaving neither of them with the happy ending."

Instead, the show ends in a way that highlights the brothers' relationship rather than either of their romances with Elena. This helps it stand apart from other properties that focus on love triangles. Behind-the-scenes details like this change The Vampire Diaries by revealing what the show was supposed to be all about.

Source: The Independent, E! News, IMDB, Page Six, Instagram, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly