Nina Dobrev On Becoming A Vampire On ‘The Vampire Diaries’: It’s A Coming-Of-Age, College Experience

At this year’s Comic Con, FanBolt had the pleasure of chatting with Nina Dobrev, who plays the beautiful Elena on CW’s The Vampire Diaries. From where Season 4 picks up to how she is going to handle becoming a vampire, Dobrev spills on a number of details with the new season!

Check out our full interview below!

So, how does it feel to be a vampire?

Nina Dobrev: I’ve already been a vampire, technically. I was Katherine, so I’m actually kind of sad! I liked being both! I walked around set bragging about how I got to be both characters, like I get to be human and a vampire. I had the best of both worlds, but now I have no bragging rights. No street cred on set!

How do you think Katherine will react to Elena being a vampire now??

Nina Dobrev: She’s gonna be pissed. She’s not going to be happy. She was hoping that the Salvatore brothers would, you know, they’d experience their, um, that they’d get over the fad of Elena for one lifetime, and she’d be back on track with the boys. But now she’s screwed.

Was it always the plan for Elena to become a vampire?

Nina Dobrev: It was definitely a plan, it was just a matter of when. I mean, it happened in the books, so it was definitely gonna happen in the show. And I think at one point, there was talk of it happening in season two, and I’m glad that they waited until season three.

How do you think it’s going to change her relationships with her friends? I mean, obviously, the relationship with Damon and Stefan is bound to change. I mean, Caroline’s a vampire, so–

Nina Dobrev: I mean, yeah. Caroline kind of was accepted by the group as a vampire. I think everyone’s just going to be sad. They’ve just spent three years, or three seasons– I don’t know how long that is in the show– but they’ve just spent all this time doing everything in their power to protect her. And now she’s a vampire. So, I guess now she can protect herself.

How would you describe Elena as a vampire?

Nina Dobrev: Still figuring it out.

Do you know how you’re going to play her, though?

Nina Dobrev: We’ve only shot three days. And so, we’re still trying– I mean, when I got the show, I was trying to figure out who Elena was as a human, and I had a lot of time to do that, and same with Katherine. She was introduced slowly, so it’s just going to be, like, figuring out how she is. She’s definitely going to be very different.

Do you think Elena will ever find out that she did meet Damon first?

Nina Dobrev: When you become a vampire, your compelled memories come back to you. So, yes! She will.

Is that going to be an interesting conversation?

Nina Dobrev: Oh yeah. We did shoot that, and it was interesting. You’ll see it! You’ll see it!

Is it in the premiere?

Nina Dobrev: It’s in the first couple of episodes, yeah.

What else can fans expect this season?

Nina Dobrev: Honestly, I just– we literally just started shooting. So I have no spoilers for you, unfortunately.

Do you know personally what your character arc is this season? Were you told that?

Nina Dobrev: No. I didn’t even know I was gonna be a vampire until two or three episodes before.

Are you reading the script, and that’s your only– they don’t pull you aside?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah, no because I don’t think they even know what’s gonna happen in two or three episodes from now. They’re kind of figuring it out. I mean, they do. They start off with a plan, but then something changes, somebody comes up with a brilliant idea, and then it just completely rears off into a different direction. So it’s ever changing. That’s the beauty of television, you get to explore the life for a long time.

What would you like to see happen to her?

Nina Dobrev: I’d like for her to become, as a vampire– realize that now she’s independent, and she can do her own thing. Just prepare for awhile, and go to Europe, and go crazy. Because it’s kind of like a college experience! You go to high school, and you’re finally let out of the house, and you have an interesting, fun college time. So this is going to be her coming-of-age, college experience.

Do you think she’ll miss anything about being human?

Nina Dobrev: Everything. She didn’t want to be a vampire. She’s gonna, I imagine she’s going to be sad that she’ll never be able to have kids. And she’ll never get married and have a normal life, and just go to college. She’ll never have that, ever again. And that’s all she wanted. She was constantly trying to hold onto her humanity, and now it’s gone forever.

Is Klaus, I mean she’s not human anymore, she can’t be his doppleganger. Is he still a threat to her when we come back into season four? Or is she dealing with other stuff?

Nina Dobrev: He’s always a threat. Klaus will always be a threat, he’s the biggest, baddest vampire. Or is he? But I don’t know in what way. He’s definitely going to be pissed off.

Is he pissed off a her? Or is he pissed off at–

Nina Dobrev: I don’t know.

Will Elena be able to look out for Jeremy now that she has all this new drama in her life?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah, of course! I mean, she’s gonna try. The beauty is, Jeremy’s become a man too. He’s grown up so much. He’s starting to come into his own, and he’s starting to make his own decisions, which is really cool for him. But he’s always going to be Elena’s little brother. Always, always, always. I mean, your emotions are heightened, and your feelings, characteristics are heightened as a vampire. So, one of her biggest characteristics was she was compassionate, caring, and selfless. So that might almost, you know, to her detriment as a vampire, she will never want to– she will never let her– she will always be protecting her little brother.

Are you still having fun on this show? Still fun to shoot?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah! Yeah, because everyday is so different, and I get to do so many different things. Like, I joke around and say it’s ‘actors bootcamp.”Because I’ve done action, drama… I’ve done underwater things, we’ve done stunts. There’s just so many cool things, it’s really fun.

Interview By: Dhalyn Warren
Photo By: Emma Loggins