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The story of Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore has always fascinated fans of The Vampire Diaries, but what went on behind the scenes was just as intense. Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder’s real-life relationship once made them the “it couple” before they went their separate ways. For years, rumors floated around that their breakup was the reason Nina walked away from the show. Now, however, a new book is shedding light on a very different reason — one that had nothing to do with romance and everything to do with pay.
In I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, it’s revealed that Nina Dobrev, along with Candice King and Kat Graham, were among the lowest paid cast members, despite being part of the core group. Nina, in particular, carried double the load since she was playing both Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce, which meant twice the screen time, twice the lines, and twice the effort. Yet her paycheck didn’t reflect that.
Nina opened up about the imbalance, saying she had pushed for fair pay that matched her male co-stars, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. Together, the three were at the heart of one of television’s most iconic love triangles, yet Nina was not treated as an equal. “I wanted to play Katherine, but I wanted to be compensated fairly for that,” she shared. “It felt like they were saying that all the hard work I was putting into it didn’t matter.”
Instead of paying her more, the studio reportedly decided to write Katherine off entirely so they wouldn’t have to increase Nina’s salary. This sparked a clash between the show’s creators and the studio, ultimately leaving Nina to fight a lonely battle for recognition.
Her exit from the show, once thought to be linked to her personal life, now looks far more complicated. It highlights a long-standing issue of pay disparity in Hollywood, where even lead actresses often struggle to be valued the same as their male counterparts. For Nina, the decision to walk away wasn’t just about leaving a role but also about standing up for herself in an industry that didn’t treat her equally.
Would you like me to also write this in a softer, more “storytelling gossip-mag” style, like a piece you’d read in Cosmopolitan or People?