Photo Credit: Getty Images
Nina Dobrev has opened up about the real reason she walked away from The Vampire Diaries after six seasons — unequal pay compared to her male co-stars.
In her oral history of The Vampire Diaries, author Samantha Highfill highlights Nina Dobrev's candid account of why she chose to step away from the CW hit. According to Dobrev, she and fellow cast members Candice King and Kat Graham were the "lowest-paid series regulars" during the show's early years, despite her carrying the lead role.
"It was a bit of a tricky situation because my contract only said to play Elena, but I was playing multiple characters, which doubled my workload," Dobrev explained, referencing her portrayal of Elena Gilbert and doppelgänger Katherine Pierce. "I had to be on set for double the amount of time, I had to memorize double the amount of lines. I wanted to play Katherine, but I wanted to be compensated fairly for that, and I wanted to be an equal to the boys."
Highfill wrote that Dobrev did negotiate for a higher salary but still earned less than Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. The situation eventually affected storylines when the studio told writers not to include Katherine, as they would have to pay Dobrev for both roles. Co-creator Julie Plec remembered the dispute becoming tense, leading to instructions that writers were no longer allowed to include Katherine in the storyline — a decision she believed was unfair.
For Dobrev, the standoff became personal. "They just said out of principle they wouldn't bump me up to being equal to the boys, and so that was probably the most hurtful," she said. "It felt like they were saying that all the hard work I was putting into it didn't matter to them and that I wasn't equal to my male counterparts."
She chose not to renew her contract after Season 6, leaving the show in May 2015. Two years later, she returned for the series finale, but only after another tense negotiation. "It was just really important to me that at the end of the show, as a woman, I wanted to make sure that I was compensated and that I was an equal to my male counterparts on the show," Dobrev revealed, noting that the initial offer was "five times less" than her previous salary.
Dobrev made it clear that her return hinged on being paid equally to her male co-stars, stressing that the issue was about fairness rather than finances. In the end, she did come back for the series finale, determined to give fans closure and to be part of the show's final chapter.
