The CW’s popular fantasy drama, The Vampire Diaries, returned to Comic-Con for its fifth year, this time to discuss what’s next for the Mystic Falls gang when the show returns for Season 5. We got a chance to sit down with the show’s stars---Kat Graham, Candice Accola, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder---and co-executive producer Caroline Dries for a roundtable interview. They conversed about life after high school, if there’s a possibility for Damon and Katherine to rekindle their romance, how Bonnie will deal with being a ghost, whether Caroline ever had feelings for Klaus, Tyler’s return and much more. Hit the jump for highlights from the roundtable interview.
Co-Executive Producer Caroline Dries:
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When Wesley first portrayed Silas, it wasn’t clear what exactly he would bring to the role but Dries said now, he’s definitely a “scary, charismatic, badass villain.” And for the first few episodes of Season 5 some of the characters won’t even realize they’re not dealing with the real Stefan. “Paul’s doing an awesome job and we kind of want Silas to be the big bad of this season, or at least the first chunk of the season,” Dries pointed out. But also assured that we’d be seeing the return of the real Stefan.
- Dries said the show will have a time jump when it returns, “We’re coming back three months later, so we’ll kind of touch base on what the characters have been doing all summer.”
- We’ll finally see Damon and Elena together as a happy couple but they’ll be doing their own thing as well. “Elena is going to have her own supernatural crisis, mystery thing, going on at college and Damon’s story is going to be more in Mystic Falls,” Dries said, explaining that Damon will soon realize things aren’t as great as he thought they were and everything seems to be falling apart around him.
- When asked if there are any plans for crossovers with The Originals, Dries said, “That’s totally the game plan.” However, they don’t have things planned that far ahead, “Thinking about it gives me anxiety,” she confessed. “Getting all the stars to align to make sense for our story and for their story is easier said than done,” Dries added, revealing that they’ve already got the first nine episodes structured and there won’t be a crossover before then.
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As for an episode she’s looking forward to, Dries said that they have an idea of what they’ll do for Vampire Diaries’ 100th episode this season. She didn’t go into details but described it as a “profound, beautiful, kind of disturbing, but satisfying” episode.
- We’ll see Katherine suffer as a human. “That’s been my favorite storyline to write so far because she just sucks at everything. It’s so funny just to see her vulnerable and weak,” Dries noted. Katherine will have a hard time adjusting to her new human state. For those wondering why she can’t just ask someone to turn her back into a vampire, Dries says that Katherine won’t risk dying, knowing the cure might prevent her from turning again.
- Don’t expect a kinder, human Katherine from the get-go. “She will continue to stay this conniving, manipulative, bitch,” Dries assured. However, there are plans to have her evolve into having some soft spots. She added that Katherine will continue her fun rapport with Damon, “I’m not going to spoil it but with her storyline this season, she hopefully can find a way to be loved by someone else.”
- Having Bonnie as a ghost will give the show the opportunity to see things from her perspective and give us an idea of what the other side looks like. “Kat will still be on the show just as much as alive-Bonnie but in this new capacity,” Dries said. Viewers will see how her being dead will weigh on the character and also on Jeremy.
- The writers had no second-guesses when it came to putting Wesley in the role of the villain. The doppelganger mythology allowed them to make this possible without worrying about fans feeling apprehensive about it. “We knew he would do a great job and I think the actor was eager to do something new,” Dries said, adding that Wesley is really enjoying his new role.
- In regards to new characters, Dries said they will be introducing two female villains — one we might have already heard about. They will also be introducing a new concept of witches that will explain where Silas came from and allow viewers to learn more about his history.
Kat Graham:
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Graham is interested to see what happens with Bonnie being a ghost. “I know that it has to come from a more vulnerable place because Jeremy is the only person that she can communicate with,” she said, “The idea of being alone will probably start to weigh on the character.” Graham also pointed out that Bonnie has always been a fixer, so it will be a matter of wether she’ll remain dead or succeed in fixing the situation she’s in.
- Graham hopes that Bonnie being on the other side will give viewers an opportunity to see characters who have already died. “There’s a few actors that I really wanted to work with and I’m like, ‘sh–t, they killed them off!’” she lamented. As for who those actors are, Graham said she’d like to see Malese Jow, Kayla Ewell, Sara Canning, and Matt Davis back on the show.
- Diverging a bit from her Vampire Diaries role, Graham talked about her new album and her plans to tour. She said she’s been working on a music video for her newest single, “Power,” and putting together an acoustic piece for the fans. “If you haven’t heard it, it’s pretty cool,” she stated.
- Graham said that the idea of Bonnie dying and becoming a ghost hit really close to home because she recently lost her best friend. “It was extremely bizarre not being able to connect with somebody that you’ve loved your whole life,” she said, “I’m hoping to bring some sort of core and some root, and a foundation into this season that I haven’t necessarily brought in before that people can relate to.”
- When asked whether she likes Bonnie’s current ghost state or she’d like her to be corporeal again, Graham said she’s always looking for a challenge and all she wants is for the character to evolve.
Candice Accola:
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Accola referred to Caroline going to college as a “beautiful way to open Season 5.” She feels like there’s a lot of darkness going on in the series — Stefan’s underwater, Bonnie’s dead, Silas is still around — but everyone’s been oblivious to it. “Caroline’s just really excited to get to college,” said Accola, pointing out that Caroline would have to re-adjust from her simple life in Mystic Falls.
- When asked about Tyler’s return, Accola had this to say, “Caroline is very excited to see Tyler at college.” But when asked if Tyler would be attending college with her, Accola responded with a similar statement, “Caroline is hell bent on seeing Tyler at college.” It’s unclear whether he will be joining her or if it’s just something her character is hoping for.
- As for the news that Caroline will have a new love interest in college, Accola says that her character is still very much focused on holding on to her roots of Mystic Falls and her relationship with Tyler. “But she’s at college and I think her eyes might just be opening a little bit wider as to what and who is out there,” she said of the matter.
- Accola mentioned the fact that Caroline’s got her life together at this point but there’s potential for her to be the show’s wildcard. “I feel like in a series, whenever a character’s really gotten their life together, all there is left to do is tear it right back apart again,” she stated, “She’s chosen Tyler, she’s gotten rid of Klaus, everything that she’s ever wanted at her fingertips.”
- The viewers might have seen sparks fly between Caroline and Klaus but Accola has her own thoughts about Caroline’s feelings for the Original. “I don’t know what the writers’ bigger spectrum interpretation of this is but my interpretation would be that yes, there were butterflies — he has a great accent — there was really great qualities that kind of peaked her interest but she never had genuine feelings or she wasn’t open to the idea of genuine feelings. I just don’t think she ever registered him as a logical partner in her spectrum,” she concluded.
Paul Wesley
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Wesley imagines his character’s constant dying and resurrecting underwater will cause very deep trauma in Stefan that may not be reversible.
- When asked if he was having fun playing two characters, Wesley said he wouldn’t mind Stefan staying underwater for the whole season. “It’s always more fun to play dark characters,” he asserted, adding that the writers know how vocal he is about wanting to spice things up and create an anti-hero. He believes that Silas has a lot of pain, hurt, and anger that’s masked by light energy and humor.
- Viewers can expect Silas to have a blast pretending to be Stefan. Wesley says there’s nothing that intimates the character, “The world is his playground and he’s toying with everyone.” However, he does have an ultimate agenda that at the time is unclear.
- As for the possibility of Silas getting a love interest, Wesley says he finds it odd. “I don’t know, maybe Silas is capable of falling in love but to me, it’s just a funny thought,” he said.
- Wesley believes that Stefan is capable of a very deep level of darkness. It’s possible that when he finally resurfaces, he’ll be a darker version of himself. “I love Stefan’s danger. That is what to me makes him so interesting,” he said, aware that playing Stefan has to be either one way or the other, never moderate.
- Finally, Wesley said he likes Stefan without any romance. “It’d be nice for him to forget about the romance and stop being in love,” he noted, “I would like that for a short while, at least. I want him to fall out of love with the idea of being in love.”
Ian Somerhalder
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Elena and Damon are living the tangible life metaphor of one person going off to college while the other stays behind and they try to make it work. “He has to hold down the fort,” Somerhalder said, “Of course, it’s The Vampire Diaries so he can’t be happy for that long.”
- Silas will bring some cool dynamics and changes to the show. His presence will give the story a rejuvenating feeling. He compares the Season 5 production to Season 1, when everything was darker and edgier. “We’re going back to that. I think that we got away from it particularly in Season 3 and 4,” he said.
- Somerhalder still doesn’t know how Damon will react to Katherine being human but he admits that she has the ability to tug at his heart strings. “It’s like that first love thing,” he stated, “Whenever he sees her, there’s a tinge of that.” Damon knows the type of person she really is but Somerhalder always plays the character with that element in mind. Viewers can expect to see Katherine being very susceptible to the world.
- When asked if Damon would be rethinking his choices now that Katherine is human, Somerhalder points out that no one can ever be truly happy in the show. He believes that now that Damon has Elena, it will bring about problems but at the moment everything is fine, “It’s cute to see the interaction between the two. He’s just so smitten, he’s so in love, it’s cute,” he concluded.