Nina Dobrev was the star of one of the most beloved teen dramas for a long time, but she apparently was not paid like one!
Fans will recall she left The Vampire Diaries back in 2015, saying she always thought Elena Gilbert’s story was only a six-season arc. However, there was a lot more to the story behind her departure than just her character’s story running its course. Rumors circulated for years of a massive pay dispute between Nina and her co-stars, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, because she was making significantly less than the two male leads, and that’s what resulted in her eventually saying goodbye to the show. And the truth? It turns out she really did leave because of the pay disparity!
Related: Charlie Sheen Extends Olive Branch To Two And A Half Men Co-Star Jon Cryer
In Entertainment Weekly editor Samantha Highfill’s new book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, Nina opened up about her exit from the series, revealing it was the lack of fair compensation that drove her away! The Degrassi: The Next Generation alum shared that she, along with Candice King and Kat Graham, were the “lowest-paid series regulars” for the first two seasons of the show. Wait, hold up! You’re telling us the guy who played Matt Donovan earned more than Nina, who played not one but TWO main characters at the time — Elena and her doppelgänger Katherine Pierce! WTF! She explained:
“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 work-load. I had to be on set for double the amount of time, I had to memorize double the amount of lines.”
Because of this, Nina understandably said she “wanted to be compensated fairly” for both roles. In her mind, that meant earning the same amount as Paul and Ian. It’s a reasonable ask, especially since she was the main lead of the show along with the two guys! Not to mention, she only demanded to be on the same pay level as them, even though she had more to do — and that was long before her two other characters, Amara and Tatia, were introduced! The Love Hard star easily could’ve asked for way more than them, but she didn’t.
Although Samantha noted Nina “was successful in getting more money,” it was never the same amount as Ian or Paul’s paycheck. And instead of paying adequately, her screen time got cut! Yeah, she was essentially punished! The studio allegedly told the writers to stop putting Katherine in scenes when they “had to pay” her for both roles.
OMG!?
Creator Julie Plec shared that the situation got “really heated” back then, adding:
“It basically got phoned down back to us writers that we were not allowed to write Katherine in at all ever. Which of course was not something that I felt was right or fair.”
The studio also tried to sabotage their own show! Katherine was popular with viewers despite being a villain! They always wanted more of her! She’s also generally a big part of the story throughout the series! Ultimately, Nina felt her work wasn’t appreciated and decided not to renew her contract after Season 6:
“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 an equal to my male counterparts, and so that was upsetting to me.”
Although Nina left the show, she did return for the Season 8 finale in 2017. However, even that was a struggle because the studio refused to fairly pay her once again. Nina said:
“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.”
Shawn White’s fiancée claimed they offered her “five times less” than what she made on the show for the one episode! Whoa!
“That’s the only reason why at one point I almost didn’t come back. I needed to be paid parity to the boys. I had to put my foot down and say if it didn’t happen I wouldn’t be able to come back. And it wasn’t about the money — I didn’t give a s**t about the money at all — it was all principal.”
Nina was the lead of the show, playing multiple roles, and her paycheck should’ve reflected that hard work from day one. And the fact that it never did? What a frustrating and infuriating situation! We applaud Nina for sticking up for herself over and over again!
What are your reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via The Vampire Diaries/Warner Bros. Television]
About the Author
