Jason Momoa and Joe Manganiello read for Alaric?! 5 Vampire Diaries surprises I uncovered writing...

Yes, I know what's in Liz's letter for Caroline. Jason Momoa and Joe Manganiello read for Alaric?! 5 Vampire Diaries surprises I uncovered writing my book

Yes, I know what's in Liz's letter for Caroline.

Jason Momoa and Joe Manganiello read for Alaric?! 5 *Vampire Diaries *surprises I uncovered writing my book

Yes, I know what's in Liz's letter for Caroline.

By Samantha Highfill

Samantha Highfill

Samantha is a writer based in Los Angeles. Television is her one true love, and she tweets about it. A lot.

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September 9, 2025 12:33 p.m. ET

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Matthew Davis, Jason Momoa, and Joe Manganiello. Credit:

Miller Mobley/The CW; Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic; Miikka Skaffari/Getty

- As an executive editor at EW, I recently wrote a book about *The Vampire Diaries*, and I learned quite a few new things about the CW series.

- The casting directors spilled their secrets about big actors who auditioned for the show, including Jason Momoa and Joe Maganiello.

- Plus, I learned the real reason why the show killed Katherine (Nina Dobrev).

I first fell in love with *The Vampire Diaries* the summer after my junior year of college. I was interning in New York City and I needed a new show to help me adjust to a rather intimidating new place. What I quickly learned is that the beautiful chaos of Mystic Falls was the perfect balance for the real-world chaos of NYC.

A couple years later, I started my internship at ** and quickly began covering the show — all the way until I was on set of the series finale. And now, a few more years later, I've written a book all about the making of the series.

*I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries* is out now, so I thought I'd round up a few of the most surprising things I learned about a show I thought I already knew so much about.

Sebastian Stan; Paul Wesley as Stefan and Ian Somerhalder as Damon; Matt Czuchry.

Kevin Mazur/Getty; Andrew Eccles/The CW; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Casting secrets

This entire story could be about casting. It could be about the way I gasped when series co-creator Julie Plec first mentioned* Gilmore Girls* star Matt Czuchry to me as a contender for Damon (Ian Somerhalder). It could be about the way I nearly dropped the phone when casting directors Greg Orson and Lesli Gelles-Raymond told me that Sebastian Stan read for both brothers and would've been a contender for Damon had he not had another show. Or it could be about the way I screamed when I found out that Jason Momoa and Joe Manganiello read for Alaric (Matthew Davis).

There are so many other names I could include, but I'll stop there.

Nina Dobrev as Elena and Kayla Ewell as Vicki on 'The Vampire Diaries'.

Quantrell Colbert/The CW

The chaos of killing Vicki

It's not necessarily surprising to find out that the writers fell behind in season 1 — particularly with the pressure of a 22-episode season — but what *is* surprising is the extent of the madness, especially surrounding Vicki's (Kayla Ewell) death. The script for "Haunted" "was written so quickly because we were so behind," Plec says in the book, before later adding, "It then comes back to us, and the first cut that we saw was essentially unwatchable. It was a mess."

Co-creator Kevin Williamson adds that they were, in fact, so behind that they had to start shooting without a script. Add in some reshoots — including for Vicki's actual death scene — and some post-production work, and somehow they managed to salvage the series' first big goodbye.

***Sign up for **'s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.***

Paul Wesley as Stefan, Nina Dobrev as Elena, and Ian Somerhalder as Damon on 'The Vampire Diaries'. Bob Mahoney/The CW

Ian Somerhalder asking to leave the show

As much as fans loved watching Damon transition from villain to love interest in season 3, Somerhalder didn't feel the same. In the midst of the show's third season, the star sat down with Plec and actually asked to be written off the hit drama. "I was so upset about the trajectory of Damon, so much so that at one point I was sitting across from Julie in her office in Atlanta almost in tears — actually, my eyes were quite misty — and asked out of the show," Somerhalder says in the book. "I was so angry about it. I wanted off." Thankfully, Plec talked him out of that decision.

'Vampire Diaries' casting secrets: Sebastian Stan and Matt Czuchry almost starred?! (exclusive)

The 10 best TV love triangles of all time ranked, from 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' to 'The Vampire Diaries'

Marguerite MacIntyre as Liz and Candice King as Caroline on 'The Vampire Diaries'. Annette Brown/The CW

The contents of Liz's letter to Caroline

When* The Vampire Diaries* ended, there was only one question that the series wasn't able to answer: What did Liz (Marguerite MacIntyre) write in her letter to Caroline (Candice King), the letter that Caroline famously burned when she had her humanity off? Thankfully, one of the writers on the series, Melinda Hsu Taylor, had an idea for the letter that was based on a real-life conversation she had with her own child. I won't reveal what's in it here (have to save *some* things for the book!), but I will say it made me cry.**

Nina Dobrev as Elena on 'The Vampire Diaries'.

How close we came to a Stelena reunion

Plec has always been open about the show's original ending: the love triangle coming back around and the brothers sacrificing themselves for Elena. And she's also said that Dobrev leaving the show in season 6 was one of the reasons why that original ending didn't come to be. "Her departure sealed the romantic contract between Damon and Elena," she said at the time of the show's ending.

But working on the book, I discovered it wasn't fully sealed. Even given all of the Steroline romance in season 7, the writers still tried to bring the love triangle back around by seeing if they could get Dobrev to return for a full season — or even just a few episodes. However, when they could only get Dobrev back for one episode, that's when the triangle's fate was truly sealed. (And that's not mentioning the financial factors that played a large part in why Dobrev only came back for one episode.)

More on all of that in *I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries*, which is out now.

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