We’ve just posted the piece of news in French but we don’t forget our foreign visitors ! Indeed, we’ve also translated the most interesting parts of this interview into English so that you can read it ! Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley & Ian Somerhalder talk about the vampires’ phenomenon, the TV show, their experience with the fans among others. You can read this translated interview right below. The scans are also available.
Do fans ask you weird or crazy things ?
IS : The most incredible thing is the number of fans – which is great, we love and appreciate them – and the sound level they show their enthusiasm for the TV show and the characters.
ND : They notice every single detail.
PW : Once, I hired a Harley Davidson to be cool and to say I had driven a Harley. I stopped in a bikers’ bar, it was late, to go to the WC. They were at the back and I had to go through a path to go there. When I left, I saw nine bikes parked there and guys who looked like the Hell’s Angels, with bandannas and all that stuff. They were staring at me and I immediately thought they were going to beat me up. But surprisingly enough, one of the guys called me for a photo ! (laughs) I had to take a photo with each of them whereas I thought I’d get in trouble five minutes before… It was weird.
ND : A few weird things happened to me too… I do yoga so several times, during the classes, I try to focus, to be zen and to meditate, but when I look the mirror, I notice everyone is staring at me !
IS : Yes, but it’s impossible not to look Nina half-naked and perspired.
ND : Otherwise, once in the changing rooms, there was a girl who asked me for a photo while I was just leaving the shower, I was just wearing a towel, I was soaked and I had not put on my make-up, so I didn’t really want to do that…
Do you understand the fascination around vampires ?
IS : We can have theories about the subject, but it’s a genre which has always been incredibly popular… I think Twilight is the reason of its huge current resurgence , and this saga has worked so well that it opened up the way for all the other plans. Vampires are the archetype of the marginal rebel but on the same time, they can be vulnerable, sexy, powerful and dangerous. And us, humans, are always attracted by what is good and evil for us.
PW : They’re a bit like romantic poets, in some ways.
IS : Stefan, yes, but can you imagine Damon sit to write a poem ? Vampires are always looking for sensations as well, they feel a hundred times what we feel, smells, tastes, touch, hearing, all is magnify. Imagine what it is ! And like everybody, they’re addicted to pleasure.
It’s interesting because all these TV shows and films have their own vision about vampires. In The Vampire Diaries, they can walk on the sun and there’s a new system… Did you have an influence on that ?
IS : Most of the things are in the books. What they can do, mythology… Mythology necessarily changes according to the time of the TV show. In The Vampire Diaries, vampires are so strange it seems we feel death by seeing them. And in Twilight or Interview with the Vampire, we don’t feel death by seeing Brad Pitt, there’s this wonderful façade, this appearance which hides everything and so, emotion and dramaturgy are necessary. But there’s so much mysticism, mystery and sex around the vampire’s folklore that it makes it attractive for humans.
There are a lot of TV shows about vampires. How yours is different or new ?
IS : … I think our TV show is not exactly as simple as parents would imagine it which makes it great. It’s sexy. There are a few teenagers in trouble who watch us and I think our show, in some ways, delivers the message there’s nothing wrong to be scared, to be independent, to be in rut, to feel all these things during adolescence and for which we have no point of reference. Children don’t talk any longer to their parents, they try to find a solution by talking to each other and with cultural references, in films and in the Internet.
PW : I also firmly believe our show affects a wider audience, the youngs as the grown-ups, women as well as men.
ND : Yes because it’s a good way to escape from reality. Our show deals with a realistic world with supernatural elements, it’s a scary, funny, dangerous and bloody show. There are plenty of different sides which are very popular with any kinds of people.
IS : Besides, you can see Paul Wesley without his shirt ! (laughs)
Do you follow a diet or a particular training for that Paul ?
PW : I wasn’t regularly doing sport, but after reading the scripts, I told me I’d better go to the gym ! Honestly, it is even not because I’m half-naked, it’s especially because when you play such a powerful and omniscient character, you have to play it on screen, show it physically as well, this power… Anyway, I can no longer eat as many ice-creans as I used to before !
Do you watch The Vampire Diaries ?
IS : Yes.
PW : Yes, I watch. The episodes always seem very different of what we do. Which is not a bad thing, in general, it’s rather a pleasant surprise. We work very hard on that, fifteen hours a day, which transform into forty fiction minutes and the finished product is structured and adjusted so that the stories can work.
ND : Besides, we can see what the audience see.
IS : The show is cooler than we have expected to.
PW : Ans we realize the things we thought have failed are not so horrible !
IS : The story is so gripping, I don’t even realize it is me on the screen. When I watch a scene between Damon and Stefan, I don’t realize they are Paul and Ian, and it’s fun. It’s what is needed.