Nina Dobrev fought 6 seasons for equal reward on ‘Vampire Diaries’
Although it is the management of ‘The Vampire Diaries’, Nina Dobrev has never earned as much money as her Costars, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley. In “I was Epic: An Oral History of the Vampire Diaries”, the book by Samantha Highfill that was released on Tuesday, fought Dobrev for seasons for equal reward.
Candice [King]Cat [Graham]And I were the three lowest series tribe guests in the first two seasons, “said Dobrev, who also figured Katherine Pierce alongside Elena Gilbert, I had to be set up for double the amount of time, I had to remember double the amount of lines. I wanted to play Katherine, but I wanted to be honestly compensated for and I wanted to be right to the boys. ”
In season 3, when cast negotiations started, she got a wage increase but it was never the same as what her male co-pipes made. The studio agreed to pay in her when she portrayed Katherine – and reportedly told makers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson told Katherine no longer.
“They just said on principle that they would not come across me to be the same as the boys, and that was probably the most offensive because it felt like I was really working hard and we sometimes took eighteen hours and nights, and I put my absolute heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears in it, Dobrev recalls. “I remember feeling that the studio did not appreciate what I brought to the show, and it felt like they said that all the hard work I put into it did not matter and that I was not the same as my male counterparts, and that was up for me.”
Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley
© CW Network/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ultimately, Plec says, the studio was “granted a certain number of episodes” with Katherine and the character eventually had to kill.
Dobrev left at the end of season 6, but was open to returning for the eighth and final season. Although the makers wanted her back for several episodes, a different wage differences prevented that.
“I was always open to coming back for the final, and the storyline it made sense. I felt that it was important and it had to happen before the show, it had to happen for the fans,” says Dobrev. “It was just very 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 right about my male counterparts in the show, and so it came down to that.”
Because Wesley and Somerhalder had been given several increases since her exit, the network would not admit. Initially, Dobrev, the “opening offer” for the final was “five times less than what I made when I left in season 6.”
She continues: “That is the only reason why I hardly returned at a certain point. I had to get parity for the boys. I had to put my foot down and say that if it didn’t happen, I couldn’t come back. And it wasn’t about the money – it wasn’t at all to give the money.
After Plec had arrived for weeks and worked for weeks on the deal, the CW and the studio are said to have been agreed to the wage – but only for one episode.
“The reason we couldn’t have her more than one episode is because they just wouldn’t pay,” says Plec in the book. “It took a lot of work before they finally admit, but it came back that it was just one episode that they would say yes for.”
