At 'Vampire Weekend,' 'Diaries' stars Wesley and Somerhalder reminisce and banter

Yahoo

17 hours ago

BOSTON — Fandom for 'The Vampire Diaries' is alive and well. And, if anything this past weekend's 'Vampire Fan Weekend' proved July 19 and 20, it's bigger than ever.
Despite the blood-sucking, nighttime soap opera being canceled eight years ago, fans packed into Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel to celebrate the defunct but never defanged series and its stars.
Then again, with streaming and binging, a series about the trial and tribulations and romantic pitfalls of the good-looking undead never stay truly dead for too long.
And, the reason why 'The Vampire Diaries' has risen from grave of rerun hell, is because of the star power of Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, who played the devilishly handsome bloodsucking brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, as the crowd of predominately young women — many of which weren't even preschoolers or out of rubber pants when the show debuted in 2009 on the CW — would attest.
Brother act
Wesley and Somerhalder were the main attraction of 'Vampire Fan Weekend' and the toothsome twosome didn't disappoint fans during their unabashed, free-wheeling, F-bomb-laced panels where nothing was sacred or off-limits.
Sadly, the only minor disappointment at 'Vampire Fan Weekend' was no one took the opportunity to partake in some cosplay. I stand corrected, there were two fans dressed in Starfleet uniforms in honor of Wesley landing the role of a young James T. Kirk on 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.'
Thankfully, an appreciative Wesely made myself and my brother not feel awkward being more appropriately suited up for a 'Star Trek' convention, with toy phaser and communicator in hand.
In addition, Candice King, who plays Caroline Forbes on 'The Vampire Diaries,' and Matthew Davis, who plays history teacher and vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman on 'The Vampire Diaries,' turned out to be very popular drawers.
While Nina Dobrev, who played vampiric love triangle interest Elena Gilbert and her doomed doppelganger Katherine Pierce, was not on the bill, the actress was there in spirit and conversation.
During their batty, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants panel, Wesley and Somerhalder, who also played Boone on 'Lost' prior to 'The Vampire Diaries' gig, cheekily joked about their relationship off the set. The truth of the matter is, the two men who played brothers act like brothers in real life, finishing sentences and slapping each other down with their self-lacerating wit.
Behind the scenes
When asked if they could have picked another series to do a 'crossover episode' with, Wesley immediately riffed 'A cross-dressing episode?' before saying, that he was surprised that the Salvatore brothers never joined forces (or were at odds) with Dean and Sam Winchester (aka Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) from 'Supernatural,' which was also on the same network as 'The Vampire Diaries.'
When the two men were on topic, they chatted about how the show taught them patience and Somerhalder had the biggest makeup bag.
'We were supposed to be on the set at 10 a.m.,' Wesley said of Somerhalder. 'He was there four a.m. doing his hair.'
'My make-up bag was bigger than Candice's (Candice King), or Nina's (Nina Dobrev), or Bonnie's (Bonnie Bennett)' Somerhalder boasted.
'At least, he admits it. It was like Anthony Hopkins in 'Silence of the Lambs,' nine face masks,' Wesley insisted. 'Dude it was like an ER surgery. Nine people. It's like what 's the (expletive) is going on here?'
'You learn a lot because unlike Paul I had a method,' Somerhalder snapped.
'What was your method?' Wesley countered. 'Moisturizing your face for nine hours?'
Forced to examine their characters by a fan, the two actors said they saw striking similarities with their small screen counterparts.'
'These characters were resilient, like we are, fiercely loyal, love their family,' Somerhalder said. 'And (they commit) murder(s),'
A question from closet shrink, who admitted that she works in HK, started Wesley and Somerhalder to allude to the infamous jumbotron scandal four days before at Gillete stadium.
'Don't go to any Coldplay concerts,' Wesley interjected, before Somerhalder took it to a another level, talking about a guy he saw online beaning his kid off the head with a baseball and the caption, 'I might not be the best dad in the world but I don't go to Coldplay concerts' Ouch.
When asked if they were in horror movie who would sacrifice the other to survive, Wesley snapped, 'If we were on an island, I'd want to eat his (expletive), I wouldn't be hungry. I would just do it. Even if there were plenty of fruits and (expletive), I would just eat it.'
When asked what has been your biggest lesson that has helped you stay focus and on track, Wesley chimed, 'Adderall, without missing a beat.
When a fan asked which one of them should have ended up with Elena Gilbert — the brothers' shared love interest played by Nina Dobrev — Wesley and Somerhalder agreed that neither deserved her, because she was too good for either of them.
'We deserved each other," said Wesley.
'Crazy as craziness gets'
Before the end of the afternoon, the two actors drove a stake into 'The Vampire Diaries' fans over the romantic notion of two brothers swooning over and competing for a teenager.
'These guys were 150-160-something years old dating a 17-year-old high school student who turned 18, thankfully, and you approved of it,' Somerhalder said. 'And then I killed her brother twice. Still approved of it. I just want you to know you are crazy as craziness gets.'
When Somerhalder joked that he loved seeing Wesley's character get killed, Paul said he felt like he could have moved out of the way of the fireball from hell and also been able to save Matt Donavan and Elena at the same time from the sinking car.
'She was like, 'No save him.' Ok. I was a vampire. I had vampire powers. So I could have taken both of them,' Wesley said. 'The truth is I am so glad Stephan didn't end up with Elena. If he did, I would have to hear about it for the rest of my life.'
And the TV brothers weren't too keen with the show's ending, they said.
'The brothers should have just died and let the town go back human. Let everyone go to back to being alive and happy,' Somerhalder said. 'And, by the way, this is all endorsed by you lunatics.'
When the audience started lobbying for Somerhalder return to television, the actor snapped, 'I need a television show like I need an (expletive) on my elbow … You know messy that be? Every time you shake someone's hand (making a fluctuance sound). That would be horrible.'
Antisocial media
Before leaving, Wesley and Somerhalder got nostalgic for the simpler, carefree days before lashing out at social media.
'You can really go down a rabbit hole, people criticizing, being mean and all things being anonymous,' Wesley said.
Wesley says he does two things about posts about him on social media — consciously, he doesn't look at it. And, for chances he does, he said doesn't give a '(expletive).'
Somerhalder added when social media first came out in the forefront his initial thought was, 'If this catches fire, this is going to be hell.'
'It gives someone mean to say something anonymously that they would never say to your face,' Somerhalder said. 'They are now saying it online because they can do it without repercussions.'
Somerhalder went as far to say teenagers were better off without social media.
'When we were in school, if you said something mean to someone, they would punch you in the face and then you knew it was cause and effect,' Somerhalder said. 'Oh, when I hurt someone with my words, they might either say your words back to me or they are wrack you in the jaw. Now, that went out the window.'
'In our case, we say something mean, we make up and make out,' Wesley added
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wesley and Somerhalder hold court at 'Vampire Diaries' convention
Solve the daily Crossword