The Vampire Diaries Finale Twist Made Even Paul Wesley Tear Up

It was an act that allowed him to find peace and his one true love. But we didn’t know that at the time and it still brought a tear to the eye of many fans– and to Paul Wesley (who played Stefan through all 8 seasons of the show).

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the New Jersey-born actor said that he hadn’t been aware before reading the script for the finale that his character was going to pass away. But he had told the showrunners that he thought “Stefan should die”.

“He’s been the Ripper,” Wesley said, adding that “all the murders that Damon did” were really Stefan’s fault as it was he who “caused his brother to turn”. So, he felt it fitting that the show should end with the death of Stefan.

However, the production team, he said, “teased” him, saying that Stefan wouldn’t die at the end of season 8. So, when he sat down to read through the script on an aeroplane, he was ok for the first five acts. Then it hit him. What he had asked for was to come true. Stefan was going to die in an ending that he described as “powerful”.

“I teared up,” he said, “and I never really tear up when it comes to sentimental Vampire Diaries-esque things”.

But after 8 seasons of the fantasy drama, maybe the end of the era as much as the end of his characters’ life was as much to blame for him tearing up on a plane.

But he wasn’t the only member of the cast who found it all a bit too much.

Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce) who also played a key role in the finale, said she “cried during a lot of moments”. The Bulgarian actor wasn’t at the final read-through. A fact that she said was probably “for the best” as she thinks she “would’ve been a mess”.

Their tears haven’t held them back, though, with both going on to star in several shows since – and turn their hands to producing films too.

And in 2020, Wesley and his on-screen brother Ian Somerhalder (who played Damon Salvatore) launched their own straight bourbon called Brother's Bond Bourbon.