Vampire Diaries: Kat Graham & Ian Somerhalder's On-Set Feud, Explained
From love to hate, there is only one step. From hate to friendship, however, there are many years of maturing.
The adventures of the Salvatore brothers in the fan-favorite supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries kept viewers entertained over the show's eight seasons, and many of the series' cast members became close friends during its long run.
But it turns out, not all actors liked each other from the start.
Ian Somerhalder, who portrayed the charming and enigmatic Damon Salvatore, is known for his good relationships with the other cast members.
In the early 2010s, Ian dated his co-star Nina Dobrev, and he is also longtime friends with Paul Wesley — the two actors even created their own ultra-premium bourbon brand, Brother's Bond Bourbon, in 2021.
However, there was one actress on Vampire Diaries with whom Somerhalder couldn't get along initially — Kat Graham.
The cause of the feud between Somerhalder and Graham is actually rather irrational. As Kat recently admitted, the first season of the series was unbearable for her because she and Ian were constantly together on the set.
'We wanted to kill each other, but I was a kid and we were both very strong people,' the actress said, without pointing to one specific situation that ignited the conflict between her and Ian.
It's likely that the actors were both independent and stubborn, and they just couldn't deal with each others' strong personalities, which led them to develop a short-term feud.
However, over the course of the series, Graham and Somerhalder learned to tolerate each other and found common ground to connect on.
Continuing her account of her experience working with Somerhalder, the actress added, 'I was still finding myself, and throughout the years, he's helped me find myself and is now one of my greatest inspirations.'
Ironically, Ian had been dating another actress who happened to be Kat Graham's good friend — Nikki Reed, who played Rosalie Hale in The Twilight Saga, was his girlfriend for years and is now his wife. Kat appears to be very supportive of Ian and Nikki's relationship:
'They have the same values when it comes to people, how you treat people, how you treat animals, how you treat the world, the environment. I mean, they're really perfect together,' Graham shared.
The conflict between the actors diminished as they gained experience and got to know each other better, and fans find this really heartwarming. After all, both Somerhalder and Graham are really talented performers and nice people, and it would be sad to see them feud for no apparent reason.