Vampire Diaries Set Was Hell for Kat Graham (Until Ian Somerhalder Intervened)

Summary

• Kat's character on the show was poorly written and it seems that the writers intentionally diminished her importance.
• Kat revealed that her experience on the show was painful due to the lack of character development, constant sacrifice, and being denied basic necessities like having her own hairdresser.
• In response to rumors that showrunner Julie Plec wanted to eliminate Bonnie's character, Ian Somerhalder intervened by telling Plec that he would leave The Vampire Diaries if Kat was fired.

Even though The CW's The Vampire Diaries is still fondly remembered by fans as one of the best romantic series of the 2010s, it looks like a lot of the actors working on the set of the vampire drama can't say the same, as their time filming the show turned out to be a total nightmare.

We all know how hard it was for Nina Dobrev and Iam Somerhalder to work together after their painful breakup, but even their struggles can't compare to what Kat Graham had to go through during her first four years on TVD.

Graham, best known for playing the witch Bonnie, has always been one of the most popular actresses on the show, but fans couldn't help but notice how poorly written her character's storylines were. And it looks like the writers were deliberately trying to diminish Bonnie as a character.

A nightmare of a shoot

According to Kat herself, working on TVD was an incredibly painful experience for her, as not only was her character denied any kind of character development and often forced to sacrifice herself for other characters on the show, she was often denied basic necessities on set.

For example, it is known that Kat didn't have her own hairdresser, so she was forced to wear wigs all the time, which eventually ruined her hair.

At the time, fans were quite vocal in accusing producer Julie Plec of racism and wanting to kill Bonnie off as soon as possible, but when Iam Somerhalder lent a helping hand to Kat.

A true friend

When it became clear how little Plec cared for Bonnie, and rumors of her trying to get rid of the character for good became public, Somerhalder decided to step in and tell Plec that he would leave the show if Kat was fired.

Needless to say, Plec immediately changed her tune on Kat and her characters, even making the actress a second lead after Nina Dobrev left the show after Season 6.

Looks like we have Ian to thank for saving Bonnie on TVD.