How The Vampire Diaries Prepared Paul Wesley To Play Star Trek’s Captain Kirk

When asked about the stresses of stepping into such a well-known pop culture role, Wesley responded with excitement. Who, after all, wouldn’t want the opportunity to play Captain Kirk? Wesley may not look a lot like a young William Shatner, but he does have that certain focused authority that Shatner brought to the role. Give that this was “alternate timeline” Kirk, Wesley likely also felt a certain leeway in straying from many of Shatner’s mannerisms or line delivery. 

Wesley played the role of Stefan Salvatore on “The Vampire Diaries,” the central vampire character beloved by Elena (Nina Dobrev) and at odds with — and eventually allied to — his vampire brother Damon (Ian Somerhalder). This is perhaps the shortest summation possible of an eight-season supernatural soap opera riddled with twists and complications. In the Variety interview, Wesley talks about his experiences starring in a soap — one with millions of passionate fans — and how that parlayed, in his mind, to Trekkie-dom. He said it wasn’t the same crowd, but explained that the spirit was the same: 

“It feels amazing. First of all, I was part of a cult-y family, in a sense — I don’t mean cult in a bad way. I mean, a cult classic. You know, ‘Vampire Diaries’ was obviously a different audience. It was much more younger skewing. It was a very successful show. We created our own fanhood — there was a real community that was built around it. There were multiple spinoffs.”

The 2013 series “The Originals” was a spinoff of “The Vampire Diaries.” It’s worth noting that Wesley also directed several episodes of “Diaries.”