The Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev shocked fans in 2015 by leaving the teen supernatural drama on The CW in its sixth season. The adaptation based on the popular series of vampire novels by L.J. Smith continued for two more seasons without her. That was unexpected, at least given Hollywood conventional wisdom. Dobrev’s character, Elena Gilbert, one of many she played, lost her parents in a car crash and served as the series’ main protagonist. Critics and fans wondered if the drama could continue with the rest of the ensemble cast.
The other central characters were vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore, played by Ian Somerhalder and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ Paul Wesley. The show later reveals Stefan arrived after the accident and saved Elena. Throughout The Vampire Diaries, Elena finds herself in a love triangle with the two brothers as they attempt to protect her from supernatural forces threatening her town. However, as The Vampire Diaries developed, its focus expanded beyond Elena, making the ensemble cast indispensable elements of the larger story. Still, Dobrev’s departure led to a major shake-up as the show moved on without its central figure. Why did Nina Dobrev leave The Vampire Diaries? The answer was simple: She was just ready to move on.
Updated by Alex Roush on November 18, 2024: Nina Dobrev was the beating heart of The Vampire Diaries, so her exit from the show was even more shocking. She played multiple parts in the franchise: Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce, Tatia, and Amara, and her departure changed the show’s tone completely. This list has been updated with further information about Dobrev’s decision to leave and what her career has been like since The Vampire Diaries.
How Long Was Nina Dobrev on The Vampire Diaries Before She Left?
She Appears in 134 Episodes of the CW Series
Nina Dobrev was already a big name in young-adult television before joining The Vampire Diaries after she played Mia Jones on Degrassi: The Next Generation and the TV movie Degrassi Goes Hollywood. The Canadian series, where she co-starred with other well-known actors and, of course, Drake, ended in 2015, but after Dobrev left it for The CW series, the show rebranded to just Degrassi. Even though vampire romance dramas owned the early 2000s pop culture, The Vampire Diaries was an underdog, dismissed as a broadcast network True Blood or, more derisively, the show that tried to turn Twilight into a TV series. However, over Dobrev’s six seasons on the show, The Vampire Diaries grew in popularity and became one of the more complex and involved mythologies of its kind.
Stefan and Elena were revealed to be Doppelgängers, created by nature in response to two humans becoming “true immortals,” violating the “natural order” of things. Elena was a dopplegänger of Amara, the handmaiden to a powerful witch who Stefan’s dopplegänger, Silas, loved. Stefan was obsessed with Elena because she looked like the woman who made him and his brother vampires, Katerina Petrova. Like Elena, she, too, was in love with both brothers. Nina Dobrev didn’t just play the protagonist of The Vampire Diaries — Katerina was one of the series’ main antagonists over its first five seasons and was also portrayed by Dobrev.
Eventually, Elena is turned into a vampire, marries Damon, is made to forget she ever loved, helps discover the “cure” for vampirism and other forms of immortality, and is put into a Sleeping Beauty-like trance. Along with Katerina and Elena, Dobrev played Amara, the woman who, with Silas (also played by Paul Wesley), were the first two people to become immortal while still retaining vestiges of humanity. Dobrev also played Tatia, another “Petrova Dopplegänger,” who appeared on the spinoff series The Originals.
What Season Does Elena Leave The Vampire Diaries?
Nina Dobrev Left the Series After Season 6
The Vampire Diaries found a creative way to write off Elena while keeping the door open for Nina Dobrev’s possible return. In the Season 6 finale, antagonist Kai Parker (played by Chris Wood) placed a sleeping spell on Elena that linked her to her best friend Bonnie (Kat Graham). Therefore, as long as Bonnie was alive, Elena remained in a deep sleep, akin to temporary death. Elena willingly went into that state to ensure her best friend would enjoy a long life. Damon and Stefan — already the other leads of The Vampire Diaries — were made even more central after Dobrev left.
The decision to leave the series shocked fans, but Dobrev maintained it was always her intention to leave after Season 6. “That was the plan from the get-go,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2017. She was eager to pursue other, more mature roles. While fans were shocked at Dobrev’s decision to leave, it did The Vampire Diaries a world of good. The writers kept leaning on Elena as the key to everything and the motivation for every other character, be it Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, or even Caroline. With Elena out of the picture, other characters could get their own stories and the attention they deserved. Damon and Stefan’s brotherly bond became a mainstay in the series, Caroline’s pregnancy and her romance with Stefan took center stage, and Bonnie finally had meaningful relationships with Damon (as a friend) and Enzo (as a soulmate). Elena’s exit was tragic, but it allowed The Vampire Diaries to come into its own.
Does Elena Come Back to The Vampire Diaries?
She Returns in the Series Finale
Despite Dobrev’s departure, Elena’s absence loomed over the remainder of The Vampire Diaries. She was often mentioned during the show’s penultimate seasons. As fans expected a return, it was natural for the former Vampire Diaries star to return in 2017 for the series finale to close out the show she helped shape. To fully leverage Dobrev’s guest role, the final episode, “I Was Feeling Epic,” included a cameo by Elena’s vampire doppelgänger Katherine Pierce. Elena and Katherine’s returns were skillfully carried out in the series finale of The Vampire Diaries.
Much of the episode focused on the characters attempting to break the sleeping curse and visiting Elena in her trapped state between life and death. At the same time, they also tried to save Mystic Falls from the machinations of Katerina, the newly minted Queen of Hell. Katherine was intent on burning the town down once and for all, and the Bennetts had to work overtime to ensure that didn’t happen.
Dobrev’s first appearance in the infamous blue dress she was laid to sleep in after nearly two seasons was emotional until Damon and Stefan realized that the girl in front of them was actually Katherine. It took a while, but Bonnie broke the curse placed on Elena. However, The Vampire Diaries didn’t quite answer how she managed to do it. Once Bonnie finally frees Elena, she has a heartfelt reunion with Damon, her friends, and her fans off-screen who missed her. The show depicted her living a long and happy life (and afterlife) with Damon — both now human.
How Nina Dobrev Said Farewell to The Vampire Diaries
She Gave a Heartfelt Goodbye to Elena
Dobrev informed fans of her Vampire Diaries departure in an April 2015 Instagram post. The post contained a gold polaroid of the actress in an embrace with Julie Plec, the TV creator of The Vampire Diaries. The picture was presumably from the weekend Dobrev spent with the cast and crew of TVD in Lake Lanier in Georgia, which she mentioned was a farewell party for her. The actress recounted how she went to LA to audition for “that Twilight TV show” which changed her life completely. She showed immense gratitude to the fans of TVD, but it was her ode to Elena that touched hearts.
Yet, this wasn’t her only time saying “goodbye” to the show. Nina Dobrev had another farewell post to make after she starred in the series finale of The Vampire Diaries, finally laying the popular show and her character to rest. A heartfelt Instagram post followed her return to The Vampire Diaries for the series finale, where she recounted her blessings and bid the show goodbye. The post contained the picture of mementos (Forever Keys) she had made for her TVD family to commemorate this milestone in their lives. Dobrev very sweetly signed off her note with “Katherine, Amara, Tatia, and of course, Elena Gilbert.”
She Recently Returned to Fan Events
Nina Dobrev Has Returned to Conventions After a Years-Long Absence
Since the series premiere of The Vampire Diaries, conventions have been used to promote the show and reunite cast members in front of live audiences. Nina Dobrev attended many of these events, such as SDCC 2010, toward the beginning of the series, but stopped attending in 2015 when she left TVD. In December 2023, she finally reunited with castmates at Epic’s I Was Feeling Festive convention, which was held in Covington, Georgia.
The appearance was Dobrev’s first since Elena’s departure from The Vampire Diaries, and fans were excited to witness her return. According to People, the convention was scheduled as the first full cast reunion since 2017, but Ian Somerhalder had to cancel his appearance at the con. Luckily, fans can see Somerhalder, Dobrev, Wesley, and many more cast members at the I Was Feeling Festive 2 convention this December.
Nina Dobrev’s Work Since Leaving The Vampire Diaries
She Recently Played Post Malone’s Ex-Girlfriend in a Music Video
After her Vampire Diaries departure in 2015, Dobrev continued her acting career with roles in films such as Flatliners (2017), XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), Dog Days (2018), Run This Town (2019), Love Hard (2021), and The Out-Laws (2023). She also starred in and executive produced the comedy Sick Girl, written and directed by Jennifer Cram. She has stayed busy in recent years with the comedy Reunion and the action-thriller The Bricklayer. Dobrev’s most notable post-The Vampire Diaries television credit was her starring role in the short-lived CBS sitcom Fam, which was canceled after one season. She also recently appeared in the 2024 music video for Dwight Yoakam and Post Malone’s “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom).”
Dobrev has continued to appear on television, either doing animation voiceover work or appearing for single episodes. More recently, the actress has dipped her toe into behind-the-scenes work, including as an executive producer for projects like The League, a documentary chronicling the early Black players in the MLB. Even so, many fans will continue to fondly remember Dobrev for portraying a series of unstoppable vampires on The Vampire Diaries.
