The One Vampire Diaries Character Ian Somerhalder Threatened to Quit Over
Running for 8 seasons from 2009 to 2017, The Vampire Diaries was a fan favourite, with many viewers fascinated by the love triangle involving Elena (played by Nina Dobrev), bad boy Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley).
But did you know that the one character whose death nearly saw Ian Somerhalder quit the show was Enzo?
Lorenzo St. John was a bit of a heart-throb and all-round decent guy whose death at the hands of Stefan was crucial to the plot. Had he not died, there would have been no reason for Bonnie to use the vampire cult on Stefan which ultimately led to his redemption.
And it wasn't just Stefan's story that was affected. Bonnie's character arc was also dependent on Enzo's demise. Her colossal capabilities are revealed as a consequence of her creating and breaking free from her own dimension to release Enzo's spirit.
So, imagine what went through the mind of Executive Producer Caroline Dries when Somerhalder approached her and said he'd quit if Enzo was killed.
Of course, this death wasn't the first that Enzo had suffered during the show – but it was supposed to be the final one. And what does an Executive Producer do when the star of her show says he's going to quit if a fundamental plot point goes ahead?
Well, in the case of Dries, she chose to go ahead with the plot as planned while still keeping her star happy. And, fortunately for her, given the genre it was pretty straightforward.
She told The Hollywood Reporter she "purposefully had (Enzo) show up at the end as a ghost to imply this story isn't over."
Simple, huh? The plot goes on as normal, but with a new and interesting angle on character and story development. And she averted the risk of having to explain to Damon's adoring fans just why he had to leave the show or (worse still) be played by a different actor!
Rumour has it, though, that this wasn't the only time he threatened to quit the show. Apparently, despite being part of the show right up until the end, Somerhalder stated his intention to walk away from it several times.
Why that never happened, we don't know. Maybe it was always better to bow to his whim and keep Damon going, maybe he had a good point to make on every occasion, or perhaps he never really intended to quit and was just having a little Hollywoodesque diva moment!