Sebastian Stan has revealed that he once turned down the opportunity to play the lead role that eventually went to Paul Wesley in The Vampire Diaries because he was burned out and convinced the series would not make it past its first season.
The actor recalled that he had just finished working on Kings, a television series that did not turn out the way he had hoped, leaving him emotionally exhausted and hesitant to immediately commit to another TV project.
“They offered me Paul Wesley’s role. I’d just come off Kings… I felt really burnt out from that not working out,” Stan explained.
According to Stan, his experience with Kings made him skeptical about signing up for another television series, particularly one that he believed might be canceled after its first season.
“The idea of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m just going to sign up again for something that probably isn’t going to get to the second season,’” he recalled.
Ultimately, Stan decided to pass on the opportunity.
“I didn’t do it… and then the show went on to be super, super successful,” he said.
The Vampire Diaries went on to become a major hit, running for eight seasons from 2009 to 2017 and turning its cast into international stars.
Stan later became widely known for his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Paul Wesley went on to play Stefan Salvatore throughout the series’ entire run.
