Whatever Happened To Paul Wesley After The Vampire Diaries?
For eight seasons, Paul Wesley (born Pawel Tomasz Wasilewski), portrayed the brooding teenage vampire Stefan Salvatore on the popular supernatural TV show, "The Vampire Diaries." The show's fictional town of Mystic Falls ripened with otherworldly plotlines and fantastical characters as the seasons progressed, yet the foundation of the series always circled back to fan favorites Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, who played Stefan's bad boy vampire brother Damon, and the brothers' heated love triangle with Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). Stefan vacillated between hero and villain, and Wesley had the chance to explore the character's many layers, even in the midst of wildly outlandish plots.
Wesley was 26 years old when he landed the role of Stefan, but his character was an ageless vampire. Thus, the actor couldn't convincingly portray him indefinitely. Still, when "Vampire Diaries" ended in 2017, the 30-something Wesley told Entertainment Weekly that saying goodbye to his character proved to be an emotional affair. However, his career hasn't slowed down in the years since — Wesley has embarked on an impressive business journey, explored a plethora of nuanced acting roles, and has stepped behind the camera, too. Here's a look at what's happened to Paul Wesley since "The Vampire Diaries."
He appeared in a short-lived fairy tale
Shortly after "The Vampire Diaries” wrapped, Paul Wesley landed on another fantasy TV show when he snagged the role of Josh in the Refinery29 anthology series, "Fabled." The pilot episode, "Anodyne," showcases the story of Alice/Allie (Zosia Mamet) and Dorothy/Dee (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) after they meet in a behavioral health center and are made to question the reality of their fairy tale experiences. Wesley's character, Josh, is a fellow patient at the center who experiences severe depression. The actor portrays Josh's nuances with authentic depth and helps the supporting character to shine.
According to series co-creator and Episode 1 star Zosia Mamet, the show aspired to explore timeless fairy tale heroines as marginalized characters and spin the standard tropes. In 2018, Mamet told Cultured Vultures that she and "Fabled" co-creator, Evan Jonigkeit, wanted to create plotlines for the heroines in an empowered, modern-day aftermath of their classic stories. "We started talking about what happens to these characters after the story is over. What would happen if their worlds collided?" she said.
Although "Anodyne" debuted at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, was helmed by actress-director Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan on "Once Upon a Time"), and received some critical buzz, a full season was never picked up by a network or streaming service. However, as "Fabled" was envisioned as an anthology, Wesley's character arc for Josh wrapped up nicely in the show's only episode.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
Wesley is still friends with Ian Somerhalder
On "The Vampire Diaries," Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder portray mysterious vampiric brothers who fight for the love of a teenage girl, Elena Gilbert. Their brotherly bond runs deep, yet they often find themselves at odds. Fans planted themselves firmly in the camp of Team Stefan or Team Damon and inspired endless passionate Reddit threads. However, the actors who portrayed the brothers quickly formed a friendship both on and off set. According to an interview with Wesley and Somerhalder in People, the pair considers themselves best friends, and their bond has only strengthened In the years since "The Vampire Diaries" ended.
In a YouTube interview with Sirius XM, Wesley reflected on his friendship with Somerhalder, and stated, "A brotherhood is a thing where you kinda know that you're kinda connected ... forever." The actor went on to explain, "We [Wesley and Somerhalder] were on this journey together, on this show "The Vampire Diaries," and it was such a huge grind for us." Wesley said that during one break, the friends shared a connection over gratitude for their lives, and that the moment stands out for both of them as a friendship highlight. The actors are still in each other's personal and professional circles and together they launched a hands-on distillery business in 2021. Will another collaborative TV or film project be next?
He tied the knot and got divorced
Paul Wesley was married to his "Killer Movie" costar, Torrey DeVitto, from 2011 to 2013, and she even appeared as Dr. Meredith Fell, a brief love interest of Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis) on "The Vampire Diaries." Unfortunately, the couple parted ways after only two years, and Wesley soon found romance with his co-star, Phoebe Tonkin, who played Hayley Marshall on the show. Wesley and Tonkin dated off and on from 2013 to 2017, before breaking up for good. The actor didn't remain single for long, though — he began dating Swiss native Ines de Ramon, the vice president of luxury Los Angeles-based jewelry company Anita Ko, in 2018, and the couple married in a low-key ceremony in 2019. De Ramon boasts fluency in 27 languages on her LinkedIn resume, and although she's certainly Hollywood-adjacent, she hasn't added any film or TV credits to her impressive resume.
Sadly, Wesley's happily-ever-after with de Ramon also ended: The pair separated in late 2022, and the actor filed for divorce several months later. Since the divorce, according to Cosmopolitan, de Ramon has been in a steady relationship with blockbuster movie star Brad Pitt, and the two are often photographed together in public. Wesley hasn't publicly commented on his ex-wife's new romance, but he seems to have moved on and has been romantically linked to model Natalie Kuckenburg.
He and Nina Dobrev remain close
When Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev first met on the set of "The Vampire Diaries," the two didn't share an instant connection. In fact, the ill-fated, passionate love they needed to express through their characters may have been initially fueled by the disdain the costars held for each other offscreen. In a podcast interview with Directionally Challenged, Dobrev discussed her close friendship with Wesley and revealed that the onscreen lovers clashed terribly during their early days of filming. "We really didn't get along for the first, maybe, five months of shooting," she said. She revealed that Wesley predicted they'd be close friends in the future and that he was eventually proven right. "Out of everyone [from the cast] I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most," Dobrev continued.
In a Television Critics Association press conference (per US Weekly), Wesley confirmed Dobrev's take on their relationship and said that they got on each other's nerves, but now enjoy a phenomenal friendship. Their playful bonds spill into social media, too. On Instagram, E! News shared look-alike images of a young Wesley and Justin Bieber, and in the post's comment thread, Wesley quipped that Bieber "is my son" while Dobrev joked that the pop singer could be the pair's "love child."
Wesley co-starred in another fairy tale
In "Tell Me a Story," Paul Wesley took on yet another dark fairy tale role. The anthology show reunited Wesley with "The Vampire Diaries" co-creator, Kevin Williamson, who imprinted the series with his signature brand of horror, reflected in the twisted re-telling of timeless fairy tales. In Season 1, the storylines of modern-day "Three Little Pigs," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "Hansel and Gretel" weave together to form a larger, bleaker story. Wesley stars as Eddie Longo, a hapless bartender with a substance abuse problem, who, along with his brother Mitch (Michael Raymond-James), is recruited to take part in a messily executed jewelry store robbery. The role echoes aspects of the actor's "Fabled" character but is also a distinct departure from the heroic (and villainous) turns of Stefan Salvatore. Eddie is a victim of horrendous choices and hard circumstances — the more he tries to rectify his terrible situation, the worse it becomes.
The show's final season reimagines "Beauty and the Beast," "Cinderella," and "Sleeping Beauty." Wesley stars as Tucker Reed, a wannabe writer who grapples with a disturbing secret from his childhood. As Tucker, Wesley fleshes out a quasi-likable character who succumbs to his evil inclinations and a past that refuses to let him go. Alas, "Tell Me a Story" was canceled after two seasons on CBS All Access (now known as Paramount+), and although the already-aired episodes were acquired by The CW, Season 3 never materialized.
He continues to direct
Paul Wesley first stepped behind the camera during Season 5 of "The Vampire Diaries." He directed his first episode, "Resident Evil," and impressively, also starred in the Stefan and Elena-centric episode. Wesley added four more installments of the show to his directing resume, including the final season episode, "Detoured on Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell," which featured the attempts of Caroline (Candice King) to protect her family. The actor later ventured beyond the comforts of his own show to direct episodes of "Shadowhunters," the rebooted "Roswell" series, "Legacies" (a spin-off of "The Vampire Diaries" set after its predecessor), and "Batwoman."
In an interview with Variety, Wesley discussed how his opportunities to direct TV shows have set him up for future success. "I've been preparing myself to direct a feature film, and directing television is a really incredible resource. It's an incredibly well-seasoned machine. You have all of this crew, and all of this talent, and it's a support system," he said. The actor is also listed as the Principal of Citizen Media, a production company he co-founded in 2016 with "The Vampire Diaries" executive producer, Bob Levy. The company has several slated TV and film projects currently in various stages of development.
Wesley co-founded Brother's Bond Bourbon
In 2021, Paul Wesley teamed up with his "The Vampire Diaries" co-star and close friend, Ian Somerhalder, to launch a new craft whiskey, Brother's Bond Bourbon. The actors are passionate about their product and promote their distillery's use of regenerative agriculture practices to help reverse climate change and protect the environment. Both actors have dedicated themselves to environmentally friendly causes in the past: Somerhalder founded his eponymous foundation in 2010 to empower and educate people in nature conservation, while also offering youth outreach and grassroots programs. Wesley is vegan and has actively advocated against factory farming. He told VegNews that he's proud to be vegan as he feels he's positively impacting the world with his choice.
The actors' collective environmental advocacy and mutual love of bourbon served as inspiration for Brother's Bond, and the name is a not-so-subtle nod to their on-screen relationship. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wesley explained why he and Somerhalder make great business partners. "Ian is an eternal optimist and I'm an eternal pessimist. We balance each other out in so many ways — he'll go big, and then I'll bring him down a little sometimes, when it's necessary," he said. In the short time since the bourbon's release, Brother's Bond has won several impressive honors.
He was a part of the Flowers in the Attic origin story
When he landed a role in "Flowers in the Attic: The Origin," Paul Wesley continued to avoid any attempt to typecast him as a heroic, good-guy character. As anyone who grew up reading the V.C. Andrews "Flowers in the Attic" book series can attest to, it spins a creepy and disturbing epic tale of the equally creepy and dysfunctional Foxworth family. Although the first book was developed into a feature film twice, in 1987 and in 2014, the first film didn't explode at the box office, and the second opted for a straight-to-DVD release. The four-part Lifetime movie is an attempt to reimagine the family's backstory, prequel-style.
The plot centers on Olivia Winfield (Jemima Rooper), the evil grandmother in the original storyline, whom we meet as a young woman looking for love. She marries Malcolm Foxworth (Max Irons), a young, charming, and extremely wealthy man, and she quickly finds her life devolving from a perfect dream to a terrible nightmare. Wesley appears as Olivia's lecherous cousin, John Amos, and authentically displays an oozing "ick" factor and realistic aging makeup. Wesley fleshes out the role with his genuinely deranged depiction of Amos, and although the character plays a pivotal role in the original "Flowers in the Attic" storyline, he meets an early demise in the prequel movie.
He starred in and produced a passion project
In 2022, Paul Wesley starred in and executive produced "Confessions of a Drug Addicted High School Teacher," a dark comedy co-written by "The Vampire Diaries" co-creator and showrunner, Julie Plec. Based on the non-fiction, heart-rending Thought Catalog essay by Jason Smith about his dual role as a teacher of high school students and hardcore drug addict, the film focuses on these contradictory roles through the lens of Smith's recognition: "Broken recognizes broken." The movie became a passion project for Wesley long before he saw its onscreen fruition.
The story was one of the first projects that Wesley took into development at Citizen Media, and although it was quickly optioned by Warner Bros. Television, it took six years before Netflix acquired the rights in 2022. The first episode of "Confessions" has already wrapped, and the story should follow a standard season lineup of 10 to 12 episodes. Wesley stars as Smith, and in a 2022 Instagram post, he gushed about the project, saying, "This one is very special to me. I first read the article 'Confessions of a Drug Addicted High School Teacher' by Jason Smith many years ago after my friend and producer Bob Levy sent it to me. Since then, I haven't been able to get this darkly comedic yet haunting true story out of my mind. So excited to be developing at Netflix with this amazing team."
He became Captain Kirk
In "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," Paul Wesley takes on the heavy mantle left behind by William Shatner and Chris Pine before him, tackling the role of Captain James T. Kirk. He made his debut in the Season 1 finale of the Paramount+ series and shared a photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, of him and Shatner sitting next to each other on a plane ride. In the accompanying post, Wesley reflected on the honor of playing such an iconic character. On the same day, Shatner tagged his successor in a reply on X that read, "Keep my ship and crew safe, Captain! Congratulations!"
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wesley shared that the offer to play Kirk had come as a shock to him, and explained that he wanted to make the role his own, rather than mimic Shatner's legendary performance. The actor reflected on Shatner's blessing, too, and how significant it felt to him. For his work on the show thus far, Wesley has received great reviews from critics, and the series was renewed after the actor's first full season as the captain of the Starship Enterprise.
He's ruled out a reprise as Stefan
Paul Wesley hasn't forgotten the show that took his career to a new level: Not only is he still close with his former co-stars, but he formed his production company with "The Vampire Diaries" producer, Bob Levy, and has worked with the show's co-creators, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec several times since the series finale. He's directed episodes of the original show's spin-off series, "Legacies," and has appeared at multiple fan conventions every year after the series wrapped. In a world where the question of reboots and reunion series always seems to loom when a popular show ends, would Wesley ever consider playing Stefan Salvatore again?
According to Wesley, the answer is a resounding "no." In an interview with CinemaBlend, the actor discussed his reasoning behind ruling out any future Stefan appearances. "I obviously don't want to do a reboot of Vampire Diaries for a million reasons. First of all, when I did that role, I was 26 years old, and vampires are not supposed to age," he said. The actor didn't leave much room for reboot possibilities in the interview, but perhaps he could play a distant Salvatore relative with an uncanny resemblance to Stefan?
He stars in a horror film
In "History of Evil," Paul Wesley finally tackles a straightforward horror role. The debut feature-length film from Iranian-American music video director, Bo Mirhosseni, who also penned the screenplay, stars Wesley and Jackie Cruz. Cruz, who played Flaca on "Orange is the New Black," replaced the original female lead, Stephanie Beatriz (best known for her role as Rosa Diaz on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"). The terrifying story focuses on a family in the not-so-distant future as they flee a corrupt state government. Alas, the safe house they find refuge in is ... not safe after all. The film, which is slated to stream on Shudder, hasn't yet set a release date.
"History of Evil" is one of three films to come from a collaboration between Two & Two Pictures and XYZ Films to produce movies from directors under-represented in the film industry. Shudder's Vice-President of Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions told Collider, "We are delighted to be working with Bo, Stephanie, and Paul on this deeply terrifying and unique horror film, and honored to have found a home at Shudder, whose cutting-edge platform has continued to push genre films forward." Hopefully, Wesley's character will survive until the end credits roll.