Who Plays Elena Gilbert On The Vampire Diaries?

It's hard to imagine "The Vampire Diaries" being as successful as it was without Elena Gilbert's infectious personality. The heart and soul of the CW series, Gilbert served as the lead character for most of the show's run. The character first debuted in the first season of "The Vampire Diaries" and naturally emerged as a fan-favorite, largely due to her complicated romance with Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), a vampire with a mysterious past. While Gilbert and Salvatore do have a blossoming relationship, mysterious forces intervene, turning "The Vampire Diaries" into more than just a typical teen drama with a supernatural flair. 

One of the most popular programs of its era, "The Vampire Diaries" turned its main cast of actors into nationwide heartthrobs and favorites. The kind hearted and charming Elena Gilbert is played by Nina Dobrev, who shot to superstardom after the show debuted in 2009. Dobrev received considerable praise for her performance and nabbed a number of awards for the role. The Canadian actor appeared as Gilbert for six seasons, before leaving the series behind in Season 7. Dobrev later returned as the character in Season 8, wrapping up Elena's arc with grace. 

Of course, Dobrev appeared in "The Vampire Diaries" as multiple characters, but it's the role of Gilbert that turned the Canadian star into a household name.

When "The Vampire Diaries" debuted in 2009, vampires were all the rage. After all, that was the era of "Twilight" and HBO's "True Blood," two properties that dominated popular culture. Naturally, "The Vampire Diaries" fared extremely well, turning into a major series for The CW. For Nina Dobrev, the series was a launchpad that has since gone on to define her career. While Dobrev boasted appearances in the Canadian series "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (which also features Canadian rapper Drake) and in Atom Egoyan's "Chloe," it was "The Vampire Diaries" that changed everything for her when she was just 20.

In mid-2015, Dobrev took to Instagram to announce that season six would be her last with "The Vampire Diaries," marking the end of a chapter. "I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime," Dobrev wrote to her millions of followers. 

In an interview with SELF, Dobrev opened up about how she had signed a six-season contract for the show and was ready to move on. Still, this was a series that she had become synonymous with, and this didn't escape the actress. "Just like Elena, I started the show as a young girl, and together, we grew up," Dobrev said in her Choice TV Actress acceptance speech at the Teen Choice Awards in 2015. "We've grown up and over the last six years, we've become women. These were six incredible years that I've had the pleasure of sharing with all of you guys."

Nina Dobrev's first major gig post-"Vampire Diaries" was joining the 2017 "Flatliners" sequel, which, unfortunately, flatlined critically. But 2017 proved to be a major year for Dobrev, as she made her blockbuster debut with Vin Diesel's "XXX: Return of Xander Cage." The film proved to be a box office success, collecting receipts north of $345 million. 

In 2021, Dobrev made a move to romantic comedies with the holiday film "Love Hard," in which she appeared alongside "Silicon Valley" standout Jimmy O. Yang. For Dobrev, working on "Love Hard" was a big deal considering she's a fan of the genre. "I love rom-coms. I especially loved ours because it's unique and doesn't take the rom-com genre seriously, and turns it on its head, which was really fun to do," Dobrev said about the Netflix flick in a chat with Shondaland.

Aside from a number of diverse film roles, Dobrev also returned to television with the short lived CBS series "Fam," which focuses on a young woman whose perfect and curated life goes awry when her sister (Odessa A'zion) moves in with her. While speaking with TV Guide, Dobrev opened up about how she wasn't particularly interested in working on a television show again. Still, she simply couldn't pass up the series. "But when the opportunity came up, I read the script. I loved the story, loved the character, had never done a sitcom before, was a huge fan of 'Friends,'" Dobrev explained. Unfortunately, "Fam" was axed after one season, but still stands out as a major highlight in the Elena Gilbert actor's ever-expanding career.