Before he was the Winter Soldier, Sebastian Stan turned down a lead role in a hit supernatural drama that could have changed his career
No regrets.
Sebastian Stan recently shared that he turned down a lead role in the hit supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries. It is wild to think about, but he could have played Stefan Salvatore. The role eventually went to Paul Wesley. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stan discussed this missed opportunity on the October 5 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He was chatting with host Josh Horowitz about his career path.
Stan admitted he was feeling pretty burned out at the time. He had just finished working on the show Kings. That show unfortunately did not last long at NBC. It was canceled after just one season in 2009. Stan felt discouraged by this and worried about signing up for another project that might fail. He feared The Vampire Diaries would not make it to a second season.
Stan also had reservations about the genre itself. He explained, “And I had just come off Kings and I sort of felt really burnt out from that not working out and just sort of the idea of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m just going to sign up again for something that probably is not going to get to the second season.’ And I think it was because The Covenant sort of was in that supernatural world, and yeah, I didn’t do it.”
The Vampire Diaries went on to become a massive success
The fan favorite The Vampire Diaries ran for eight seasons from 2009 to 2017. It starred Paul Wesley as Stefan, Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore, and Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert. Stan acknowledged the success of the show during his interview. He quipped, “And then the show went on to be super successful.”
Despite the massive success of the series, Stan has no regrets about his choice. He believes that everything happened exactly as it was meant to in his career. Describing himself as a late bloomer in many ways, he emphasized that timing plays a huge role in an actor’s life.
Stan shared, “Now looking back, I feel grateful in a way ’cause I don’t know if I was really ready for that kind of exposure when I was younger, to be honest.” He added more context about his mindset during those years. He stated, “Emotionally and mentally, I know what I went through in those years and my focus was all over the place. Maybe that’s just ’cause it worked out the way it did and this is my story, but I’m definitely in a place right now where I wouldn’t change anything.”
Stan was also considered for another role on the show
Casting director Lesli Gelles-Raymond revealed that producers considered him for the role of Damon Salvatore too. That role eventually went to Somerhalder. She mentioned that the dream cast for producers would have included Steven Strait as Stefan and Sebastian Stan as Damon. However, his commitment to Kings made that casting impossible at the time.
The creators of the show also had their own struggles with casting the lead. E!News reports that Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson were not initially sold on Wesley. They did not think he had the heartthrob quality needed to lead the series. She said, “We were sort of pressured into casting Paul Wesley against our desires, which of course means everybody knew way better than us and that we almost missed out on the most perfect piece of casting.”
She continued, “There was no denial that Paul could act the part, we just didn’t see him lighting up the screen, but we were just dead wrong.” It is fortunate that the casting team kept pushing for him. Wesley even laughed about the process later. He shared that the team had to fight for him. He recalled, “Lesli was like, ‘Just see him one more time!’ And they were like, “OK, we’ll see Paul Wesley again, ugh, whatever. We’re over this kid.'”
Stan has certainly done well for himself since
He built a name with early roles in Gossip Girl and The Covenant. The actor eventually achieved mainstream stardom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He began his journey as Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier in 2011. He starred in Captain America: The First Avenger. Stan is also known for his work in the film The Apprentice.
When looking back, he is content with the path he chose, refusing to dwell on what could have been. He is focused on his current work and his own unique journey. It is a great reminder that even big stars have stories about the roles that got away.
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