From DEGRASSI to VAMPIRE DIARIES, how have you evolved as an actor?
Nina Dobrev: I’m a lot more tired and sleep deprived [laughs]. I think I’ve gained a comfortability, and a comfort on set where I’ve gotten to know this character and gotten to know the crew. We’ve all grown on set and developed a pattern on set that lends itself to me taking on a lot more now. I’m more confident and I feel like I can pick up a script, read it, analyze it, and feel good knowing that when get in there, I’ll do the best that I can and it will translate and it works.

What was high school like for you?
I went to a performing arts high school, so I basically lived Fame. There was a lot of competition, but it was very productive. I met a lot of really cool people, I got to perform and that’s how I got started in the business. In terms of my personality, I’ve always been sort of happy with who I am now and what I was doing. I had a really great group of friends that I still have now and still hang out from High School so it was good.

Were you surprised by the decision to change Elena so drastically from author L.J. Smith’s original [Book] Version?
No, because we made a conscious decision to change that. Elena in the books is one of those mean girls who gets what she wants, popular, blonde and blue eyed. I am not blonde and blue eyed which is what they [Showrunners Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec] wanted…. to go with the relatable, nice girl next door who the audience can root for. That said, one of the coolest things about the show is that I get to play two completely different people on two completely opposite sides of the spectrum and I have so much fun doing it. Unlike Elena, Katherine is a conniving, narcissistic, b*tch!

Have the movie and endorsement deals come pouring in thanks to the exposure you’ve received from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?
I’ve had some movie offers and endorsement deals that up until this point I have turned down because, in terms of movies, if it’s not something I’m in love with and are passionate about I’d rather not do anything on my hiatus. I want to be 100% behind whatever the project it is I’ll be doing. Same for campaigns. If it’s not something that i use and think will work I don’t want to recommend it for other people.

What do you think the future holds for Elena?
I’m anticipating a huge meltdown/emotional breakdown for her. Elena is this girl who carries the weight of everything on her shoulders. She has to keep so many secrets: Her boyfriend is a vampire, her boyfriend’s brother is a vampire, her best friend is a witch, her ex-boyfriend’s sister who is her friend died. She’s just got so much locked inside and is bound to break eventually!

New episodes of VAMPIRE DIARIES return to the CW on March 25th (CTV in Canada)

Photo Credit: Andrew Eccles/The CW

When it comes to the increasingly addictive hit CW series THE VAMPIRE DIARIES we’re willing to suspend our disbelief for just about anything. Which is why it doesn’t really bother us that the residents of Mystic Falls have yet to question the semi-regular ‘animal’ attacks on local denizens or the fact that a prerequisite for being a Vampire seems to be supermodel good looks. That said, last night’s episode that had Jeremy Gilbert researching ‘Vampires’ online may have crossed the line. Why? Well, rather than use Google like 99.96% of the world, Gilbert was using Microsoft’s Bing! ‘Nuff said right? I mean who in their right mind uses Bing?

Ian Somerhalder likes it both ways.

Playing both good and bad guys (Really, what did you think we were referring to?), he’ll be proving that while only the good die young, they don’t necessarily stay that way by returning as LOST’s Boone, while continuing to sink his teeth into the anti-Edward villain, Damon Salvatore, on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.

“Amazing and so fun,” is how Somerhalder described the opportunity to pull double duty this season at the recent Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena. “To be able to have the ability to work on both shows, and I say this humbly, two of the best shows on television right now is really surreal, so totally surreal.”

Although Somerhalder wouldn’t speak as to the circumstances surrounding his character’s return to LOST (”I really can’t say.”), he did reveal that the script he read was both “incredible” and heavy, “It weight four pounds!” And further added to the intrigue by letting it slip that fans may be seeing Boone on more than one occasion this season, “I don’t know if I’ve gotten closure yet, I’m assuming that in another six months I’ll have some closure,” laughed the actor.

What Somerhalder was only to happy to talk about are the similarities and differences between the LOST and VAMPIRE DIARIES fandoms.

“Either way they’re awesome,” said the actor, who then paused for a moment to think, “Here’s the difference: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES fans are a lot younger which makes it really adorable. Every thirteen year old girl in America was not watching LOST but they’re watching this show and they’re so cute, so into it, and they have so many questions. They get so excited you’re just like, ‘ Oh I want to hug you!’ And if their older sister wants to come hang out with me or take a photo I’ll put my arm around them and some of the little girls get shaky and a little scared. It’s adorable.”

Photo Credit: Andrew Eccles / The CW

After far too long a hiatus, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES makes its much-anticipated return tomorrow night at 8PM on the CW (7PM on CTV in Canada). And in celebration of said fact, we took the opportunity at the recent Television Critics Association Press Tour to corner showrunners Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec in order to ask them the following questions five.

What can you tease about tomorrow night’s return of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?
Julie Plec: Well, we pick up right where we left off when Elena’s life is both literally and figuratively still very much hanging in the balance. The big surprise is that just as we’re about to reveal who this man in the road she hit was, Elena gets rescued by Damon and they set off on an adventure together. Now, not having her necklace on, Damon could very easily have forced her to go, but she says yes on her own and they take a road trip to Georgia in pursuit of more answers on how to open Katherine’s tomb. It’s a fun episode because we haven’t yet seen Elena and Damon have a storyline together all and they’re together the entire episode, which is kind of awesome.

What effect will Elena and Damon’s excellent adventure have on Elena and Stefan?
Julie Plec: When Elena and Damon return from their road trip there’s going to be that question: Now that Damon and Elena have bonded does she trust him [Damon] in a way that she shouldn’t and that’s not safe for anybody. Also, where does Elena fit into Damon’s nefarious plan and is she going to help him out? Just who’s on whose side?

Being a Toronto native, it’s always great to see Canadian talent succeed down South. Just how lucky are you to have landed Nina Dobrev?
Kevin Williamson: You know, it’s so hard finding an actress to center a show around, particularly a CW show. And that was our biggest worry. Julie [Plec] and I were both were like, “Who’s going to anchor the show?” Because it really all comes down to that girl. And we so lucked out with Nina. Aside from being enormously gifted, what’s so great about her is that I don’t think she knows how talented she is. I predict Oscars for her.

Thus far you’ve done an excellent job of keeping the secrets of Mystic Falls contained within a small circle of people. Just how long do you think this town can live in ignorant bliss?
Julie Plec: That’s a really good question and one that we don’t know the answer to yet. Honestly though, as long as we can have it, because the minute the show becomes about everybody knowing everything the story ceases to become as small and personal as you want it and just turns into a big fight to the finish. Certainly by the end of the season there will be more people, ‘In the know.’ Yet we’re going to try and keep the majority of the town in the dark for as long as we can. That is, without them all starting to look like morons! Really, it’s touch and go!

As a fan of KYLE XY, I can’t help but feel as though there were a lot of young and genetically-blessed actors who would fit right into Mystic Falls! Any chance we might see one or two of them pop up on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?
Julie Plec: Those guys are my family so anytime there is an opportunity to give them something cool to do, as long as Kevin [Williamson] is on board, there will always be a place in Mystic Falls for them.

Photo: Guy D’Alema/The CW ©2009

4:44PM: Kevin Williamson promises that a big part of the back nine will be Damon’s quest to resurrect Katherine, or as Williamson puts it, “The tomb is still very much in play.”

4:46PM: Ian Somerhalder defends Damon’s actions claiming that, “he’s doing it all for love and is completely justified.”

4:46PM: Full time teacher, part-time Vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman will be playing a far more significant role when VAMPIRE DIARIES returns. Not only will we see what brought him back to Mystic Falls, we’ll meet his wife (played by Mia Kirshner) who may not exactly be as deceased as fans have been lead to believe.

4:48PM: Kevin Williamson promises that Vicki is dead, gone, and not coming back. However her death will continue to reverberate throughout the season, particularly when Jeremy begins to piece together the truth about her untimely demise.

4:48PM: “It’s not a love triangle with two people,” teases Kevin Williamson when asks when Elena and Damon will get to spend a little time together. Adds Nina, “Now that Elena’s taken off her necklace she is very vulnerable.” And in the upcoming episodes, (specifically the show’s January 21 return), there will be a lot more of Damon and Elena.

4:50PM: Sorry LOST, Somerhalder claims the crew in Atlanta is the best crew he’s ever worked with.

4:53PM: Scream 4 update for those following Kevin Williamson on twitter. He did not finish the script in Vegas.

4:58PM: Spoiler Alert! While Executive Producer Julie Plec promises that Nina Dobrev has kissed Ian Somerhalder as Katherine, who will be getting hot and heavy with Damon in upcoming episodes. Dobrev as Elena has yet to lock lips with Damon.

5:01PM: More scoop! Williamson says that in future episodes fans will see why Damon and Stefan can’t trust each other. Adds Plec, “If the first half of the season was really about Stefan managing Damon, the latter half will see Damon finally having to step up and act like a big brother when something huge happens to Stefan.”

5:04PM: In Bonnie news, she continues to become very important to Damon when it comes time to help get that tomb open. Says Williamson, “Bonnie’s friendship Elena is going to be tested now that she is aware of the Vampires. She has to make a choice, is she down with it or is she going to have a problem with it?”

The resurgence of PARKS AND RECREATION continued last night with a hilarious Halloween themed instalment that had Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope matching wits with 15-year old teenage hooligan named Greg Pikitis. Not only did Pikitis — or as we’re calling him, the most diabolical teenaged vandal since the heydays of one Bart Simpson — provide for an eerily perfect foil for Knope, his shenanigans managed to give hilarious co-stars Louis CK and Chris Pratt some much deserved time in the spotlight. So much so that we’re really hoping this little trick-or-treat-battle-of-wits becomes a PARKS AND RECREATION annual tradition.

Putting aside the fact that this TV Addict is fairly confident I’m the only person in North America who didn’t know who Jeff Dunham was until last night, nobody does road trips like 30 ROCK. Be it a plane trip with hallucinogenic Oprah, Liz’s High School reunion or last night’s talent search that had Liz and Jack travelling to Kenneth’s home-town of ‘Small Town USA,’ last night’s 30 ROCK was a barrel of laughs. With bonus points for an always hilarious Jenna spoiling five season of LOST mythology mere months before all will be revealed, “You know, I met J.J. Abrams once. And I don’t know what this means, but he said the island is just Hurley’s dream.”

And speaking of LOST, if it’s wrong to be this excited for a fifteen second trailer featuring absolutely no new footage, I don’t want to be right.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who are obsessed with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Turns out, when she’s not busy acting, singing and promoting her hit show GLEE, star Lea Michele is hooked. “Getting ready to pick Mr Groff up from the airport! Let the week of fun begin!!! But first Vampire Diaries. Why is this show SO good!” Now all that’s left is for @msleamichele to publicly proclaim her loyalty: Team Damon or Team Stefan?

Did actress Leven Rambin (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) just spill the beans on yet another GREY’S ANATOMY/PRIVATE PRACTICE crossover? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing’s for sure: According to this tweet, the actress, who is on the set of GREY’S ANATOMY as we tweet speak is poised to be hitting up both shows in the not-to-distant-future, “The Lord answered all your prayers! Thank you all so much! I’m going to be on Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice this season, y’all!” Hmmmm, perhaps @shondarhimes would care to shed a little light on this?

We have a feeling that life just got a little less UneXpected for the the CW’s new heroine-to-be Lux. Who, according to LIFE UNEXPECTED showrunner Liz Tigelaar will soon be joined by what we are going to go ahead and irresponsibly speculate is a love interest. Tweeted Tigelaar, “some of the cast to portland. one new member of the cast soon on his way to the couve. welcome, austin butler. our jones.”

This week’s awkward tweet of the week goes to VAMPIRE DIARIES star Nina Dobrev who tweeted her addiction to time-slot competitor FLASHFORWARD, “@kevwilliamson LOVE FLASHFORWARD. I’m addicted. We shouldn’t be though…lol conflict of interest, don’t you agree?”

And finally, while this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering his Canadian pedigree, BONES showrunner Hart Hanson has a sense of humour pertaining to what some (certainly not us!) might call eerily similarities between his show and that other procedural. Tweeted @HartHanson, “@geekiskhan I don’t have to watch “Castle”. I see “Bones” so I can watch the original. Oh, snap! That’s right.I said it! I do like Fillion.” Snap indeed.

On next week’s episode of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Elena finally begins to get suspicious, demanding that Stefan start talking. And by ‘talking,’ we of course mean provide a plausible explanation for all the freaky happenings (read: murders) in Mystic Falls. Which is why it falls to Stefan to harness the little-known Vampire power known as the ‘flashback,’ as he begins to explain the history of his rivalry with brother Damon (Hello Katherine!), complete with horses, funny outfits and slaves unpaid interns. More first look photos of which can be found after the jump.