Sebastian Stan Nearly Played Salvatore Brother In The Vampire Diaries

Marvel star Sebastian Stan was nearly a Salvatore brother in The Vampire Diaries. The behind-the-scenes tidbit comes directly from a new book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, which spills on-set secrets and untold stories about the CW hit that spawned a franchise.

I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries releases on September 9, but Entertainment Weekly has an excerpt detailing the casting process for Stefan and Damon.

The Vampire Diaries‘ bloodsucking brothers were played by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, but the supernatural drama could have had Stebastian Stan as a lead before he was cast as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Read the excerpt below:

GREG ORSON: There was a meeting with a star for Stefan.

LESLI GELLES-RAYMOND: It was Sebastian Stan. He came over to meet, so we got to spend some time chatting with him. It was very cool. We were totally interested in him, and he was discussed at the studio the first time we tested Stefan, but we couldn’t do it because he was tied to another show when this happened, so it didn’t work out. He was tied to Kings.

JULIE PLEC: We also met Steven Strait for Stefan because he’d just been in that movie with all the hot boys, The Covenant. But he passed.

LESLI GELLES-RAYMOND: For a while, their dream cast would’ve been Steven Strait [for Stefan] and Sebastian Stan [for Damon], because Sebastian also read for Damon. That was Stefan and Damon for a while. But Sebastian was on Kings, so that wasn’t going to work out.

At the time, Sebastian Stan starred in NBC’s short-lived drama, Kings. Due to his lead role as Jack Benjamin—King Silas’ ambitious and closeted son—Stan wasn’t able to continue on in the casting process. Kings was canceled in July 2009, two months before The Vampire Diaries premiered.

What Sebastian Stan Almost Starring In The Vampire Diaries Means

Sebastian Stan as the frontrunner to lead a CW drama makes sense. The network’s teen audience had been familiar with him since 2006’s The Covenant, where he starred opposite Steven Strait. And Stan played Serena van der Woodsen’s charming but messy on-and-off-again suitor Carter Baizen in Gossip Girl.

The CW used to be known as the pretty people network. In I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, Plec explains that they needed a “pretty boy” who could do more than smolder. Stefan required depth and an ability to convey “layers of loss and loneliness.” Arguably, the same could be said for Damon, the other lead part Stan was up for.

Anyone who’s seen Sebastian Stan’s work on Gossip Girl knows he would have been a good fit for The Vampire Diaries. Carter was a train wreck and infuriatingly good at self-sabotage, but he was a sympathetic character, and you could understand Serena’s soft spot for him.

Stan tends to play characters that fit the description of Stefan Salvatore. Bucky Barnes is by no means a brooding vampire, but he does carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and nearly too much guilt to bear. That’s Stefan in a nutshell.

Our Take On Sebastian Stan Almost Starring In The Vampire Diaries

Ultimately, the roles of Stefan and Damon in The Vampire Diaries went to who they were supposed to. We’ll never know what we could have had with Sebastian Stan as one of the Salvatore brothers. But we do know the chemistry between Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder was magical.

The Vampire Diaries‘ story is often overshadowed by the Stelena vs. Delena ship war that plagued the fandom for years. However, it’s impossible to talk about the series without discussing the brotherhood at the center of it. The supernatural drama is a love story, but it’s made up of more than one.

The Salvatores and their journey to healing past hurts is a major part of The Vampire Diaries. The work by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder to tell the story of two brothers bonded by blood, heartbreak, and love is a big reason the long-running vampire series is so beloved.