Nina never earned as much as 'Vampire Diaries' male leads
What's the story
Actor Nina Dobrev, who played the lead role of Elena Gilbert in The Vampire Diaries, has opened up about her struggle for equal pay with her male co-stars. In Samantha Highfill's book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, she revealed that she and her female co-stars were among the lowest-paid series regulars in the first two seasons. Despite protesting, Dobrev never got equal to what the male leads made on the show.
Workload increase
'Tricky situation...contract only said to play Elena'
Dobrev said in an interview for the book: "Candice [King], Kat [Graham], and I were the three lowest-paid series regulars in the first two seasons." "It was a bit of a tricky situation because my contract only said to play Elena, but I was playing multiple characters, which doubled my workload." She added that she had to be on set for double the amount of time and memorize double the lines to play Elena's evil vampire doppelganger, Katherine.
Equal pay
Studio told writers to stop writing for Katherine
Dobrev said, "I wanted to play Katherine, but I wanted to be compensated fairly for that, and I wanted to be an equal to the boys (Ian Somerhalder playing Damon and Paul Wesley playing Steven)." The studio allegedly told the writers to stop writing for Katherine because now they "had to pay" Dobrev whenever she took on both roles. Co-creator Julie Plec said they had to "basically beg the network" and negotiate for Dobrev's right to play Katherine.
Underappreciation
Dobrev felt studio didn't appreciate her contribution
Despite getting a pay raise during her renegotiation, Dobrev never achieved parity with male co-stars. She said, "I remember feeling like the studio didn't appreciate what I was bringing to the show." "It felt like they were saying that all the hard work I was putting into it didn't matter to them and that I wasn't an equal to my male counterparts, and so that was upsetting to me."
Final season
Her final season return again caused payment issues
Dobrev left The Vampire Diaries after six seasons but returned for the final season. Her return also sparked a pay dispute as she was offered five times less than what she made in Season 6. "I needed to be paid parity with) the boys. I'd to put my foot down and say if it didn't happen, I wouldn't be able to come back," she said. Finally, instead of the whole season, she returned for one episode at her asking rate.