‘The Vampire Diaries’: Nikki Reed Replaces Nina Dobrev As Elena?
The Vampire Diaries season 8 is currently in production and fans of the supernatural series are eagerly waiting to see Nina Dobrev’s come back to the show after her departure. However, if recent reports are to be believed, then the actress is not returning to the show. Instead, Ian Somerhalder’s wife, Nikki Reed has been cast by The CW to play the role of Elena.
Hollywood Life reported that the couple is very much in love and Reed has her full trust on her husband when it comes to Dobrev.
“Nikki and Ian are so in love. There’s nothing he could possibly do to upset her. The idea of Ian and Nina reuniting on screen for The Vampire Diaries doesn’t bother her one bit. She has no issues with this whatsoever.”
Contrary to this, the Daily Mail reported that Reed has chosen to accompany her husband for the shooting of the upcoming season, as she does not want to stay away from him for a long time. The duo was recently spotted together at LAX Airport taking a flight to Atlanta where the shooting is currently in progress.
Ian Somerhalder & Nikki Reed fly back to Atlanta to start TVD Season 8! https://t.co/Whxu4awVQZ pic.twitter.com/DYnQsrDEUe
— Just Jared Jr. (@justjaredjr) July 15, 2016
Meanwhile, Dobrev has an extremely busy year ahead of her. After leaving TVD, she landed a few movie roles and is currently busy in promoting xXx: Return of Xander Cage in which she will be seen sharing the screen with Vin Diesel, Ruby Rose and Indian actress Deepika Padukone. After that she will be seen in science fiction psychological horror film, Flatliners in which she will share screen space with Ellen Page, Diego Luna and James Norton.
So based on her busy schedule, it looks like Dobrev’s return to the supernatural show is not happening. Celeb Dirty Laundry reported that, after Dobrev denied to reprise her role of Elena, The CW has cast Reed to play the leading role in the upcoming season.
On the other hand, there were earlier reports that after taking a break from TVD, Dobrev will indeed make her comeback, but now it looks like she has changed her heart and will only focus on her film career. And Reed being there on the shooting location has become very helpful for the production crew to continue filming the season as they do not have to waste their time to audition someone else.
Meanwhile, show’s executive producer Julie Plec made herself very clear that they are indeed going to bring Dobrev back in the show. In her earlier interview with TV Line, Plec stated that Dobrev left the show to pursue her acting career in feature films, but she will try her very best to at least bring her back at the end of season 8.
“It’s what she and I kind of agreed on when she decided to move on, and it’s what I’ve got in my head… She was very clear about what she wanted the next step in her life to be, and she’s doing a great job of achieving that. So I’m sticking with my side of the plan, which is to bring her back at the very end.”
At the same time, an insider close to TVD revealed to Hollywood Life that Somerhalder and Dobrev owe their career to the show and, if the story demands it, then they will definitely share screen time in future seasons.
“The show did so much for [Ian and Nina’s] careers and put them on the map. For Julie Plec and the other writers and creators, they feel like they owe it to them to suck it up and send the show off any way they want to send it off.”
Who can play Elena better, Dobrev or Reed? Tell us in comments.
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images and Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
