The Vampire Diaries: Every Main Characters Age At The Start Of The Show To The End

Aug. 9, 2022, 9:01 p.m.

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The Vampire Diaries: Every Main Characters Age At The Start Of The Show To The End

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Summary The actors in The Vampire Diaries had significant age gaps from their characters, particularly the vampires.

Some actors started playing roles that were far younger than their actual age, like Sara Canning as Aunt Jenna.

The age differences between actors and characters were largely unnoticed and did not impact the success of the series.

The show may have ended in 2017 but some fans still wonder, "How old was Nina Dobrev in The Vampire Diaries?" The CW had its fair share of successful supernatural shows over the years. However, The Vampire Diaries set the stage in 2009, introducing some great characters played by actors early in their careers. From Nina Dobrev coming into the series at 20 years old and playing a 17-year-old to Ian Somerhalder at the age of 30 but playing a 25-year-old, the series' actors and characters they portrayed were far off in age, especially the vampires.

This isn't rare. Going back to Beverly Hills 90210, the actors playing the high schoolers ranged from Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green at 17 when they started, to Gabrielle Carteris, who was a 29-year-old playing a high school student. This was without the explanation of supernatural aging. In The Vampire Diaries, some of the age differences were easy to see thanks to the vampires in the series. Also, these age gaps, although high for some, weren't very noticeable and did not have a negative impact on the series.

Related The Vampire Diaries Cast & Character Guide From Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley played several memorable characters on The Vampire Diaries. But who else was part of the cast?

15 Jenna Sommers

Played By Sara Canning

The protective and motherly aunt of Elena and Jeremy Gilbert, 25-year-old Jenna Sommers only sought to provide her niece and nephew with a safe and normal home environment. However, when the supernatural became a part of their lives, nothing was ever normal for them again. Actress Sara Canning was only 22 when she took on the role of guardian aunt in the series, three years younger than her Vampire Diaries character's age.

Thanks to playing an older character, it helped make it easier not to age our of the role.

In some interesting trivia, Canning was also only slightly older than Nina Dobrev and still played her aunt. By the series' end, she was 29 years old, although she left the show at the end of season 2 and only made recurring appearances throughout The Vampire Diaries. Thanks to playing an older character, it helped make it easier not to age out of the role.

14 Matt Donovan

Played By Zach Roerig

Sweet yet complicated, Matt Donovan was a 17-year-old high school student at the start of The Vampire Diaries in 2009, with the character looking for validation from others. He sought to win the love of Elena Gilbert, a feat that only became more complicated with the arrival of Stefan and Damon Salvatore.

Actor Zach Roerig gained the role of Matt Donovan at the age of 24. Although seven years older than his character, Roerig looked the part of a teenage jock at the beginning of the series. By the end of the show, Roerig and his character had both matured, with Roerig ending the series at the age of 31 with Matt as the sheriff of Mystic Falls. With him being so much older than the teenager he played, it really helped him look the role of the sheriff when the series ended, a great casting choice for The Vampire Diaries.

13 Tyler Lockwood

Played By Michael Trevino

Tyler Lockwood was a 17-year-old bad boy and popular jock at Mystic Falls High in The Vampire Diaries. He was rich, confident, and arrogant but over time he began to grow and understand who he was as a person. Coming into the role at the age of 24, Michael Trevino had the same age difference that Zach Roerig had with Matt. He also fit the role of the teenager well at the start of the show and then when his character grew up, his advanced age didn't hurt the believability at all.

Trevino mastered the role of Tyler Lockwood. His character was present from seasons 1-6 and recurring throughout seasons 7-8, and when his time ended in the series in 2017, Trevino was 31 years old. However, Tyler didn't age as a character after being turned by into a hybrid by Klaus and eventually, Damon killed him while under Sybil's mind control.

12 Alaric Saltzman

Played By Matthew Davis

A character that looks to help and assist wherever he can, Alaric Saltzman provided some of the wisest quotes over his appearance in the show. Although many feel the friendship between Alaric and Damon isn't real, he’s proved to be the voice of reason on many occasions when talking Damon out of doing something stupid. He is an integral part of the supernatural world in Mystic Falls, and he does his best to protect those he loves as best he can.

Matthew Davis took on this role in 2009 at the age of 31, while his Vampire Diaries character's age was 33. Alaric made it through the series and moved on to The Originals and Legacies. Thanks to him being almost the exact same age as his character, he never had to worry about growing into the role or even outgrowing it and he remained consistent through all three of the shows in the franchise.

Related The Vampire Diaries Cast: Where Are They Now? It has been a whopping five years since The Vampire Diaries finale aired and everyone from the cast has been up to great things since then.

11 Jeremy Gilbert

Played By Steven McQueen

The younger brother of Elena Gilbert, Jeremy Gilbert was a character also dealing with the loss of his parents while also trying to understand who he is. He would do anything for his sister and aunt. However, at times, he could be impulsive.

Steven R. McQueen has starred in series like Everwood and CSI: Miami, playing only minor roles.

However, after taking on the role of 15-year-old Jeremy at the age of 21, he saw his career grow as he did. Jeremy ended the series by leaving to hunt vampires, but he did make a return at the very end and became a teacher at the Salvatore Boarding School. While he started out playing a much younger character than most of the people on the show, he looked the part early on and when he returned at the end, he had grown into the role even more and still didn't suspend belief in his appearance.

10 Bonnie Bennett

Played By Kat Graham

A character that would do anything for those she loves, Bonnie Bennett sacrificed and lost so much for the sake of others. She took everything in stride, always coming back better and stronger. Kat Graham was not new to television screens, getting her start as far back as 1998 in the film The Parent Trap. She took on the role of 17-year-old Bonnie Bennet at the young age of 19, only a two-year difference, in 2009.

As the series grew, so did Graham, and by the end, she was 26 years old and set out to see the world.

Her age aided in the authenticity of the character, making her much more relatable. As the series grew, so did Graham, and by the end, she was 26 years old and set out to see the world. This worked perfectly, since she aged along with her character, and it made it look very realistic to see the young woman grow up on the supernatural television series. By the end, she still had a thoughtful appearance and remained one of the more consistently aging characters on The Vampire Diaries.

9 Caroline Forbes

Played By Candice King

Caroline Forbes became a complex character that at times would be seen as a hero and at others as the villain. She made her fair share of mistakes. The one constant that remained was her loyalty and love for her friends and family. Taking on the role of Caroline Forbes in 2009, Candice King was 22 years old compared to her character's age of 17.

With previous television roles in shows like Greek and Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries proved to be King’s breakout role in television. From 2009-2017, King was a constant in the series and by the time it ended, she was 29 years old. Her character was an immortal vampire. These characters make it tough to maintain as actors grow older, as vampires should age like humans, but it didn't matter with King, who was able to play the character with much the same appearance in the final episodes.

8 Damon Salvatore

Played By Ian Somerhalder

The dark and impulsive brother to Stefan, Damon Salvatore does what he wants and says what he wants with no regard for the consequences. He's a character who cares for nothing or anyone until he returns to Mystic Falls and meets Elena Gilbert. Played by Ian Somerhalder, the actor took up the role at the age of 30, with his character’s age solidified as 25 years old in human years but around 170 in vampire years.

By the end of the series, Ian Somerhalder was 37 years old. This was an even bigger change from his age to his Vampire Diaries character age, as Damon became human, rejoined Elena, and started aging normally from 25 after that. The best thing about casting Somerhalder in the role is that he has always had a youthful appearance and looked much younger than his real age, which made him a perfect person to cast as an unaging immortal vampire.

7 Stefan Salvatore

Played By Paul Wesley

A character that changed in multiple ways from season 1 to his last episode, Stefan Salvatore was a character with a complex past. His return to Mystic Falls saw the beginning of his dynamic relationship with Elena Gilbert and the re-emergence of his brother and past. Starting off the series at the age of 27, Paul Wesley and his character were far off in age, with Stefan's projected age being 17 in human years and over 100 years in vampire years.

Unlike many people on the show, Stefan didn't look his youthful age as well as others, and he always looked older than his character was. As a vampire, he shouldn't age, but he looked older when the series ended than he did when it started, which makes sense since he was now 17 years older than his character was when he became a vampire. When the show finally ended in 2017, Paul Wesley was 34, but Stefan died in The Vampire Diaries finale so that Damon and Elena could have a happy ending.

6 Elena Gilbert

Played By Nina Dobrev

Nina Dobrev in Vampire Diaries was three years older than her character. Dobrev took on the role of Elena Gilbert, a high school teen dealing with the recent death of her parents and new love. Elena dealt with all the woes that came with being 17. Unlike her character's age at the start of the series, Nina Dobrev was 20 years old when she began filming for her role in The Vampire Diaries, only three years older than her Vampire Diaries character's age.

The Vampire Diaries spinoff series The Originals is available to watch on Freevee while the spinoff series Legacies is available to watch on Netflix

Seeing Elena and Stefan both as 17 was a little shocking at first, as Dobrev looked the part and Wesley always looked older, making their relationship a little harder to get behind. When Elena ended up with Damon, it worked better despite Somerhalder's advanced age. The series would prove to be her breakout role, but Dobrev left The Vampire Diaries in the sixth season, ending up in a coma. By the series' end in 2017, Nina was 27 years old and Elena woke up and continued to live her life with Damon.

5 Rebekah Mikaelson

Played By Claire Holt

The Original vampires are mostly turned when in their late teens and early 20s. Rebekah is able to pass for a high school student because she became a vampire at 17, but she did so in the late 900s, making her well over 1,000 years old by the time she makes her debut. Of course, she spends hundreds of years at a time daggered, so she doesn’t necessarily have 1,000 years of life experience. Claire Holt was 22 when she first began playing Rebekah.

Thanks to her young age, Holt was able to pass off as the teenage-looking vampire when she appeared for the first time in season 3. She only had guest appearances in the fourth and fifth seasons, but only aging to 24 by that fourth season helped her retain the youthful appearance that her vampire character demanded. She did go on to have appearances in The Originals and Legacies.

4 Klaus Mikaelson

Played By Joseph Morgan

Klaus, just a little older than Rebekah, was 19 when he became a vampire, so their ages are comparable. Joseph Morgan, however, was 29 when he began playing Klaus. Morgan ended up becoming one of the main cast members on The Originals after his debut on The Vampire Diaries, where he played mostly a villain for his run on the show. However, Klaus had another big difference when it came to him and the other Originals as he was also a werewolf.

This means that he was known as the Original Hybrid, since he had werewolf and vampire in him, which could allow him to age a little more than other vampires on the series and it not look out of the ordinary. His first appearance, when Morgan was 29, came in 2011 and his final appearance on Legacies was in 2022, meaning he was 40 by the time the series ended, even though his character was an immortal stuck at 19 when he died. This means he looked nothing like his age in the end.

3 Elijah Mikaelson

Played By Daniel Gillies

Elijah was 23 when he was turned, slightly older than the siblings he was closest to, but still over 1,000 years old as a vampire. Daniel Gillies was more than a decade older than his character would have been when he was turned, 35 when he started playing Elijah. Though more Original siblings would follow, it was this trio that The Originals spinoff first centered on.

What made Gillies work so well as Elijah is that his character was no longer a teenager and was actually a young adult when he started playing him on the show. He just offered up a more mature appearance as Elijah, and that allowed him to keep playing him as long as he kept again relatively gracefully through the years. His first appearance on The Vampire Diaries was in 2010 and his final appearance on The Originals in 2018, meaning eight years passed, and he was 43 playing 23 in the end.

2 Enzo St. John

Played By Michael Malarkey

Enzo, another character from the Salvatore brothers’ past, was introduced in season 5. He was born in the late 1800s and turned into a vampire by Lily Salvatore in 1903. Enzo was 27 at the time he was turned, and by the time he reenters the lives of Stefan and Damon in season 5, he’s over 130 years old. Michael Malarkey, the actor who played Enzo, was 30, only a few years older than the character, when he began playing Enzo.

This is another case where making the character older when he was turned helped out tremendously when casting the role. Since Enzo was 27 and Malarkey was 30, the two remained close in age at the start and when he finally dies in the final season, he was only two years older in real life, so he was able to keep the appearance up to the very end of his time on the show.

1 Katerina Petrova

Played By Nina Dobrev

Of course, the most memorable antagonist of The Vampire Diaries is Katerina. Though she, Elena, and other doppelgängers were all portrayed by Nina Dobrev, they were very different ages. Katerina was born, had a daughter, and was turned into a vampire all in the late 1400s. She was turned at 19, making her human age slightly older than Elena when introduced (and closer to Dobrev’s). This made her easier for Dobrev to play based on age, but Katerina was a vampire with years of experience, so it didn't matter as much.

Katherine lives for over 500 years before her survival skills finally met their match. The roles of the doppelgängers allowed Nina Dobrev to play several different characters at several different ages in The Vampire Diaries. This offered the actress a unique chance to really parlay her acting skills into taking on characters at very different parts of their lives. She first played Katerina in season 2 (she was there in season 1, but not fully seen) and lasted to the final season.

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