Acting is always based on pretending not to be the person you are. Actors slip into their characters, shaping their appearance, mannerisms, voices, and accents to perfectly match the description and direction they've been given. Sometimes, however, acting doesn't really stop when the director yells "cut.

Just like any other person entering a new work environment, the actor has no way of knowing whether or not they will fit in and get along with everyone. Sometimes they're lucky and meet a cast and crew that end up being their lifelong friends. Other times, it's just a matter of surviving day to day without conflict.

Unfortunately, Nina Dobrev and Paul Westley both got the short end of the stick, as their personalities clashed quite a bit on The Vampire Diaries, which was set in 2009, at the beginning of the show. Even worse, there was no way to avoid each other, so they were basically sitting on a ticking bomb in every scene.

The only good thing that came out of it was an undeniable chemistry that was too easy to confuse with real-life passion. Dobrev recalled the experience in a Directionally Challenged podcast:

Fortunately, Nina Dobrev is right: no fans noticed any tension between the two co-stars, which apparently was there all along.

That's the beauty of the filmmaking process, if two actors are talented enough, it's too easy to leave all their problems behind the camera and present whatever beautiful picture the director needs.

After a few months, the two actors managed to put aside their differences and find a common ground to continue working together. No matter how chemically charged a love-hate relationship can be, it's never stable enough to build something great on. And Nina Dobrev and Paul Westley had a 6-season road of working together on set ahead of them.

If you want to rewatch the earlier episodes of The Vampire Diaries and try to catch the glimpses of the feud between two actors, you can go ahead and stream the show on MAX or Peacock TV Premium.

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