Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s Paul Wesley explains why he’d do Star Trek over Vampire Diaries.
Paul Wesley rose to fame in the late 2000s thanks to his turn on the acclaimed CW show, The Vampire Diaries. In it, he played Stefan Salvatore, one of the most popular characters the show has ever seen. And it’s a role that helped him break into bigger roles.
Yet, he doesn’t want to keep playing Stefan Salvatore, and he upset everyone he could possibly think of with that sentiment. Speaking to InStyle, they asked him if he’d return to the series if it was rebooted, to which Wesley dismissed. And at the same time, Wesley made it clear he’d keep playing James Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for as long as he could.
This got some people angry at him but in an interview with Cinemablend, Wesley revealed why he wouldn’t return to Vampire Diaries but would keep with Trek, saying;
"First of all, when I did that role, I was 26 years old, and vampires are not supposed to age. I can’t do a reboot for obvious reasons.Star Trek is timeless. Vampire Diaries is not timeless. It existed in that time, and I think it was an amazing series, and I think it should stay in that [time]. [If] they want to do spinoffs? Great. I just think let’s leave it. Whereas Star Trek is like this show from the sixties that, in a way, invites reboots, invites spinoffs. There’s so much left to explore. There were only three seasons! Obviously, there’s been some films and stuff, but I think there’s just so much room for expansion. We had 22 episodes a year for eight years [on Vampire Diaries]. Big difference."
Paul Wesley is right about Star Trek
Star Trek is a property that can last for a long time, because as life continues, the franchise can find new stories to tell to the audiences, all while picking an appropriate time period to tell these stories. Actors can age naturally, and still be used in various roles regardless of the situation. It’s one of the best things about Star Trek as opposed to other franchises. If one series ends, another can start and focus on different characters, while then bringing in popular former characters in a crossover.
That’s the beauty of Trek and due to the science-nature concept of Trek, you can find ways of bringing back characters in all sorts of ways. Take for instance the Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds crossover, where the Enterprise brought in members of the Cerritos, despite the fact the Cerritos was from over 100 years in the future.
You can’t do that so seamlessly in series like the Vampire Dairies, not without recasting.