Paul Wesley on his ‘Vampire Diaries’ character’s addiction and more

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January, 28th, 2010

After 10 years as a successful but under-the-radar TV actor, Paul Wesley is suddenly everywhere.  Last summer his face was on more than 30 “Vampire Diaries” posters at the Century City/Westfield mall alone, not to mention billboards over seemingly every major boulevard in Hollywood. A Twitter search brings up a dozen of “his” accounts (none of which, by the way, are run by Wesley or his representation).  L.J. Smith’s “Vampire Diaries” novel series, first published nearly 20 years ago, is now being reprinted with images of Wesley and his co-stars, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder, on the covers.

Still, none of it seems to have gone to his head. There’s no third-party publicist on the line when he calls me during a short break from filming in Atlanta, and he mentions that he’s only recently gotten himself a Los Angeles-based cellphone number. “I kept my New Jersey number literally until a year ago,” he says. “There’s something comforting about it.”

Now that “The Vampire Diaries” has returned from its extended fall hiatus, Wesley’s character, 162-year-old vampire Stefan Salvatore, is struggling to come to terms with his girlfriend becoming friends with his brother, the bloodthirsty and often maniacal Damon. Paul let me in on his dream role, Stefan’s potential dark side, and how Stefan might handle Katherine’s possible return.