3. WHO HATED DAMON AS A HERO?
The love and favorable reception that Damon received from the fans forced the writers to transform Damon into a hero. His redemption arc came after he fell in love with Elena Gilbert which pulled him to the good side and transformed him into a selfless and compassionate person. While the fans rejoiced the transformation, Ian who played Damon personally hated the change.
Ian Somerhalder revealed in an interview that he disliked the idea of turning Damon into a hero because he loved playing the bad guy, it’s more fun and he can do plenty of things as a villain. When he learned about the idea, he called up the show creators Julie and Kevin and expressed his frustration with the change. In Season 1, Damon killed innocent characters such as Zach and Lexi which angered the fans, but he started changing in Season 2 after his interactions with Rose. Damon is emotionally broken after seeing Rose suffering and slowly dying, he ends her misery by staking her. When Ian read the script which clearly showcase Damon’s feelings for Rose, he was shocked at the direction the creators had taken. Julie and Kevin explained to storyline to Ian and made him understand why the character needs to grow.
2. TVD ENDING COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT
The ending of the Vampire Diaries saw Damon and Elena ending up together whereas Stefan sacrificing himself for the people he cared about. But you would be surprised to know there were numerous endings which were considered for the finale. One ending involved both the brothers dying for Elena and then watching over her in the afterlife. Elena would marry Matt Donovan or someone normal, but the Salvatores would still look after her. Then there were discussions over killing the character of Damon as they did with Stefan. The creators at one point were leaning towards killing Damon than Stefan. However, Stefan sacrificed and Damon got the chance to live a normal life. Kevin was a fan of Stelena and wanted Stefan-Elena to get the happy ending. But Nina Dobrev departed after Season 6. This robbed the writers of the opportunity to bring Elena-Stefan close together in the final season.
1. INSPIRATION FOR DAMON
The character of Damon is iconic and it’s nothing like that we have seen before on the television. But did you know that Ian Somerhalder took the inspiration from the ‘Lost’ character Sawyer for playing Damon. Sawyer who was played by Josh Holloway on Lost is a charismatic and selfish character who would assign nicks to everyone. He also developed romantic feelings for numerous female characters. Ian Somerhalder played the character of Boone Carlyle before appearing on the Vampire Diaries.