Nina Dobrev On Her ‘Vampire Diaries’ Exit & New Film ‘Flatliners’: ‘I Want To Play Adult Roles’


Nina Dobrev finally shares her thoughts about leaving The Vampire Diaries, explaining that it was her choice to go and play other roles that are very different than the orphaned teenager from Mystic Falls.

Months after the popular vampire-themed series from The CW bowed out from TV, the 28-year-old celebrity who portrayed lead character Elena Gilbert finally decided to clear the air about why she left the show earlier than fans expected.

“That was the plan from the get-go,” the Bulgarian actress shared with Harper’s Bazaar.

“If anything, the fact that [leaving] terrified me drove me even more.”

According to E! News, leaving the series that gave her the biggest break of her career was “considered an incredible risk” if not “potentially career suicide.”

However, Nina Dobrev believes that the decision, which left her uncertain of her future and career, was what made her work a lot harder.

“I needed to feel that fear of ‘Oh, my God, what if I never get a job again?’ That just made me want to work five times as hard to make sure that didn’t happen.”

Of course, the thrill of it was not the only reason why she left, and she revealed the real reason during her interview with Harper’s.

“I don’t want to play a teenager anymore,” she said.

This explained why her roles since her exit from The Vampire Diaries had been scarce as she had only starred in very few films including xXx: Return of Xander Cage as well as the upcoming movies Departures and Crash Pad, Us Weekly reported.

As it turns out, Nina Dobrev is an actress who likes to mix it up a bit, saying that she doesn’t want to limit herself with what people expected her to do.

“I want to play adult roles and be challenged and work with great filmmakers and tell incredible stories, and that has meant being really picky.”

Now, the 28-year-old Bulgarian actress, who immigrated to the U.S. and is now living in Los Angeles, is set to star in the remake of the Joel Schumacher psychological thriller where she is literally set on fire.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Nina shared her experience during filming of the Flatliners where half of her body was set afire for real — with necessary protections, of course.

“Well, first of all, your wardrobe gets fireproofed, which is a certain chemical that can’t really burn. They dip your clothes in it and let that dry. And then they put this jelly stuff all over your skin and underneath,” she explained.

“They call ‘Action,’ they light my arm on fire, I have to act like I’m on fire — which I am — and react to the scariness of it, which wasn’t too hard,” she said with a laugh.

After that, the director called “cut,” the crew rushed to her, armed with fire extinguishers.

“So, it goes from hot to cold very, very quickly,” she added.

The interesting bit about it is that they had to do the scene at least five or six times to get the right shot from different angles for the scene.

Aside from that, Nina Dobrev also had to fake being resuscitated for the film for hours, something that left her bruised and exhausted.

“And we [were] faking them, but you still have to put a lot of energy into when you’re faking it. So, I remember leaving set and my whole chest was bruised underneath my bra, from the chest compressions,” she explained.

“Definitely a full-body workout.”

What do you think of Nina Dobrev and her new project? Post your comments below.

[Featured Image by John Phillips/Getty Images]

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