Nina Dobrev has finally broken her silence regarding her break-up with one-time boyfriend and former Vampire Diaries co-star Ian Somerhalder, but it may be too long after the fact for Dobrev’s statements to hold up to too much public scrutiny. After all, her final season working with Somerhalder on The Vampire Diaries is long over, as is the Somerhalder-Reed wedding, leaving it a deal easier for Nina to take the higher road as she moves on toward a brighter future.
Nonetheless, fans and critics have little choice but to take Nina Dobrev at face value, as she speaks fondly of Ian Somerhalder.
“I’ve said this before, that we didn’t break up because anything bad happened or because there wasn’t love or friendship,” Ms. Dobrev said in an E! Online interview. “I love him and the friendship is still strong and I think he’s great and I care about him. And that didn’t change. Yes, we’re professional and that’s fine. We were friends long before we dated and we still are now.”
Nina didn’t leave it there and she seems almost too eager to convince fans that that there are warm feelings between Ian and herself.
“When I heard about the wedding, I thought it was beautiful,” Ms. Dobrev said in a separate interview . “They look happy and I am happy, and so I don’t see why there should be a problem with that…Of course, we’re on a teen drama show, everyone’s going to look for drama … I just ignore it.”
Speaking of closing doors on old relationships and new beginnings, Ms. Dobrev has also spoken of her departure from The Vampire Diaries as a graduation of her own. Nina told ABC News that it’s important to her that her time on the show and Elena Gilbert’s final episode ends as well as any departure can be handled.
“I’ve loved working on this show,” Ms. Dobrev said. “It’s been such a crazy, awesome adventure, and I’ve been surrounded by so many people who I consider family. I know this is a new exciting step in the right direction for me, but it’s going to be so strange not to be with them.”
Having made such a public departure from The Vampire Diaries has left the same question on everyone’s lips: What’s next for Nina Dobrev?
First up, Ms. Dobrev met the challenge of a big move head on, relocating from Atlanta, Georgia, where The Vampire Diaries is filmed, to Hollywood, California, where Nina has already begun to establish herself in feature films. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Let’s Be Cops , and her most recent film, The Final Girls , a horror comedy, are already credited to Nina’s resume, with big ambitions to add to that list of films in the very near future.
In the meantime, fans can catch Nina Dobrev in her final appearance as Elena Gilbert in the season finale of The Vampire Diaries , airing Thursday on the CW network.
[Featured image: Nina Dobrev courtesy of Ben Rose/Getty Images for Restoration Hardware]
