Sure, you know Stephen Amell as the green-hooded savior of Star City, but what about the brief time he spent as a werewolf in the forests of Virginia?
In lieu of fresh programming, much of which won’t return until the new year, many TV fans are filling their fall schedule with rewatches, bingeing their favorite comfort shows to help them escape from all things 2020. But when we decided to dive back into The Vampire Diaries — a surprisingly comforting show, considering its high mortality rate — we weren’t expecting to see so many future CW stars getting sucked into the Salvatores’ vampire drama.
Our list includes a warrior queen from The 100; a man who broke Supergirl‘s heart (several times); the Legends of Tomorrow‘s resident witch; an iZombie troublemaker; a psychic bartender from Roswell, New Mexico; the Dynasty reboot’s original Cristal Carrington; a Flash-y detective; an ill-fated Charmed lover; and, of course, a hooded vigilante with an affinity for Arrow(s).
(Disclaimer: A few of these actors did appear on other CW shows before guest-starring on The Vampire Diaries. But we’d argue that their post-TVD roles on the network were more significant than what came before, so we’re giving ourselves a pass.)
Keep scrolling to see how these nine future CW stars fit into the Vampire Diaries universe, then drop a comment with your favorite familiar faces below. Any we should add to our list?
When The 100‘s warrior queen first stepped onto the battlefield, diehard Vampire Diaries instantly recognized her as Nandi, the witch who helped Damon recall his past in New Orleans.*
*Yes, we realize that Nandi never technically visited Mystic Falls, but it came to her, so we’re counting it.
After stealing fans’ hearts (and a few characters’ lives) as murderous psychopath Kai Parker, Wood went on to assume considerably more heroic roles on Supergirl and Julie Plec’s short-lived pandemic drama Containment.
(Though Kai was Wood’s breakthrough CW role, the actor technically made his network debut in six episodes of The Carrie Diaries.)
Long before falling in love with Ray Palmer aboard the Waverider, Ford played a Duke University graduate student who didn’t believe in the existence of vampires… until she met Damon Salvatore. (To be fair, wouldn’t the mere sight of Ian Somerhalder turn you into a believer?)
Anders may have been well-known to Alias and Heroes fans when he joined The Vampire Diaries, but the role of Elena’s “uncle” still marked his CW debut. Little did we know, we’d eventually spend five years loving to hate (or hating to love?) him as iZombie‘s Blaine DeBeers.
Five years before she found herself mixing drinks at the Wild Pony, Hemmens got mixed up with some dangerous vampires, playing Enzo’s ill-fated lover Maggie in the show’s fifth season.
(Like Wood, Hemmens made her CW debut on an earlier series — the short-lived cheerleading drama Hellcats.)
The Dynasty reboot’s first Cristal Carrington (of three!) was originally introduced to CW viewers as Sybil, a seductive siren who attempted to make Damon forget about Elena in the show’s final season.
After getting to know Cosnett as a literal mad scientist on The Vampire Diaries, we barely recognized him when he was reintroduced on The Flash as clean-cut Central City detective Eddie Thawne. (OK, fine, we totally recognized him — but you get the point.)
Ser’Darius Blain nearly survived an entire season of The CW‘s Charmed reboot, which is more than his Vampire Diaries character can say; a member of Klaus’ hybrid army, Chris was killed after just one episode in Season 4.
Just one year before donning the Green Arrow’s iconic hood, Amell played a werewolf named Brady, one of the more impulsive members of Tyler’s uncle Mason’s dangerous pack.
it still bothers me we never got to know nandis fate cause by the timeline of the show when she used her magic on damon that would have triggered back to davina to tell marcel so we dont know if marcel pardoned or killed her after that
According to the Vampire Diaries wiki timeline, Damon went to NOLA after November 28, 2010 which would been early December. The failed Harvest took place in early 2011 so Nandi using magic against Damon without facing any consequences from Marcel would fit the TO/TVD timeline.
I think about Hellcats all the time. I miss that show so much.
You can still watch it on the CW Seed.
Same!
Oh i would love to see Stephen Amell as the green arrow again in another season of Arrow.. bring him back somehow. He is just so cool. I loved his acting and his relationship with Felicity. He was great in Code8 too. I watched all 8 seasons and would love to see other seasons come about on Netflix. Bring him back, yesyesyes….
He has a new show coming out called Heels on FX. I believe there were some production delays due to COVID, but it should be released soon-ish.
Courtney Ford was also on Supernatural.
Yep, she is Jack’s baby mama!!
Why wouldn’t Lauren Cohan be included in this?
Probably because she was on several eps of Supernatural first, as Bela, and played Rose on VDs a couple of years later. They really should do one of these for SPN, too (unless they already did and I missed it).
After Joseph Morgan left this show for his own show The Originals, this show went completely down hill. In my opinion The Originals was so far and away better! Of the 3 shows, Vampire Diaries,The Originals and Legacies, The Originals was the best
I totally agree that The Originals wss better and Joseph Morgan is a phenomenal actor. Wish it would have had more than 5 seasons. :(
I’d consider Courtney Ford’s breakout role to be from her turn on Dexter.
Let’s not forget Courtney Ford’s role on Supernatural, shes been a major part of the show ever since the Devil himself knocked her up in season 12.
Ridatemi ARROW …..x favore…
Was Caity Lotz in The Vampire Diaries or in any CW Show Before Arrow Flash Supergirl and DC Legends of Tomorrow?