Nina Dobrev bowled over audiences for years with her incredibly nuanced portrayal of Elena Gilbert (and all her doppelgängers!) on The Vampire Diaries. It was a role that propelled her to superstardom and cemented her as one of the faces of an iconic show.
But did you know that she was actually also almost part of another iconic show?
In a recent interview casting director David Rapaport revealed that Nina once auditioned for a role in the Gossip Girl universe: She read for the planned Gossip Girl spin-off that did not push through. The spin-off was supposed to center on Serena Van Der Woodsen’s mom Lily and take place during Lily’s younger years.
In Jessica Zohr’s podcast XOXO, David shared:
“You know who did the best read for that? I’ll tell you, because I think you’re friends with Nina Dobrev, that was one of the best auditions I had ever seen, and for that role specifically.”
David went on to relay that after Nina’s audition, he called the network and said this about her:
“She is a super star, [but] she does not look like Kelly Rutherford, because she was supposed to be a young Kelly Rutherford, so I don’t know how we would cast her, but she needs to be on your radar and you guys need to find something for her.”
He concluded by stating how amazing he thought Nina was:
“I just remember thinking, ‘I am going to think about this girl in a couple of years and be like, ‘Oh god, I missed that opportunity.’
She was so incredible!”
