The Vampire Diaries Adventure || Meet & Greet the Cast

Nearly a month ago, I shared a little bit about the incredible opportunity that my sister Melissa and I had to visit the set of The Vampire Diaries. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and I am so, so grateful that she decided to bring me along, and that we were given this chance to see Mystic Falls and its haunts in person.

Of course, if you remember, I ended that post with a bit of a cliffhanger.

I had originally planned to post about the rest of that day the week after but then an opportunity to meet J.K. Rowling came along, and then Hurricane Sandy + the start of NaNoWriMo came and went, and it got pushed back - until now. 

Here, finally, is the post about the rest of that amazing day we visited Mystic Falls.

After we had taken the tour of most of the well-known haunts in Mystic Falls, we were sure that it would soon be time to leave. While meeting the cast hadn't been guaranteed, it felt a wee bit disappointing. After all, we were already there and just so close.

Our guides brought us into the mess kitchen where most of the cast and crew passed through for snacks and all. There's a huge bulletin board in there featuring photos of set visitors (which reminds me that I have to send in our photos), and we found ourselves fascinated by that for some time. 

We met the head of the production team, and he alerted us to the fact that we had yet to visit the interiors of the school. The door to one of the classrooms was actually at one end of the kitchen, and I eagerly made my way there.

As I rounded the corner, I found myself stumbling into someone much, much taller than me. Quickly apologizing, I looked up and the rest of the words died on my tongue. For standing in front of me, so tall that I needed to look up to look into a pair of twinkling blue eyes, was Matt Davis (who plays Alaric Saltzman). I made some sort of squeak of surprise and backpedaled incredibly quickly.

Mel, who had still been in the kitchen, gaped as she saw him poke his head in. He was so smiley and friendly; it was hard not to break into the biggest of grins. After quick introductions, he agreed to take a photo with us - and we got to take it in the school hallway!

After we said goodbye (since he was in the middle of filming a crucial scene - which was part of the second to the last episode of last season), our tour guide and the PR rep with us ushered us into a large room with a long conference table running down the length of it. We were situated on one of the comfortable couches, and left to our own devices. I started playing games on my iPad and Mel started reading her book, as we were both unsure of what was going to happen next.

Nearly half an hour later, we snapped to attention when our guide came back with Candice Accola (who plays Caroline Forbes) in tow. I will tell you guys one thing - that girl is gorgeous in person. Though we were unable to take a photo with her since she was in full makeup, we did get to chat with her for a bit. She was definitely a lot like Caroline in that she's perky, bubbly and overall, very, very friendly. She left us both smiling, and I was definitely glad I got to meet her.

Minutes after Candice returned to filming, Nina Dobrev (who plays Elena Gilbert) walked into the room. I stood up, as did Mel; I believe it was a reaction to the general awe we felt at seeing one of the big stars of the show in front of us. She was very friendly, and I found her quite pretty as well, though she was a lot smaller than I expected. As Mel began tearing up, Nina cracked a joke to make her smile again. She hugged us both, and we snapped a quick photo.

When Nina was ushered back to set, the production head came in and invited us to have lunch in the craft services area. It was a no-brainer to accept the invitation, and we began to make our way there. As we reached the front of the production office, we ran into Claire Holt (who plays Rebekah Mikaelson). This was actually a lucky break, as she wasn't filming any scenes that day and had come in to do a voice-over. It was a pleasure to listen to her speak (that accent!) and she was incredibly sweet.

We were off to craft services next, and as we walked in, we ran into Joseph Morgan (who plays Klaus Mikaelson). All he had to say was hello and we practically swooned over his accent. He's incredibly good-looking in person, as well as being friendly and charming. He chatted with us for a moment about Klaus' mansion (which we gushed over) and may have mentioned a certain spoiler for the end of last season. Unfortunately, there was no picture with him, as he was on his way out of the area.

Right before we grabbed some food from the buffet area, my sister and I got to meet Julie Plec, one of the writers behind the show. She's an incredible storyteller, as the show indicates, and I truly think it an honor that we got to meet her when we visited the set.

By this time, my sister and I had agreed that we were already incredibly lucky to have seen what we did and met who we had, though we both fervently wished to meet the two leading men of the show. We were aware that they were in the middle of filming, and so, we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we might not get to meet them at all.

Our amazing guide, however, had other ideas for us and told us to hang around for a little while longer. The PR rep with us said we could wait for another half an hour, but then we'd have to leave. Upon reaching that agreement, Mel, Michelle (the PR rep) and I sat at our table discussing everything that had happened that day.

Mel's eyes suddenly widened and I knew someone had come in. Turning around and making no pretense of hiding it, I nearly fell over when I saw the man with the smolder, Mr. Ian Somerhalder (who plays Damon Salvatore) walking towards us. He had that disarming and charming smirk on his lips, and I found that I was suddenly short of breath. 

If you guys think he's good-looking on screen, well, let me tell you, he is that good-looking in real life. Plus, the man has charm and a TON of it! The first thing he did when we were introduced was hug each of us. He was very talkative and friendly, chatting with us for a good half an hour about the Philippines (which he visited later on in the year), New Orleans and a bit or two about Nina. He was incredibly accommodating and sweet, signing autographs and taking photos with us and calling us "beautiful girls". As he left, he gave us each another tight hug and kisses on both cheeks (as in his lips made actual contact with our cheeks!), which resulted in giddy smiles.

As he waved goodbye and left the room, I let out the breath that had been building up. I had met the one person I really had wanted to meet - and it was incredible. I loved him even more after that encounter, as he had been very attentive, sweet and intelligent.

We waited for another fifteen minutes, but it looked like the other leading man might not be able to meet us. Though Mel put on a good front, I knew she was disappointed, since he was definitely her favorite person on the show. We gathered up our things, about to leave, when all of a sudden, Mel's eyes widened for the second time.

I spun around, and grinned widely when I saw Paul Wesley (who plays Stefan Salvatore) walking towards us, hands in his pocket. I was excited to meet him, but even more happy about the fact that Mel was going to get to talk to him. When I turned to look back at her, she was smiling, her eyes shining.

Paul's definitely good-looking in real life; seeing him up close and in person definitely proved that to me. Though he was a lot quieter and more reserved than Ian, I thought he was very friendly and very sweet. I appreciated the fact that when Mel started crying (in shock or in awe or in happiness), he immediately gave her a hug and said that she was sweet. He was quick to accept our compliments and congratulations (when it came to Torrey), and he was kind enough to take a photo with each of us and sign autographs. 

After he finally bid us goodbye and returned to set, Mel and I just started smiling like idiots. We had met all three of the main cast members, and a few of the others, which was definitely good fortune on top of our good fortune, and our perfect experience visiting the set of The Vampire Diaries was even better than we could have imagined.

Even now, months later, I'm still amazed that we were able to meet these fantastic people. Their performances on the show continue to astound me each week, and I think they're all incredibly talented. I'm happy that my perception of them as genuinely nice people was met, and I am grateful that they each took the time to say hi to two girls who had won a visit to their set, even when it wasn't required of them.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of the experience I had visiting the set and meeting (most of) the cast of this incredible show. If you haven't started watching The Vampire Diaries yet, I highly recommend you do. Despite the fact that it's (a) about vampires and (b) has a love triangle, I think the show has spectacular storytelling and character development - and is definitely worth at least a try. Be warned: it's highly addictive!

If you want to hear more about our adventures (plus a lot more details that fans of the show would appreciate), check out Mel's posts: Trip To Mystic Falls ( 1 || 2 || 3 || 4) and The Day I Met the TVD Cast (1 || 2 || 3).