The CW’s The Vampire Diaries attained a huge following thanks to the drama, romance, and action. And fans fell in love with Stefan Salvatore, one of the lead vampires in the series played by Paul Wesley. Shooting the show had its ups and downs, and Wesley said he had an injury that caused him to delay the show’s production schedule. Here’s what happened.
Paul Wesley had an ankle injury that delayed shooting ‘The Vampire Diaries’
No other actor could perfectly play Stefan Salvatore like Paul Wesley. The actor garnered fame quickly when he first started The Vampire Diaries alongside Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev, and he lasted through all eight seasons of the show.
Several of The Vampire Diaries cast members experienced injuries on the show — and Wesley didn’t get away unscathed. He had an ankle injury that caused a significant delay in production. But he didn’t get the injury while on the set of the series. Instead, he harmed his ankle after running through LA in the rain.
“Nina [Dobrev] threw her back out and was sidelined for weeks,” executive producer Julie Plec told Entertainment Weekly. “And then Paul Wesley fell and twisted his ankle and has been in a boot.”
“I was running down the street in a pair of boots in LA, and it was raining, and I had an umbrella, and whatever, I fell on the curb. It’s ridiculous,” the Stefan actor explained. “I wish I had a better story for you. I wish I could have told you that I karate-kicked an assailant. But unfortunately, it was my own stupidity and clumsiness. Very anti-Stefan. I think that would be great if Stefan was running down the street and he sprained his ankle. That would humanize him a little bit, you know.”
An executive producer said the ankle injury ‘never got to heal’
Executive producer Kevin Williamson called The Vampire Diaries set “cursed” after he put himself in the emergency room after tripping over the Salvator basement steps. And he also said that Paul Wesley had difficulty getting his ankle injury to heal due to having to stand on it during filming.
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“The problem with Paul’s [ankle] was his never got to heal because he kept having to stand on it, and walk on it, and act on it,” the producer told Entertainment Tonight. “So, he never truly got to stay off of it. That’s why it took forever to get him off the crutches. We would go in and stand him up there, and then take the crutches away, and he’d do the scene, and then ‘Cut!,’ and someone would run in with the crutches.”
How much money did Paul Wesley make per episode of ‘The Vampire Diaries’
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While Paul Wesley had to deal with his ankle injury for much longer than expected, the money he made from the series was likely well worth it. So, how much did Wesley make per episode of The Vampire Diaries?
Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Ian Somerhalder were reportedly the highest-paid cast members in the series. They each pulled in around $40,000 per episode. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Wesley’s net worth stands at $6 million. He surely can afford to get his ankle fixed if he needs to.
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