A fresh start. That’s how Paul Wesley wanted The Vampire Diaries to end for Elena (Nina Dobrev). However, that would have meant a much darker ending for his Damon (Ian Somerhalder), Wesley’s on-screen brother.
“I feel good about it [but] I honestly think both brothers should have died,” the Tell Me a Story actor, 37, revealed during the Monday, December 2, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, when a fan asked for his thoughts on the 2017 series finale. “I feel good about it, although I would have liked it if we both died and that Elena, the girl at the end of the show, all her memory was wiped and she went on to live a normal life and forgot that we ever existed. I think that would have been nice.”
![Paul Wesley Wishes 'The Vampire Diaries' Ended a Bit More Tragically](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Paul-Wesley-Wishes-The-Vampire-Diaries-Ended-a-Bit-More-Tragically-01.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all)
Wesley’s character Stefan Salvatore — the good brother — did die at the end of the series, which was something he actually requested creator Julie Plec write into the show.
“I was very happy that he died and I actually had requested that he die because he did a lot of bad things and I felt like he deserved death,” the actor continued.
Stefan sacrificed himself in the finale so that Damon and Elena could live a happy life. In the afterlife, everyone found peace: Elena reunited with her family, who had died at the beginning of the CW series and Damon and Stefan reuniting at the Salvatore mansion.
![Paul Wesley Wishes 'The Vampire Diaries' Ended a Bit More Tragically](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Paul-Wesley-Wishes-The-Vampire-Diaries-Ended-a-Bit-More-Tragically-02.jpg?w=1000&quality=55&strip=all)
Speaking of the brothers, Wesley also explained that they were the core relationship of the show — despite the love triangle that was intertwined throughout the eight seasons.
“Ian always says that the greatest romance on the show is the two brothers. And I agree with that in many ways,” the New Jersey native said. “Just because it was not a sexual romance, it was still a romance.”
The Vampire Diaries is available to stream on Netflix.