Please do not reproduce this interview onto other sites/Tumblr blogs/etc. Instead, just place a link to KSiteTV!
To start, playing a tortured soul like Stefan’s might lead to some sad times for the character. Does that start with the season premiere? “I’m constantly crying. I’m going to cry right after this interview,” Paul jokes. “I cry every time Stefan leaves the dark side and goes to Good Stefan. I want him to stay as the Ripper. I love it. I’m hoping the guilt of what happened makes him hate himself, to turn to Ripper Stefan,” he wishes.
In all seriousness, Paul is not sure what is going to happen, on whether or not Stefan will return to his Ripper side. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I feel like Stefan had a Season 3 ride of darkness, and I think Season 4 is going to be a little more of a gray zone, which is nice, too,” he says.
Stefan’s attitude won’t be helped by his brother, who is on to snark at every opportunity. “Damon’s throwing it in his face. We saw that in the little teaser, where he’s like ‘now we have another quarterback.’ He always gets the snazzy lines,” Paul laments.
Paul feels that the reasons for Stefan not saving Elena first are things that are very important for the audience, and himself as an actor, to know. “I think it’s important that the audience knows, because I have to know as an actor – I was like ‘why would I leave her down there?’ The whole thing is that I didn’t mean for her to die. I was just grabbing Matt first, because that’s what she wanted. I was going to come get her, but… oopsies!” He also reveals that Stefan may not yet know that Elena had chosen him over Damon in the Season 3 finale. “He doesn’t know that [Elena chose him], but also, now that this happened, who knows if her choice is valid anymore. I think due to the circumstances, and the fact that she now remembers everything, I think now her choices can be a bit skewed in a different direction. Which means, maybe Stefan will have a new romantic interest.”
Where else would he like to see Stefan go? “I’d like Stefan to be unexpected; I’d like him to be spontaneous. I want him to be the hero that takes the less traveled path. I don’t want him to be the predictable good guy. I want to be him a good guy who does noble things, but in a twisted way. I think all great heroes in stories and films are always a bit flawed. So, I want him to be flawed,” he says. But first – we’ll have to see how Stefan reacts to Elena as a vampire. “You know, I don’t know. Maybe he won’t be attracted to her as much, because it’ll remind him of himself. We like the opposites. Men like the opposites. He hates himself ’cause he’s a vampire, right? So, I don’t know. Maybe he’s going to project. A lot of projecting in relationships, you know. I’m like a relationship guru, guys. I can tell you all about relationships between vampires and humans,” he jokes. “No, I don’t know. I have no idea. I hope that they can do dangerous activities together, because mortality is not an issue.”
Season 4 of The Vampire Diaries begins Thursday, October 11 on The CW. Come by KSiteTV’s Vampire Diaries forum to talk about the show!
