Given the wealth of characters Dobrev played and how quickly paced the stories of The Vampire Diaries were, it was no doubt doubly so in this case.

Playing a lead on a TV show is an exhausting endeavor under normal circumstances. Across that time, as Dobrev also stated that she'd played ' a human, a vampire, a doppelgänger, a crazy immortal, a doppelgänger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelgänger.' Equally, her many characters had been ' kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, enjoyed two epic on-screen romances, and much more.' In actual fact, Dobrev revealed in an Instagram post that she'd always viewed Elena's journey as being one comprised of six seasons. However, that turned out to be erroneous, with the pair remaining good friends until this day. Many leaped on the notion that her break-up with co-star Ian Somerhalder (who played Damon) fueled the decision. In 2015, it was announced that Dobrev would leave the show following The Vampire Diaries season 6 finale. Related: The Vampire Diaries: Every Character Nina Dobrev Played Despite the large ensemble, Dobrev served as The Vampire Diaries' core - with the actress playing differing versions of Elena and several doppelgängers.

McQueen as Elena's brother Jeremy Gilbert, Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, and Candice King as Caroline Forbes. Among others, the series also starred Steven R. Elena and her friends also often found themselves caught up in various villainous plots and the factional conflicts between opposing supernatural creatures - including werewolves, witches, hunters, and ghosts. Her life grew even more complicated, however, when she became embroiled in an escalating love triangle with vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, The Vampire Diaries picked up with Elena still grieving the loss of her adopted parents in a car crash. It has since spawned two equally popular spinoffs in the form of The Originalsand Legacies. With one of the most-watched series premieres in CW history, The Vampire Diaries debuted in 2009 and ultimately ran for a total of eight seasons. Smith's popular book series of the same name. Developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, the supernatural drama was based on L.J. Elena Gilbert was a central character on The Vampire Diariesfor a large portion of the series run - until actress Nina Dobrev left the show at the end of season 6.

The vampire diaries season 6 cast