Paul Wesley: Stefan, Stefussy & The Salvatore Brotherhood

what is up daddy gang it is your founding father alex cooper with call her daddy paul wesley welcome to call her daddy thank you so much for having me okay actor advocate director bourbon connoisseur father of greg best friend of ian somerhalder i mean it is such an honor and a pleasure to be sitting down with you today, Paul. Oh, you're so sweet. Thank you. Obviously, you were on one of the most iconic shows of all time, in my opinion, The Vampire Diaries. And I've always been obsessed. I remember when I started watching it. I've rewatched it. I've told you and Nina that I am a fan multiple times. You're like, Alex, we get it. And so it feels really full circle because now you, me, and Nina are going to be doing a television show together, which is very exciting. How awesome. You deserve to know the fact that you and Nina are going to be back on screen together. It feels like we're healing something within the world. How long has it been since you guys have worked together? Oh, my goodness. Well, I mean, gosh, let's see if my math skills are any good. So I guess the show ended in 2017. Nina left two years prior to that. But she came back for the finale. So I guess theoretically, 2017, we're in 2026. So it's been nine years since we've actually been on. So it's almost a decade. By the time our show comes out, it will literally be a decade. Yeah, by the time we're filming and by the time it comes out, maybe, yeah, a decade over a decade. Okay, I don't like that because that makes me feel old. But also, I like it because everyone rewatches Vampire Diaries every five seconds. So what feels nice is it feels like we haven't missed you guys too much. It's such a strange thing, isn't it? It's like, it's the weirdest thing because like, I, you know, once the show goes off the air, typically you're like, okay, you like, it fizzles out. And like, you know, whatever. And it's so funny because there are, you know, Ian and I will do like, you know, conventions, right? And I'll have someone show up with their teenage daughter and they'll show up and make me feel old. And they'll say, I grew up watching you and now my daughter's watching you. And it's like the weirdest, like, it's this generational thing because of streaming, you know, and it never ends. It's like a vampire. It's eternal. Paul, it's like we're still in Mystic Falls. We're still in Mystic. We never left. I, I've never left. I feel like I've never, it'll never leave me. Well, I love that so much. Also, I was thinking about it. You leave the show, obviously, and your life did eventually move on. But like, did you and Nina know that you wanted to work together immediately after the show? Or did it take a little second to get the itch to be like, should we do something? Look, so it's like, it's very public that Nina and I had this very fun kind of back and forth relationship in the sense that what I mean by that is, in the beginning, we didn't get along. And that's, and that's highly, you know, you publicize. That's something she's spoken about. I've spoken about it. It's not like I'm, it's breaking news, you know? And now we're like, I, we're such good friends and I absolutely adore her. And it's one of these things that like, it's not like the show ended and we're like, let's do something together. It's just sort of like, we would see each other, we'd stay in touch. And then enough time went on where I was like, you know, I don't know whose idea it was, but we kept saying we should do something, you know? And, and let's make it special. Like, let's really, make it great. And so we, you know, we were trying to find something for years and then we would not talk about it for two years. And then another, we, oh, we should do this. And then until finally, you deserve to know came about. And we're like, I think, yeah, let's, this is it. Let's do this. Is Ian jealous? Do we need to write him in? We need to, maybe we need to like call a friend and ask him if he's jealous right now. Ian, do you want us to write you in? There's still time. He's like, he'll pretend to know, but deep down inside, you know, he wants to be written in. Also, I love, didn't you guys, you and Nina were, didn't you do courtside together at one of the Knicks games? Yes, yes. Like just seeing it. I think the Vampire Diaries, every time you guys give any of those fans a little something, we get excited. Cause you know, Nina just moved to New York City full time and I'm in New York. I grew up in Jersey, but I consider myself a New Yorker cause that's like a lot cooler. I always stay in New York and then people like really wear and I'm like Jersey. They're like, ah, but no, but I, you know, I'm actually, I've been going to Knicks games for years and I'm friends with Jalen Brock. Brunson, he's a good buddy of mine. And I called Nina. I said, Nina, you gotta go to a Knicks game with me. And I know they would love to have you. And Jalen, I'm going to call him out. I don't care. He's my homie. I love him. He's a huge Vampire Diaries fan. His, him and his wife are huge Vampire Diaries fans. And so I was like, I gotta bring Nina to a Knicks game because Jalen is going to love this. And so. Not him being a Vampire Diaries, like everyone's like a huge fan of his and he's like, Elena, stuff it. So I texted him right before the game. I was like, hey, just so you know, I'm bringing, Elena to the, to the, to the game. And he's like, no way. And it's so funny because that game was like a blowout. They blew away. I forget who they were playing, but I think they won by like 50 points, which is like unheard of. And I was like, Jalen's doing this for Elena, isn't he? I know he is. That's actually amazing to know. Yeah, yeah. Okay. In the new show that we're doing, Nina's husband is murdered. Yes. And you are the top suspect. I am. That is giving very different vibes from Stellena. Like very different. It is. What are you most excited about with this new dynamic? Like you're not in a romantic relationship. You're more friends on a show. Yeah. I mean, you know, you were there when we were developing it, obviously. Yeah. Producing it. But, you know, I mean, obviously Aaron Kaplan, one of the EPs, he said, do you guys want to play, you know, romantic partners? And Nina and I talked about it. We kind of like, we feel like there's some, like there's just like this whole, like the Stefan and Elena thing is so, iconic and so perfect. And in a weird way, we don't want to like, like not ruin it, but like have a comparison. You know, we don't want to, we don't, like if we were playing husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend, like people would compare that to Stefan and Elena. So we wanted to create a new dynamic so that we offered something new to the fans where we're still interacting on screen, but it's in a different capacity. I know. And I really respected that because just for everyone watching, trust me, we, we sat there and we're like, so you're sure that you don't want to be married. And you guys were like, Alex, but I really respect that you guys have so much respect for the craft of like what you built on Vampire Diaries. And I do agree with you in a way that like it would almost be hard to see you two in a couple and not be like Stefan and Elena. Oh, wait, no, this is a different show. So I think we did it right. Exactly. I think so as well. But don't worry, everyone. I asked. Yeah. Since the show is called You Deserve to Know, I'm going to, I'm going to ask you, okay, some stories that we deserve to know, Paul. Yes, you do. The public deserves it. Yes, we deserve it. And you are going to tell us these stories. Please, please. Okay, here we go. Tell us about your first kiss. Okay, so, uh-huh. My first like kiss was kind of like, I remember I was in the, I used to live in this like community in New Jersey where it was like townhouses, but there would be like a public swimming pool. And I was in the public swimming pool and this girl I don't even know who she was. She dared me to kiss her underwater. And I was like, let's do this. I had my goggles on. I don't know. Maybe I was like 10 or something. And I went down there and we kissed underwater. And I still remember her like freckled face kissing me underwater. And none of her parents knew about it. It was really sweet. Not your first kiss being underwater. It was underwater. Paul! With goggles and maybe even floaties. I may have taken off my floaties. Yeah, otherwise. That's so romantic. Yeah, it was romantic. And then eventually you, you did it on land. But first underwater. Eventually on land. And I remember my first on land as well, which was like my first girlfriend ever named Carolina. Shout out. And I remember my, somebody dared us to French kiss. Right. Well, that's a bigger deal. Oh, it's huge. Whoa, big deal. Oh my God. French kiss behind the, you know, after the school bus drives you off. And I was like, and I was like, okay, I can do this. And I just remember like, you know, you would think I would be like very excited. I was just like, I cannot believe people like this. How do people like exchanging saliva? I was still too young to like fully appreciate it. And poor Carolina because I did not, I wasn't like, I wasn't hyped about it. You're just like putting tongue out and closing your eyes and hoping for dear life to get through it. I was like, let's get through it. Okay, cute. What is a time when you completely misread the vibe but still shot your shot? Like with a girl? Yeah. Oh man. Twice. Oh. Yeah. I mean, it was twice, twice. Twice that I could think of. I remember like the most, the most simplistic one is like I remember being on a date with someone who would go unnamed because she's actually an actress. And this was like, obviously way back in the day. I was, you know, very single pre-Vampire Diaries. And, and I just remember like I thought the date went really well. And I was like, I'm just gonna, like I'm gonna go in for a kiss, like a good night, you know, like a good night kiss. And, and I just remember she just like, went in for the kiss and she was just like. No. And it was like, yeah, like the turn. And then I had to pretend that it wasn't a kiss and then it was like just a hug. And I was like, it was the most awkward. It was so awkward. I haven't seen her since. Thank God. No, literally since that moment. Yeah, since that moment. Never saw her again. Thank God. Did you reach out after or you didn't reach out? No. You both didn't reach out. No, it was like the worst. Oh my God. It was the most embarrassing thing ever. Yeah. Paul. Yeah. I was like traumatized. That, and then I remember one time I was in New York. I just remember I was on like a fire escape in New York City and I was having this conversation with this girl. I was like, like at a party. And I was just like, and never do this again, Paul. And if like there's any guys listening, don't do this. I was just like, I looked and I was like, can I kiss you? And she just goes, no. And I was like, oh, okay. Those were like the two times I can think of. What do you do though to recover from that? Did you stay on the fire escape or are we like? I don't recall. It was so long ago, but I remember being like, what a dumb ass. I cannot believe I just asked her when she clearly has no interest in me. That's actually completely amazing. Okay. What is a night out that you can remember that gave you the worst Sunday scaries? Oh God, I've had so many of those. You mean like, is that what you mean by that is like. You made some bad decisions the night before you woke up really bad hangover. You're like, ooh, what did I do? Like, Paul, what did we do last night? I mean. I was a bit of a troublemaker when I was a kid. Um, and my friends and I got fake IDs, like, you know, at the age of 15 and we, we would, you know, these horrible fake IDs, but somehow they worked in New York city and we would take the, we would take the train up to the city at like 15, 16 and go to these clubs and stay out till like seven, eight in the morning. And like, that was like the worst. I can't even imagine doing that. Kids living near New York city. When they're younger in New York city, you're like, you lived a different life. Yeah. Like, what do you mean you're at a club at 15? No, it was crazy. And I just remember like sneaking out of my house and like, you know, doing the traditional, like stuffing my bed with something that looked like a human and then like losing track of time. And then like my phone, of course, like I didn't even have a phone. I don't even, this was like pre cell phone. And I was at like a beeper. And I just remember like seven in the morning would hit on a Sunday and I would get like a beep. The beeper would go off. My mom would be like nine. 9-1-1-9-1-1. Call me right now, Paul. And I'd be like, oh my God, how am I going to explain this? Oh, wow. But also like 15 year old boy being in the club. Oh my God. Like not having much success, I would assume. None. None. About as much success as I had on the fire escape. You're not, you're not buying bottles. No, I'm not doing anything. I'm standing in the corner doing God knows what. You're lucky to like get in the bouncers, like get out of here. Oh, a hundred percent. And they all knew it was a fake ID, but there's no way. They're somehow letting you in. It was like New York in that time was like a totally different. That's fair. Okay. A time when you did something petty to get back at someone. Oh, gosh. I mean, I'm not, I would not consider myself a petty person. However, however, you know, like in high school, I went to three different high schools. I wasn't like a cool kid at all. And, and even in middle school. And it was like, you know, the, the, the, the, there was definitely like tap times where I was like, you know, the, the town bully or like the cool kids who were older that didn't want to invite you to the parties or like, you know, kind of making you feel like, you know, you're not part of the in crowd and all that. And I remember, you know, there's the, the, I got on this big TV show. I was 26 and all of a sudden out of the woodworks come all these guys that wanted nothing to do with me in high school. That like all, you know, the girls that wouldn't give me the time of day. And all of a sudden they're like, Hey man, like, Oh my gosh, my girlfriend, you know, my girlfriend and my sister or whatever, like, let's hang out or, Hey, I can, you know, can you, can you, can I, can you call my sister or something just to say hi? And I would just be like, you know what? Like as petty as this is. No, like, like, like, no, you know what I mean? It just felt like now you want to be friends. You know what I mean? I appreciate that. I appreciate that though. When people do that. Cause you're like, I remember. Okay. And I don't think that's fully being petty. That's you being like, Oh, I clocked exactly what's happening right now. You don't get me now that I'm all good. Yeah. And I, you know, in my philosophy these days is always like killing with kindness. Like I'm always the kind of guy who's like, if to always just be nice to like, kind of like, that's my technique. Like, I don't, I don't want to be petty, but I do remember when I was in my mid twenties and the show came out, I was like, you know what? I'm going to do this. I'm going to be petty. I'm going to be a little bit. I'm going to, you know, I think we're all backing you on that one. What is something you did unexpectedly that went viral on the internet? I mean, I can think of very one, very big thing that, um, became viral on Tik TOK. Um, which was when a fan asked me if, um, I liked Madison beer and I thought it was, I thought that was a type of beer. And I said, I've never had that kind of beer before. And I was like, I don't, I've never had Madison beer. So that was, that was special. And then as it like kind of spiraled and then like, how did you handle that moment? I mean, at that point I was like, do I then apologize to Madison beer? Do I need to like make a public apology? Because she obviously is very famous. She's, you know, but I'm just like an idiot. I don't know. And you're in your own world. I don't know what's going on. And so I was like, you know, it was, it was, it was very funny because it was, it became this whole thing. Like, I remember, I forget there was some publication that like they, I guess, you know, frankly it was during COVID too. So maybe it was less, less stuff going on, but it was like top 50 pop culture moments of 20, whatever, 2019, whatever the heck it was. And I remember it was like Paul Wesley thinks Madison beer is a beer. And I was like, that makes the top 50. Do you get anxiety when something like that you did is trending or do you not care? I think it's funny. I don't care. You don't care. Yeah. When I was preparing for this interview, I discovered something new about you. I didn't know that your name isn't Paul Wesley, right? I'm going to try to pronounce it and then you're going to can't wait. Okay. Hold on. Your first name is Pave. Almost. Okay. And your last name is Vashilevsky. Whoa. Do you have some like Eastern European descendant? No, I actually put the pronunciation down for myself. Vashilevsky. That's perfect. So, okay. Wait, you say it. Say your full name. Pavel Vashilevsky. Pavel. Pavel. Pavel. Oh. Oh. Oh. Wait, wait, that sounds too Philly. Hold on. Let me try that again. Say it again. Pavel. Pavel. Vashilevsky. Vashilevsky. Amazing. Oh. Look at you. Okay. Do you want to play an Eastern European on You Deserve to Know? Like, do you want to play a Polish like murder suspect? Like, because I think you could do this. Honestly, maybe. Yeah. How did we get here? How did you get from that to Paul Wesley? So my mom, so my parents are both from Warsaw and they immigrated to this country. My older sister was born there from Warsaw, Poland. And I was the first of the family to be born in the United States. And growing up, we didn't speak any English or sorry, my parents didn't speak English well. And we spoke Polish at home primarily. So my mom always called me Pavel and Vashilevsky is my name. But in school, it was Paul Wazalewski because that's how the Americans would pronounce it, which, you know, phonetically, I guess that's like, or whatever, if you read it, that's. So it was like my whole life, it was Paul Wazalewski. And I'm like, it's really like Wazalewski doesn't like speak to me. Do you know what I mean? Like, that's not who I am. So I try to like correct people and be like, no, it's Vashilevsky. And they'll be like, no, no, no. And I started acting. And then, and then I started, I got my first few TV shows. And it was like, always this huge drama to pronounce my name. And I just said, you know what, if they're gonna call me Paul Wazalewski, I might as well just change it. So I didn't change it legally. I remember thinking I wanted to, I want my last name to start with a W and I want it to end with an E sound. Because like my real name, Wazalewski, Vashilevsky. So I was started like, I just literally started writing down random, like, like last names that could work. I somehow stumbled upon Wesley. And I was like, I like the ring. I like the sound of that. And I just came up with it. It was as simple as that. It's like totally arbitrary. Wait, what did your parents think about you changing your name? My like, I remember asking my grandfather, who's that what who on my mom's side. So technically, it wasn't his name. But I remember being like, he's like, go for it. Absolutely change it. Like, duh, of course, you should change it. My dad was a little bit like, I'm not so sure. But then they came around to it. And I didn't change it legally. Yeah, legally. I'm still Yeah. Oh, Vashilevsky. Yeah. Okay, so your parents can be really happy about that. Okay, that's good. Just my stage name. From New Jersey. Yeah, not New York. Good to clarify. Um, your parents immigrating from Poland. Can you paint the picture of what your house was like growing up? Like, put us right in there, Paul, what are we experiencing in this home? Um, I had a great childhood. You know, my parents, they were wonderful. And and they, you know, I what's great is I grew up in the proximity 45 minutes south of Manhattan. And so it was always like Manhattan was this kind of like, oh my gosh, this like this, this is like the place, right? Like you always like I was so enamored. Like I really wanted to end up somehow in Manhattan. And I remember I was playing ice hockey my whole life. And my parents were they're pretty smart people. Like my dad went to Columbia, he's a computer engineer. My mom's has a master's in psychology. And and my sister's a lawyer. They're all pretty like highly educated. And so I just, never fit into that mold. I always wanted to do something different. And I started doing theater and all this. And my parents were so great because they put me in acting classes and they were like, you know, they wanted me to like, just be happy. And so I started doing these acting classes in Manhattan and somehow an agent saw me and was like, hey, do you want to audition for stuff? And I was like, sure. And that's how I ended up in Manhattan. I got a TV show at 16. I started making my own money and I got my own apartment in the city. But so they, I guess in answering your question, like I credit them with giving me the kind of like flexibility and like allowing me to pursue my dreams and being really like, they wanted me to be happy. They weren't like, you have to go to, you know, they wanted me to get good grades, but they were like, more important is for you to be passionate about what you do. And so I feel like I was able to do what I love to do and to have this career. And film and television because they were supportive. Well, that's incredible because I feel like so many people don't have that experience. So it feels like you have to rebel, but to have actually supportive parents, it must have felt so safe for you to explore your passions. Absolutely. Being close to New York though. Obviously there's so many different cultures that come in and out of New York in a beautiful way, but like you were in New Jersey. Yeah. So was, and close Jersey shore, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's 20 minutes. You're like, please. Come on. Come on now. Calm down, Alex. But if. If I showed you some photos of me, you'd be like, for sure that guy could have been on the Jersey shore. You remember the Jersey shore, obviously, right? Paul. Yeah. Oh my God. So, so, so, so I've never seen the Jersey shore. So, but it was a funny story to tell you. So I, so I used to do the whole Jersey shore thing. I had a house in Belmar and my friends and I used to like lift weights and, you know, like it was like, you know, gym tan laundry and all that kind of like literally wax our eyebrows and like, you know, Yeah. And we would walk around like this in our tank tops. Anyway, it was like, so pathetic. Um, and I remember like I was in my twenties and I was doing like a something for the vampire diaries. And somehow they were like, oh, the cast of the Jersey shore is here. And I was like, oh, cool. I don't know. I've never seen it. And, um, and, um, the guy who plays the situation. I love how you say the guy who plays the situation. Is he the situation? That's his real life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mike, the situation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that guy comes up to me. He's like, Hey, Paul. And I was like, Hey, and he's like, we used to hang out in the Jersey shore. And I was like, we did. And he's like, yeah. And I asked a few friends, but like, yeah, he used to hang out with us. We used to like go out with the Jersey shore. I didn't even know. I was part of the Jersey shore, you know, fist bumping. You had the situation right under your fingertips and you didn't even know. I had no idea. You may have been out with Snooki and you didn't even know. For all I know, I could have been. Yeah. Paul, why do I feel like that's your life where you're like, I didn't know Madison beer wasn't a beer. I didn't know I was friends with the situation. I didn't know any of this. Like life just keeps happening. And Paul's like, what? Oblivious. Dude, that's crazy. Okay. So did you ever get a spray tan? Of course I got a spray tan. You were gin tan laundering actually. I did. I did a spray tan when I was, my friends, I'm telling you, I mean, it's like, I shouldn't be admitting this, but like, I'm telling you when I was like 17 and we used to like, literally like, it was all about like how big our muscles are. I was like 40 pounds heavier. Like it was all about muscles and being tan and then like making sure you have no chest hair and like walking around the Jersey shore like this. And like, honestly fighting, we would get into like fist fights all the time. And like, oh my God, it was like, you have no idea. When you were saying that you were getting jacked and you were doing all that, you know what it made me think of? What? Donnie. Donnie from the OC. Paul? Donnie from the OC. One of my favorite shows. Were you on one episode? I was only on one episode. Okay. You made such an impression to remember that you were on the OC and to only be in one episode. That's pretty incredible. You'd be surprised how many people come up to me and go, Donnie, it is the craziest thing. Like just one episode. And I remember because I read for the main guy, Ryan, who's Ben McKenzie is a good friend of mine. I adore him. By the way, so is Adam Brody. And I just met them on, on, when I was doing Donnie, when I was playing Donnie. When I was doing Donnie. No. And I, no, I remember I read for Ryan. I didn't get it. I was very devastated. And they called me like, how about Donnie? You're more of a Donnie. And I was like, sure, I'll play Donnie. And then I just played myself basically. Oh, it came so, cause that was like, you were in Chino with Ryan or something and you guys like, or like whatever you, you were there. You were like the scary guy. Oh yeah. I shot somebody. I shot the, the blonde guy. I was like, yeah, bitch. You shot Luke. You got shot. I shot Luke. Thank you. You fully shot Luke. I shot Luke. You came into the party. You had the gun. I had a gun. Oh my God. Cut the clip with good old Paul. Roll the clip with Donnie. Bring it back. I remember, I think you had like a thick armband. Oh yeah. Armband. And oh my God. Oh, you were so Donnie. I was so Jersey. I was so. So easy to play. It felt organic. A hundred percent. Didn't have to study for that role at all. So you eventually get into acting. Right. And in the early days you end up living with your childhood friend, Ricky and his Pomeranian in a studio apartment. In the West Village. In the West Village. Yes. Did you have two beds? We had two beds. Oh, that's. The Pomeranian and him on one, me and the other, two twins, you know. Oh, two twins. Two twins. Two twins. We're right there next to each other. Yeah. Oh, like a little night scene. Stand in between. And by the way, this is like, yeah, exactly. Literally. And this is back when like, we were like wearing tank tops and like, you know, and, and, you know. Feeling yourself. Oh yeah. Still feeling ourselves. So everyone was like, welcome to the neighborhood. And West Village. And West Village. What were you three getting up to around that time? Um, God, no. By the way, I love that you said you three, including the Pomeranian. Yeah. Like, like the Pomeranian was clubbing with us. No, it was like, I was on a soap opera with Brittany Snow. Oh, love her. Who was like, yeah, who's, I think she did, she did the show. Yes, yes. Love her so much. I adore her. She's one of my dear friends. I adore her. She's the best. She's the best. So Brittany and I played boyfriend and girlfriend on a show called The Guiding Light. I was like 16 years old making a bunch of cash. I was like, Ricky, I'm going to get an apartment in the West Village. And he's like, great. Is that how you would talk? Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Okay. Something like that. There was a little accent in there. It was giving a little New York. It was giving a little like a Sopranos. Yeah, yeah. No, I used to have a thick Jersey accent, but anyway. And then I was just like, let's just like get the, and it was just like the best time of my life, you know, it was like fake IDs and just partying and, you know, doing this soap opera. And like, frankly, like that's where I like kind of learned how to, you know, I remember when I first got on the soap opera, I was so uncomfortable and like the soap opera taught me how to like work with the camera and like, you know, be more relaxed. And like, it was an amazing training ground. And so many great actors came from, from that, but like Brittany, Brittany's amazing. Want to hear something funny. I'm going to call out Brittany. She's, she said this story, so it doesn't really matter. It's really funny. Brittany's, I wonder if Brittany, she said this story, so it's fine. So I, we were on set and like, you know, I'm like 16, 17. So like, you know, whatever. I had like, you know, done a bunch of, I've, I've, I had kissed, I had a girlfriend, I'd kissed women, girls before. And, and Brittany and I had our first kiss scene and I was like, cool, no big deal. Like whatever. Cause we were playing boyfriend girlfriend. And Brittany was younger than I was. Um, and we did the kiss scene and I'm like, okay, like that was fine. Like that went well. And I remember afterwards, her mom comes up and he goes, just so you know, that was her first kiss ever. And I was like, what? I didn't know that. And like, to this day, yeah, it's so sweet. Like to this day, like Brittany's first kiss is the kiss on camera with me. It was really sweet. Oh, you're a good guy. I feel like that you probably made it just like so sweet and like chill for her. Yeah. Wait, that's cute. It was really, now we're really good friends. Yeah. And to see just how both like successful you've been in your own rights and to think about you like little young and like imagining Brittany also being probably so nervous. Oh my God. I can imagine. Yeah. Oh my God. It's actually probably good that you didn't know. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's really sweet. Yeah. Okay. So what would you and Ricky do though? If you both, if you had like a girl that you wanted to bring back and we've got the twin beds, Paul, like what are we doing? Oh my God. Like what happened? What did happen? You're like Ricky? Yeah. Um, no, it was, um, let me get back to you on that one. I don't remember. I plead the fifth. No, I don't know. I think we probably, you figured it out. Ricky, you know, go take a walk. Uh, get out of here. You can leave the Pomeranian. Yeah. Leave the Pomeranian doesn't care. Okay. Fair. So you and Ricky had your stint. You did your thing. Yeah. Then there's been another bromance in your life. Uh huh. With none other than your Vampire Diaries co-star. Smolder Holder. Ian Summer Holder. The Smolder. Is that what we call him? I call him the Smolder Holder. Like when you call him every day, or is that what you're saying? Just Smoldy. I call him Smoldy Pants. Smoldy. For years I called him Smoldy Pants. Does he like that? I think deep down inside he likes it. What does he call you? Um, fuck face probably. Yeah. Am I allowed to curse? No. I mean, we, we're, we're so funny. We call each other like Ian and I are like, we're like in this like domestic partner. No, not a domestic bar. We don't live together. It's like this, like we're in like a marriage, you know? It's like we started off as like colleagues working together. Then we're like best friends. Then we're like, okay, we see each other every day for eight years. I love you. But also like, then we're like brothers. Then now we have this business together. It's like we are so, it is like such a complicated, it's like my longest relationship I've ever had in my life. We've been, I feel like we've been together for 20 years and we know, I know what he's going to say before he's even going to say it. And he knows what I'm going to say. And we're yin and yang. Do you bicker like a married couple? Oh my God. We bicker. We, we hug it out. We like, I mean, it is like, it is. How do Nikki and Natalie feel about it? Like when you guys are all together. They're like the calm energies and like we're the Tasmanian devils. Like they're like, by the way, thank God for Nikki and Natalie. Like Natalie is like calms me down so much. And I feel like Nikki calms him down so much because him and I are, are a little. You know, Natalie's energy when we got drinks, I was like, she is so. Good. She's so good. She is so steady. So steady. Calm. Yes. Sophisticated. Oh my God. Lovely. Yes. I'm so happy for you. Thank you. But now knowing the two of you are like that, I'm like, Ooh, even more now. That makes sense. Yeah. And like, yeah, Nikki and Nat and Nikki as well is like much more like Ian is like, Ian is like moves a thousand miles a minute, you know? And like, have you met Ian? No. He's like, I mean, the guy will literally, he can talk to anyone for like two hours. Like he will literally. Just corner you and talk to you and lose track of time. Like he is like this. He's the most personable person that you'll ever meet. Like you would love him. Everyone just looks into his blue eyes and just like melts. It's like, it doesn't work on me anymore. I'm like, get the hell out of here. Yeah. But it worked initially. Wow. Okay. Almost 20 years in this partnership, in this marriage. Yeah. Go back. Think about what was your first, first impression of him? And like, when did you first meet him? I, my first, the first time I met him was in Burbank, California. After we both got cast on the show, we knew we'd be playing brothers. And they're like, you need to go to this dental office because you need to get a fang fitting. We need to, you need to get your fangs fitted for this, for the show. Cause they have to mold them. So I remember I was like pulled up to this dentist and he's like leaving. And I'm like, Hey, Hey. And he like, I guess we're going to play brothers. He's like, I don't know. He's like, yeah, yeah. He's like, I just got my fangs fit. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to get my fangs fitted as well. I was like, I'll see you on the plane tomorrow. And then I remember like being like, okay, cool. And then I remember we sat, we decided to sit next together next to each other on the plane on the way to Vancouver. Cause we shot pilot in Vancouver and I'm sitting there, we're chatting. And, and this is a perfect example of how me and Ian are total polar opposites. I'm glass half empty. I think everything is doomed. He's glass half full. And we're usually some of the, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. This time he was right. I look at him and I go, so we're doing this pilot. He's like, yeah. I'm like, I don't know, man. I'm like, vampire diaries. I was like, gee, I was like, you know, you think we're going to get picked up? He's like, yeah, I think we're going to get, I'm like, I don't know. You think it's going to be a hit? I don't think it's going to like be a thing. And he just looks at me. And I still remember to this day, he just goes, Oh, contrary, my friend, it's going to be a big deal. Mark my words. And I was like, Oh, contrary. I'm on frere. I was like, who speaks like that? But anyway, he was right. He was right. He was right. He was dead on. Oh my God. That's actually kind of crazy though, because knowing, cause you guys ended up shooting all the time in Atlanta. Yes. But going for that pilot, I've, I've obviously interviewed actors before that. It is crazy to know, like most of the time that first episode is not filmed where it's going to be filmed and you have no idea if you're going to get picked up. No idea. When was the moment? Do you think you were like, Oh, I like, I think I really like this. This guy. Like, so first you're kind of like dipping your toe in the water and you're like, Oh, contrary. You're like, okay, this guy's like kind of kooky and I like him and he's uplifting. But when were you like, Oh, we're friends. Well, so we, so the show got picked up and then I was like, okay. I was like, well, and then I was like, I'm going to take this shit really seriously. Like, this is a big deal. This is a huge, cause I had done like eight pilots and they all failed. And like, I mean, some got picked up, but none of them lasted. And I had this feeling after the show got picked up, I was like, and it tested really well. They tell you about like whether it tests well with the audience. Like, they're like something special with this one. I was like, we have to do a good job. So I was like, Ian, we need to like, we're playing brothers. We need to like bond and we need to like really study together. He's like, you're right. He's like, I have an idea. He's like, let's fly to Atlanta and let's get apartments next to each other so we can just live next to each other. And I was like, good idea. So I remember into this day, I remember we literally get to the airport and I pull up, I'm wearing these light blue jeans. A black leather belt, a white Hanes shirt, black Ray-Bans and cowboy boots, these like fry boots. And I look over at him and he's wearing the exact same thing. We literally looked at each other and we're like, we look like the Blues Brothers. We got off the plane and we were like, decided to go apartment hunting and got apartments next to each other so that we can be close to each other so that we can practice and study lines together. And it was just like the funniest thing pulling into Atlanta wearing the exact same. Oh, we had the same color backpack as well. Paul. And I remember we stayed at like the W Hotel for the first night. We walked in and everybody just looked at us like, who are these guys? It was really funny. He's basically your soulmate. Yeah. Since day one. So he was like my brother the minute we landed in Atlanta. Okay. But then I'm like, I can't help but be like, why do I feel like I can see Ian and you living next to each other was a good idea at first. And then you're literally like. Yeah. Coming home after a long day on set. Then you're going into your rooms and Ian's like knocking and you're like, Paul, come out and play. Yeah. I was like, leave me alone. He's like knocking on the wall. No, but it, you know, truthfully, like, you know, jokes aside, like we really like we didn't mess around like the first two seasons. We were like, oh my God. And then like by the third season, we're like, we're good. Let's this is doesn't need to be fake bourbon on set anymore. Like, let's go ahead and maybe switch that out with some Woodford Reserve. And by the way, yeah. Sorry. Warner Brothers. Because you guys did drink so much. By the way, it's not like we were shit face on set, but like, you know, towards the end of the day, you know, you're like, I'm I've drank enough of this, like unsweetened iced tea, which is supposed to be bourbon. I think I can like, you know, and like the amount of scenes that like Ian had to do, like dancing, like in the mansion alone. Yeah. Give that man a little something. Give that man. Yeah. Get him some bourbon. Yeah. Speaking of bourbon, look at that transition. You guys started. Brothers Bond bourbon inspired kind of by these like Vampire Diary days that you had together. Yes. How many drunk nights did you guys have trying to develop this and get it right? So, you know, so COVID hit. Right. So we always talked about doing a bourbon. And I remember COVID hit and it was like I couldn't like I was sort of a nomad. I was shooting these TV shows. I was like up until COVID and then I was stuck. We were all stuck. We couldn't leave. And I remember being in in in we live in the same little community at the time in we had houses in Topanga. And I remember Ian called me up one day. He's like, hey, man, we're not doing shit. We can't leave our houses. We can't do anything. So do you want to just come over and like blend some bourbon and like let's figure out how to blend some bourbon and like let's launch a bourbon. And I was like, yeah, I'm not doing anything else. So I just would go to his house and we would just like drink. I create these blends for like and in his kitchen, we'd go by the fire pit outside and we would just like try like he I would come to his house and he would have all these like graduated measuring cylinders. He looked like a mad like, you know, like in Back to the Future. What's his name? Doc. What was that? He kind of looked like that. His hair was every it was mad. He had a beard. He was like had all this bourbon. I look like a chemist. And I remember we were just like we just like spent like months just like creating these blends that we liked. And I remember we were just like, we just like spent like months just like creating these blends that we liked. And then we finally found something we loved. And then like we sent it into this lab essentially to analyze the mash bill. And they were like, this is your mash bill. I was like, great. That's Brothers Bond. And then we like did a small friends and family round and raised a little bit of money and launched the bourbon and boom. Congrats. That it's like so crazy to see. And it's such a great idea. Obviously, you guys have such a strong brand already in the two of you. But then to launch that, that felt very organic for you guys to do together. We like genuinely like, and this is not like a plug, like we genuinely love bourbon. And like, that's all we drank in Atlanta. You know, when we would finish filming and be like, God, like we just shot 14, 15, 16 hours. Let's go to the bar. And we would always drink bourbon. That was like our thing. And so like the Brothers Bond, obviously, it's like a nod to me and Ian on screen. We have a bond as brothers, but also like off screen. That was like our brothers bond. So it was very funny because when we started the company, we didn't have a name and we were like pitching. Walmart and, and, and our CEO's like, we need a name. And they're like, we're on calls in an hour. We can't just like pitch a brand that doesn't have a name. And Ian's like, okay, I got it. I got it. I got it. I was like, okay, what is it? He's like, Brothers Supreme. And I was like, Brothers Supreme. I was like, dude, that's the worst name for a bourbon brand ever. I was like, we are not Brothers Supreme. He's like, I think it should be Brothers Supreme. I was like, all right, give me a minute. And I sat there, I was like, and I started like texting all these. And I was like, Brothers Bond. I was like, Brothers. "Here's Bon." He's like, "Great, done." And then like 15 minutes, 15 minutes before bitch to walmart we had the name brothers well i also love it because it's so you and ian like he basically came up with the first word and then you're like no no no no no second word is this boom go okay stefan obviously had doppelgangers but do you have any alter egos when you're drinking paul i'm like you know i'm like a pretty good drinker do you know what i mean which is probably not a good thing are you like happy are you quiet no i'm just like happy and like funny and like you know you know sometimes i do these q a's online oh we're getting there okay like half the time i'm like drinking okay so like you know yeah well that's maybe more than half the time no i love it so much that's how i know like that is some people's worst nightmare is like i don't want to do anything online unless i am what know exactly what i'm posting you're like oh no oh i'm drinking no give me a drink no no no give me a drink i'll tell you what i like what i don't react well to is like some people are like oh i'm gonna smoke a joint and then i'm relaxed that's like my worst nightmare if i smoke a joint which i don't i don't react well to marijuana i will be the most awkward insecure like i'll have a total mental breakdown like i'll have a panic attack but if you give me like a bourbon or what i'm like chilling i'm my real self okay let's talk about those q a's yeah you have really you've really cornered the market i unintentionally for the record this was not a master plan paul another byproduct of covid okay a lot of good things came for you okay i guess so so you started posting this like close friends q a thing basically and talk to me about the criteria for you know close friends okay so this is how this is the genesis okay so um a girl a girl that works with us named remy who's awesome she does all the brothers bond like she does our social media she does a lot of our marketing she does whatever long story short remy was like hey there's this app that allows you to have close friends um uh that subscribe to your like because i didn't have a close friends like on my own instagram and there she's like it allows your fans to be close friends it's this app thing i forget the name of it and i was like she's like should i sign you up i'm like sure what the hell else am i doing it's covid and so she's like great do whatever you want i'm like well i'm not gonna like it's not only fans i'm not gonna like post shirtless selfies but i'm like so what can i do what can i do to like make people feel so i'm like how can i interact with people so i just started doing these random like ask me a question and like let's just shoot the shit you know and that and then suddenly this was i didn't realize that you could then take take those q and a's screen record them and then suddenly they ended up on tiktok and i uh by the way unbeknownst to me so suddenly i'm all over tiktok with these q and a's and that is how this whole thing happens it is like the through line of this is paul wesley has no idea i have no idea what the fuck is going on this whole interview you're like by the way and then somehow this thing called tiktok i know it sounds like it's this premeditated i promise you it's not all just no no i believe you yeah you could tell yeah okay so we're gonna make daddy gang feel like close friends of yours today all right let's do it we're gonna do a little q a okay and you're gonna get in the headspace of like your phone's in front of you you've had a little bourbon yeah and you're just gonna answer from the heart whatever comes to mind okay what is something that really pissed you off lately what is it that really pissed me off lately oh my gosh so many things piss me off all the time um well i haven't spoken to ian in a week so i've been pretty calm um zen more than usual no i'm i mean listen i love ian but he will drive me crazy because he is um he's too positive for he's too he's too glass half full and i need some negativity in my life so i would say like ian the answer is ian why haven't you spoken to him in a week i just i don't know i've been busy yeah i gotta call should we call him please call him we'll call him yeah we'll call him call him now should we call him yeah just say just tell him to say hi come on ian all right let's see if he picks by the way he never picks up the phone let's just see maybe do i even have him i don't even have him in my favorites that just goes to show you in my phone no i have him in my phone you have him in as ian summerholder yeah i have oh my god you're gonna laugh i have him i make fun of ian's fedoras his giant hat of course i have a giant uh exaggerated fedora as his profile photo he won't pick up this is gonna piss me off he has me what pissed me off this is what's gonna piss me off like i'm in the middle of the show never picks up i feel like he would pick up i think that's his personality come on pick up the phone you're the one that wouldn't pick up i'm the one i definitely your call has been forwarded to voicemail are you kidding me this is what pisses me off ian oh wow okay so he doesn't answer your calls often no he does he's just you know ian's the kind of guy that like he's like literally will like put his phone down and corner someone for like three hours and then you no one can get a hold of him and we're all just like yeah he's in one of those he's very focused on what he's doing which is probably a good thing he's not a multitasker got it okay good okay what is something that gives your fiancee natalie the ick about you hmm oh um i refuse to go to bed unless i have a humidifier and a sound machine oh wow so i have to travel with a humidifier and sound machine you're high maintenance i like good sleep it sleeps important to me sleep's important to do the mouth tape no mouth tape okay i i cover i cover earplugs sometimes oh you're strapped in i'm strapped in natalie's like i'm not feeling turned on right now she's she's like i look over at you you have a mouth guard a sleep mask a white noise machine and a humidifier blowing in our faces she's like paul can we just like can you chill just tone it down and you just like relax okay this is a good visual to have yeah or not you know yeah yeah okay what is the craziest thing a fan has sent you i mean i have a crazy story i don't know if this is something that they've sent me but one time i came home i was living at the time in the hollywood hills and i came home from a um kind of a weird this is actually kind of creepy i came home from something and it was like the middle of the night and i remember like at 11 p.m i pull up and i'm in i don't live in this house anymore so it's okay but i pull up to the driveway and all of a sudden i see like like nine suitcases in my driveway okay and like you know those like it was the weirdest thing you know like back in the day when women would go to the hairstylist and they had those bowls oh yeah what do they call them for like a like a yeah like a perm like a perm bowl it was a perm bowl i was in your drive in my driveway i was like why is there a perm bowl it was a perm bowl it was a perm bowl it was a perm bowl in my driveway i was like what is going on and there was a fan there and she goes hey and i was like uh can i help you and she's like i we've been emailing you told me i can move in i by the way i swear to god and i was like what are you talking about she's been she was emailing with someone who thought she was pretending to be you was pretending to me and said that i she can move into my home and she brought the perm bowl i was gonna say i don't know what's weirder that she was ready to move in not weird at all the perm bowl was the thing that weirded me the luggage i was like whatever it's fine we can deal with this the perm bowl i was like why does that have to come with it yeah yeah or whatever what is it drier but is when you're getting a perm like paul so what did you do i just i said look it's not me i haven't been emailed first of all i was like how do you know where i live and she's like what do you mean everyone knows i was like everyone knows i was like what are you talking about so that was yeah yeah that's weird that was weird i also heard someone sent you a big uh box of sausages oh yeah yeah someone did send me a big box of salt thanks for reminding me um but yeah no i did i did get sausage and what did you take from that i didn't eat the sausages yeah i don't i don't know if it was innuendo if it was maybe it's because i'm polish yeah we'll go with that it will make you feel better for that it was because of the kiyobasa yeah yeah maybe they were meant for ian um so they were so they were like get this to ian i was like no no worries i'll get that over to him um love island have you watched i've never seen love so do you not know what the clam slam i have no idea what the hell you're talking about that's the weirdest thing i've ever heard in my life if you had to think about like all right a clam slam i i what i don't even know where to start okay okay walk me through this this is your new madison beer okay so everyone in the world is talking about like the clam slam clearly not everyone in the world but you know nothing okay okay it's the clam slam that was heard around the world basically okay so there is this woman kenzie and on love island yeah she could just be mid-conversation with you and then she just drops to the ground and she does a split i'm seeing your face laughing so hard bull oh my god it's just a quick little one two boom to the ground um what i mean this is so out of left field i don't even know But I just didn't know maybe you, Jersey. I don't know. Like, do you know? What are you asking me? I guess I was wondering, like, have I seen a clam slam in the Jersey Shore? What? Have you ever seen a clam slam in real life? I have never. I didn't even know. I don't even know. I don't even know what to say. I met it for the first time in my life. I'm at a loss for words. I have not laughed. I started an interview and still haven't. Yeah, no. Okay, so you've never witnessed a clam slam? No. Just in my mind now. No, this is good. This is good. Because the Love Island fans are going to love that. We're moving on. Please. Kenzie's going to love that one. Okay. Okay. Are you and Justin Bieber in any way related? I don't think so. I don't. Not to my knowledge. You see people say you guys look like. Yeah. Not when I was younger. It is true. Yeah, I've seen some photos of the fans have taken photos of the two of us and they put them and yes, no. Have you ever met him? I don't think so. Okay. We got to get that together. Yeah. Okay. Someone who also looked like you. There was a Halloween costume situation. Oh, yeah. And. Yeah. I'm going to have to find the pictures and put them up because when I was looking at them, it is so insane. It's unbelievable. Can you talk? Tell the story to everyone watching of like what happened, Paul? Right. Well, I just I don't even know how they came to my like, how did I how I learned about them, but effectively, like, I just started getting word of these that I was people were like, hey, man, like, I didn't know you were doing Halloween costumes now. Like, what are you talking about? Like, yeah, my sister just saw you in the Halloween store. And like, yeah, man, like you're hard on cash. Like, what's going on? I was like, what is that? So I was like, somebody find me these Halloween costumes. And suddenly fans started sending them to me. People online were like, hey, Paul, I just saw you at this Halloween store and they would send me photos. And so I got wind of these Halloween costumes that are so unbelievable because they're so awful where they just literally took my face and they would put them on various. It's almost like a comedy. They would put me in like various positions like, you know, like Luigi. But then like the the mustache was upside down and then they'd be like a warrior, warrior, you know, Zen warrior master. And it was like me in a robe. And I called my lawyer and I'm like, what can I do about this? Like, there's Halloween costumes with my face. I was like one. There was one with me with a sombrero. It was like unbelievable. And I was like, where did they come up with these ideas? Anyway, I had a few people bring them to me. Like, I actually have them physically have them. So anyway, my lawyer found out the company that was. Making the Halloween costumes. And she was like, hey, cease and desist. Like, what are you doing? Like, you cannot use my client's face. And they were like, we have no idea what you're talking about. They're like, this is not this is someone that looks like Paul Wesley. This is not Paul Wesley. Like, this is and it's literally my face. And I'm like, what do we do? She's like, we don't. It's a company out of like the company's base in China. Like, we don't know how to get. We don't know what to do. So to my knowledge, they're still producing these Halloween costumes. Paul Wesley is still out there. He's out there like and I'm just like G.I. Joe. And there's always a new one. There's like doctor. And then it's like but then it's like my like my hands are huge. But then I have these like short legs. It's like the weirdest. It's like they're like the worst Halloween costumes ever. And so you just keep seeing like every Halloween. There's like a new I'm playing. It's like it's like cosplay. Like I'm playing a new character. Oh, my God. And so you have no compensation for that. No, by the way, I should be getting tons of compensation through the room. The roof. OK, that's really weird. Yeah. Yeah. Can you this is this is a really big question. Yeah. So I need you to lock in. OK, can you still thrown off the clam slam? But I'm still recovering, by the way. Like I'm frazzled. Well, I started sweating. I was laughing so hard. Yeah, me too. I snorted. I don't snort. The clam slam will go down. You know what? The clam slam. Yeah, it will. Perfect. Literally. This is a good transition from the clam slam. OK, it's kind of same caliber. OK, walk in. OK, can you define? Steph, let's see. I got to lock in. Yep. That's what I said. Take your time. I got to take my time. You need a water break. Whatever you got to do. It's a bit it's a bit it's a bit of an enigma. It really is. I was doing the Q&A. As you know, the infamous Q&A and and one of the questions, someone called me a step pussy. And I was like. I am going to answer that question. They say I think they said, are you a step pussy or something like that? And I was like, I'm going to answer it because I could choose the questions, you know, so I willingly chose that question. I was like, I think this is a good idea. This is a good one to answer. And I and I was like, I don't remember. I somehow was like, yeah, I guess I am a step pussy. And somehow this became the greatest like now when I walk down the street, I swear to God, people aren't like, hey, Paul, or like, hey, you know, Stefan from the Vampire Diaries or whatever, any other thing, they're just like, what's up, step pussy. So now for the rest of my life, I am a step pussy because I am. Like, someone asked me if I was a step pussy on my Q&A. Paul. So. Paul. If you want, you tell me what a step pussy is. I have no idea. Nor do I. I can't even. Like, we kind of maybe understand what it's like, it's, yeah, it's almost better to not define it. It's almost better to not define it because it could be whatever it is for anyone. And we can't put it in a box. Exactly. We can't put it in a box. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And by the way, I keep waiting. I keep waiting for it to fade. I'm like, surely in time, I will no longer be step pussy. Oh, no, no, no. You're on Call Her Daddy. It's been years. And we got step pussy questions. Oh, no, no. It's been years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It will not leave me. But you did it to yourself. I did it to myself. You almost wonder who, who was that person? Who, and, and are they pissed that they are not getting the credit? The credit. Come forward. And how do you prove? How do you prove it? How do you prove? Who came up with step pussy? Some genius. Some genius. Some genius. Who knows? Who knows? We're going to circle back to that. We will. I have a question. Yes. Even though obviously you touched on this way earlier, but I still have to ask. When you and Nina started Vampire Diaries and you were like, we hate each other. How did you, when you look back, how did you two come together and make it look so good on camera? Because I'm like. Just, you know, just for the record, it's not that it was like we immediately were like, I hate you. I hate you. It wasn't like that. We were like actually great. And then it was just like, we would have these, like it's slowly, you know, it was like, first of all, we were all in our twenties. I was, I will take a lot of responsibility because I was a bit of a curmudgeon. I was like a bit of a grumpy pain in the ass. I was like, I'm taking my acting seriously. Yeah. I heard you were a little intense. No phones on set, nah, nah, nah. Like I was a little bit intense. I was a little bit intense. And then, you know, everyone else was like a little bit more chill. And so I think I'm going to take a lot of responsibility for being a bit of a pain in the ass. Okay. Okay. All right. So that's, that's, that's number one. And so, but we were both professional and we both knew and the work mattered to us. So regardless, so we would, we would like butt heads on set, but then the minute the cameras rolled, it was like, we knew we wanted to make it magical. And like some actors just, you can be like, have two really good actors and the chemistry isn't there for whatever reason Nina and I had this chemistry. And I remember when I was auditioning for the Vampire Diaries screen testing for it, it was like me and nine other guys. And I remember like all these guys were like, you know, kind of kissing her ass, trying to like, you know, whatever. And I remember I just was like, I'm not going to look at her. I'm not going to look at her. I'm not even going to acknowledge her because I want to meet her in the audition. I want to meet her. I want to meet her for the first time in the audition. And that cause our scene was us meeting for the first time. And I just remember being in the audition at Warner Brothers, like in front of all the executives and just like, we looked at each other and it was just like this immediate chemistry and we were these two characters and it just was magical. And so regardless of us, not like getting along, it's somehow clicked. I don't know. I guess I didn't really answer your question. No. Like when did you guys start to be like, okay, like maybe we can be friends. Like, was it like season one? Like. You know what? No. It was like season. It was like season. So her last season was season six. Okay. You're like that's when we became friends. Yeah. Yeah. And then five minutes before she left. No. No. And I just remember like during season six, I remember we like, we all kind of grew up and I chilled out and I was like less of a pain in the ass. And I just remember looking at her and I was like, you know what, Nina, I was like, you're going to miss me one day. I said that to her. I was like, you're going to miss me one day. me one day and she's like, maybe. maybe and i remember like then like she and then like years like two years went by and we kind of kept in touch and then she came back to do the finale and i like look and we we like hadn't worked together in two years and i like we like looked at each other and i was like i was like i missed you you know maybe like i missed her like i missed having her around and then and then like it was like just and then to this day she's always like i remember you said to me uh you're gonna you're gonna miss me one day and you know what you were right like you were right and it was like it's just like this thing that just like slowly happens well you know what's also cool about that and yeah because i remember talking to nina about it it's like the amount of episodes that you guys were doing tv shows don't really do it like that anymore like how many were in a season 22 sometimes we would do 23 i wish we could go back to those days so i could just binge it all but now there's like eight but like that amount you guys were together so much and so sometimes you almost like don't recognize what you have until it's gone kind of thing and then you're like oh my god you're gonna miss me one day and you know what you were right like you were right like you were absolutely and i also think like it's different environments like you're you're there was a lot of stress you know and you're young and like there's this whole like you know this was like very pop culture you know like we were like at the forefront it was very different from like having like a success in like a prestige show where it's like yeah people know you but you don't have like screaming you know uh fans and we had this like a lot of pressure and it kind of like we just didn't know i i'm gonna speak for myself i didn't know how to handle it in a way like really mature yeah i was gonna ask like the becoming so famous and having such a fandom like how how did you feel about it in the beginning and how did you like navigate that i was really very deeply uncomfortable um truthfully and i'm not just saying that's like oh humility like i genuinely like was deeply uncomfortable and i kind of like turned into like a bit of a recluse like i didn't go out that much i didn't do that much i didn't do that much i didn't do that much and thank god we were in it in a way thank god we were in atlanta because we were kind of like separated from the hollywood and all the parties and all the nonsense and so but i definitely like sort of like tried to hide under a rock a little bit you know um and i didn't like luxuriate in that moment because it's such a special time you know acting is such a difficult career and like to have something that's successful that people love and people like look forward to is such a i i didn't take it for granted but i definitely the things that came with it i didn't enjoy them whereas now i'd be like this is awesome you know but at the time i just didn't i wasn't equipped yeah did you guys in atlanta like would you guys hang out and like go to bars all together because you're together 24 7 totally were you able to go out yeah yeah it was we had like our one bar that was like our stomping ground that was like our bar and it was it doesn't exist anymore but it was called crog bar and it was this bar that was like our stomping ground and it was like our this tiny little bar it was like a wine bar and we took it over every friday night every saturday night it was like our thing the all the whole cast would go the crew would go and that was like and nobody else would and like nobody else really went and that was like our thing and we didn't really go anywhere else oh my god that makes us that makes me really happy okay stefan rock in if stefan had told elena in season one that he stalked her because she looked like katherine do you think their relationship would have survived probably it's kind of creepy kind of weird no i don't think it would have okay did stefan and caroline's relationship feel like a natural evolution to you not really i agree yeah i i didn't need that yeah do you think he should have ended up with caroline or elena i think the brothers should have died together and he should have ended up with no one oh my god morbid ian feels the same wow you have you guys talked about that a lot oh yeah ian's like i wish i died with you he's like so upset so you guys oh my god he's so upset oh wow yeah okay i'm glad you guys agree though yeah um did you ever take anything from set yes i took the daylight ring and then i lost it paul can you believe it ian still has paul i took a pair of jeans they still have stefan on them they had them engraved his stuff it no just so they wouldn't get mixed up with damons oh like on the back yeah no in the inside they put stefan you lost your ring i lost my ring so you guys can't like go to events and wear your rings together you need to get not that we would do that anyway come on go to events and wear my ring me literally going oh but but you have them and in theoretically puts his on no oh ian's like i have my ring on just to give him a taste of what it's like and ian's like oh i have my ring on just to give him a taste of what it's like and ian's like oh i have my ring on just to give him a taste of what it's like and ian's like oh i have my ring on just to give him a taste of uh jaymond i was like you're a jaymond i was like you're a jaymond i was like you're a loser dude but you're also secretly like i loser dude but you're also secretly like i loser dude but you're also secretly like i wish i had mine but i secretly am jealous wish i had mine but i secretly am jealous wish i had mine but i secretly am jealous we need to he needs to get you one made for we need to he needs to get you one made for we need to he needs to get you one made for your birthday yes i'll work on that yes your birthday yes i'll work on that yes your birthday yes i'll work on that yes um okay who do you identify um okay who do you identify um okay who do you identify most with in real life stefan silas most with in real life stefan silas or tom avery or tom avery or tom avery uh uh uh silas silas silas that is such a good segue to the next one that is such a good segue to the next one that is such a good segue to the next one okay okay okay where do you stand with matt donovan where do you stand with matt donovan where do you stand with matt donovan today i i i firstly love zach rourke who played matt firstly love zach rourke who played matt firstly love zach rourke who played matt donovan donovan donovan i have a um my whole gag with matt i have a um my whole gag with matt i have a um my whole gag with matt donovan the whole reason i'm always donovan the whole reason i'm always donovan the whole reason i'm always giving matt donovan is because giving matt donovan is because giving matt donovan is because matt donovan was the only human he's the matt donovan was the only human he's the matt donovan was the only human he's the only mortal okay and he's the only one only mortal okay and he's the only one only mortal okay and he's the only one that like didn't die how did he not die that like didn't die how did he not die that like didn't die how did he not die and i'm like how did stefan die like and i'm like how did stefan die like and i'm like how did stefan die like nine times and then like how did elena nine times and then like how did elena nine times and then like how did elena he also there's this one scene where he also there's this one scene where he also there's this one scene where like stefan i don't know if you remember like stefan i don't know if you remember like stefan i don't know if you remember this like elena's drowning in a car with this like elena's drowning in a car with this like elena's drowning in a car with matt donovan and stefan's like this matt donovan and stefan's like this matt donovan and stefan's like this immortal vampire and i'm like i'm gonna immortal vampire and i'm like i'm gonna immortal vampire and i'm like i'm gonna go save the love of my life and he dives go save the love of my life and he dives go save the love of my life and he dives down there and he's like trying to get down there and he's like trying to get down there and he's like trying to get her out and she's like no no don't save her out and she's like no no don't save her out and she's like no no don't save me save matt donovan and matt and and me save matt donovan and matt and and me save matt donovan and matt and and stefan's like okay and then he just stefan's like okay and then he just stefan's like okay and then he just takes matt donovan and she drowns so takes matt donovan and she drowns so takes matt donovan and she drowns so like i have this like you know i'm like like i have this like you know i'm like like i have this like you know i'm like what is going on what is going on what is going on okay wait i forgot that it was matt okay wait i forgot that it was matt okay wait i forgot that it was matt donovan in the car that's my whole beef donovan in the car that's my whole beef donovan in the car that's my whole beef that's my beef wait that was so that's my beef wait that was so that's my beef wait that was so unbelievable but it was because like unbelievable but it was because like unbelievable but it was because like elena felt bad for matt donovan elena felt bad for matt donovan elena felt bad for matt donovan whatever imagine are you kidding me like whatever imagine are you kidding me like whatever imagine are you kidding me like what no we don't care about we don't we what no we don't care about we don't we what no we don't care about we don't we don't we do not i mean we love we love don't we do not i mean we love we love don't we do not i mean we love we love matt look matt was an instrumental matt look matt was an instrumental matt look matt was an instrumental character and we love matt donovan but character and we love matt donovan but we will the love of my life here come we will the love of my life here come we will the love of my life here come on i'm gonna say i'm not gonna save the on i'm gonna say i'm not gonna save the on i'm gonna say i'm not gonna save the sheriff and you see and i saved the sheriff and you see and i saved the sheriff and you see and i saved the sheriff and let her drown sheriff and let her drown sheriff and let her drown okay so to this day it's a big problem okay so to this day it's a big problem okay so to this day it's a big problem for me as it should be thank you what for me as it should be thank you what for me as it should be thank you what storyline could you just not get behind storyline could you just not get behind storyline could you just not get behind still still still um oh god there was so many storylines um oh god there was so many storylines um oh god there was so many storylines because we did like 170 episodes it's because we did like 170 episodes it's because we did like 170 episodes it's like it's like my brain is like it's all like it's like my brain is like it's all like it's like my brain is like it's all just like this mishmash yeah i mean just like this mishmash yeah i mean just like this mishmash yeah i mean there was a couple what there was like there was a couple what there was like there was a couple what there was like these what what did they have these these what what did they have these these what what did they have these these um gosh you know the show better these um gosh you know the show better these um gosh you know the show better than me yeah i've even seen the show than me yeah i've even seen the show than me yeah i've even seen the show they had these um i've never seen it they had these um i've never seen it they had these um i've never seen it i've seen i've seen the first couple of i've seen i've seen the first couple of i've seen i've seen the first couple of episodes and then i directed a few episodes and then i directed a few episodes and then i directed a few episodes i i watched the episodes i episodes i i watched the episodes i episodes i i watched the episodes i directed i've never seen the show directed i've never seen the show directed i've never seen the show otherwise so i actually don't remember otherwise so i actually don't remember otherwise so i actually don't remember oh we gotta do like a do we watch should oh we gotta do like a do we watch should we wear daylight rings and you know we wear daylight rings and you know we wear daylight rings and you know you want to make some bank yeah you and you want to make some bank yeah you and you want to make some bank yeah you and ian rewatch podcast vampire diaries ian rewatch podcast vampire diaries ian rewatch podcast vampire diaries i that could that would probably do well i that could that would probably do well i that could that would probably do well call me i'll call you can we like do a call me i'll call you can we like do a call me i'll call you can we like do a yeah we'll do a whole well yeah i got a yeah we'll do a whole well yeah i got a yeah we'll do a whole well yeah i got a whole i got a whole studio for you we'll whole i got a whole studio for you we'll whole i got a whole studio for you we'll do our life okay do our life okay do our life okay god you got engaged last summer yes god you got engaged last summer yes god you got engaged last summer yes last summer last summer last summer congratulations you guys met in the wild congratulations you guys met in the wild congratulations you guys met in the wild which is like that's a so few people which is like that's a so few people which is like that's a so few people meet in the wild now so meet in the wild now so meet in the wild now so can you indulge us like how did you guys can you indulge us like how did you guys can you indulge us like how did you guys meet you know what's funny uh ian was meet you know what's funny uh ian was meet you know what's funny uh ian was there of course he was there ian was there of course he was there ian was there so it was there was uh we were there so it was there was uh we were there so it was there was uh we were promoting brothers bond promoting brothers bond promoting brothers bond and my buddy owned a bar the bar doesn't and my buddy owned a bar the bar doesn't and my buddy owned a bar the bar doesn't exist anymore sadly in the east village exist anymore sadly in the east village exist anymore sadly in the east village and he said hey pop into our bar and and he said hey pop into our bar and and he said hey pop into our bar and like we'll we'll get you guys a like we'll we'll get you guys a like we'll we'll get you guys a brothers bond cocktail and we'll you brothers bond cocktail and we'll you brothers bond cocktail and we'll you know you know whatever shoot a few know you know whatever shoot a few photos for us like get us impressed for the bar and like we'll we'll support brothers bond then he's a good friend of mine i was like yeah of course let's do it so we were like ian and i were in new york and um and i was like let's pop into this bar so we went to the bar in the east village and um we were shooting some content and stuff and i had a couple other friends meet me there and um and i just see this beautiful woman sitting there and i was like who's this like hot girl i was like i and i looked at her and i was like okay i don't want to be creepy i'm not gonna look and but then i saw her look at me and i was like aha it's like okay so clearly there's like some something's going on so i was like i'm just gonna go and i never like i like i like don't hit on girls it's like not my thing i'm terrible at it and i whatever so i was like i'm just gonna go there and i'm just gonna like say hi and thank god my friend who owns the bar happened to be there and i walk over and he's like hey and he's like hey i'm just gonna go and i'm just gonna like say hi and thank god my friend who owns the bar happened to be there and i was like hey by the way have you met natalie and she was right there so thank god he introduced us because it probably would have been a disaster if i just like cold you know whatever yeah and i said hey nice to meet you we started talking and um found out she was from europe as well she spoke five languages i'm i speak two languages and we started talking and then just like um just really hit it off and that was it that was kind of like you know and then just like i left the next day actually we just just like exchange numbers and i left i left for europe i went on a guy's trip to europe to italy funnily enough and then um we just were texting and i would send her some pics from italy and then i got back to new york and she was still there and then i asked her out on a date when i got back because we had been texting for like a few weeks and then fast forward you're now engaged and now we're engaged how how was the proposal were you stressed did you put a lot of thought behind it like i i put some thought behind it because um so i had to go to um once we started dating we hadn't been dating for very long and i had to go to italy for um i was doing a uh there's a there's a magazine called um icon uh it's an italian whatever it's a cool fashion mag and i did the cover and we were doing a launch party in rome and um they were like you can bring a guest if you want and we kind of like we'd only been seeing each other for a little bit and i said hey do you want to come with me to this to rome and she's like sure so um um it was in october all the hotels were closing i was like let's rent a car and drive down um to the amalfi coast like let's just go see like i didn't book anything and there's a hotel down there belmont caruso it's called and it was the final day before the closing for the season final two days so we and i booked a room and i was like we had the hotel for ourselves and we had this like magical time there and really kind of like fell in love and um so i thought so i thought why don't i contact the hotel this is years later when i went to prosa and tell them the story that and and tell them i want to propose there and so i contacted the belmont i said hey this was like our first trip together and i want to make it special and they were so awesome this this girl um actually her name's elena funnily enough who works uh at the belmont now she works for a different company but at the time she worked for belmont she's like of course i'm gonna make it really special so she set up this um we we sort of talked about it on our show and she said i'm gonna make it really special so i'm gonna make it really special so she set up this um we we sort of talked about it on our show and our last night there i took her to the belmont and our last night there there's this like private olive grove and she set up this long table with candles and a private chef and i and i tricked natalie i was like hey you know the belmont wants to do like a goodbye like a goodbye dinner for us because it's our last night here and she's like oh that's so nice i was like dress yeah dress nicely like you know i was like i was like and i kind of like made it um you know like it was them like the belmont did this and not me and then we got there and she was kind of sussed out and then of course that's when she realized um and then i popped the question that's when she realized like oh this was a setup paul set this whole thing up paul yeah that is so romantic yeah it was it was really sweet wow it's also so sweet to like connect it to an early core memory that you guys had together exactly back yeah wow yeah oh my god i'm so happy for you thank you well you have a lot to look forward to you are starring in season four of star trek strange new worlds yeah can you give fans anything like what can we expect um so i love this show so much um and i i play a young james kirk which you know is one of the most iconic characters like in the history of television so obviously it was like a huge honor for me to be um given this role um and you know what i love about our show is that it it pays homage to the original tos from the 1960s which is such a important um iconic piece of television history and so important to so many people while we also pay homage homage to that but we also kind of create our own spin our modernized spin and we sort of like we tell the story pre-enterprise so this is kirk um james kirk before he was captain he's lieutenant kirk he's not as like he's not it's like the genesis of who he is but it's really about like the the the crew that was on the enterprise prior to james kirk taking the helm as and this show is like it's this beautifully imaginative adventurous um cinematic uh series that has humor and heart and um we explore all different genres and if you watch sorry if i'm blabbing i love i love this show so i can like go on about it um what i love about the original series about star trek is that it is so optimistic it is so filled with imagination and our show is exactly that it's like this every episode is like kind of like individual you can enjoy them like individually because they all have their own like sort of like story of the week but there's this beautiful through line with all the relationships and all the characters and i don't know we're just really proud of it we we want we want people to tune in no of course as you should be proud of it also it's so cool like being a part of such a huge franchise obviously i and now obviously knowing you and knowing how much you take your craft really seriously it's so cool to hear you also talk about like recognizing what was so well done before yeah and still having the respect for that and also leaning into a new version and finding a way to bring that to life while still yeah it's really cool yeah i'm proud it's a lot of pressure obviously because it's like william shatner it's like i'm not you know it's like no pressure he is yeah exactly yeah um kirk's look is quite you know the switch up from stefan's like talk to me about that costume well it's the starfleet uniform it's like it's it's very um everyone's kind of wearing the same thing although i will say when he's um when he's not on the ship you do see him in some civilian clothing but like um you know it's definitely a switch up like it's definitely and i sort of lean into this sort of um you know kirk can be interpreted in so many different ways and my interpretation of kirk is like a little bit more less of the kind of you know machismo kind of like ladies man that sort of like is in pop culture and he's more of like kind of this i wouldn't say like bookish but he's definitely like a little bit more of the sort of not nerdy kirk but like like still coming of age kirk like still trying to find out how to be like a captain you know what i mean that's what i love so much about like obviously everything you've done so far like this is so different from stefan yeah and then even this i feel like is so different from what you're about to do on the show that we're making because the character on you deserve to know like your character is pretty sus yeah and like you know when you're when you're when you're get cast in a show or when you're um when you're starring in a show that has become so popular it is so difficult to break away from that image right like that's such a thing like it's like a cw thing too i feel like or even like friends or whatever and so like my whole goal ever since i my work on the vampire diaries has been like what can i do that's the opposite of stefan like how can i possibly how can i differentiate myself because i don't want to be you know i mean now i am now i am step pussy you were forever so at least i have that going for me no no that is like in the hall of fame like stefan salvator is kind of yet to the wayside like in the shadows right like it's not it's not a big deal anymore it's a pussy thrown through but that's not even like a you know our new show stefan's over there but it is step pussy is kind of like the top co and then we have all these little things like unwell right and then it's like we have yeah there's a bunch of different and it's like step pussy and then within that is you know that needs to be on your trailer yeah i'm gonna make sure that's on your trailer please do you have anything weird on your rider like should i know about anything not that i'm gonna be filling on my rider no no yeah like you know oh you mean like we we just we want this kind of shit no no should i start being that guy i don't know i feel like ian would have good shit in his ride i feel like he would have like hair mirrors and hair products and a cowboy have fedoras you don't ask for anything i don't ask for any i i'm gonna start what should i ask you need to put a rider together and we're gonna make what do you ask for i asked for like sour patch and like no shit iced tea you can do that oh my god yeah before i was pregnant i'd have like casamigos reposado in there if i need a little hit brother's bond brother's bond i told you when you gave me that bottle by the way you loved it matt and i you drank it we were like oh and then it was so nice because like it was really good and i was like okay now yeah right you don't have to you don't have to pretend delicious okay so we'll work on your rider yeah please um paul this has been so fun such a pleasure i am so like i love getting to talk to people who have such a good personality and you are one of those people where i could talk to you for forever but the range in this episode from jersey shore from donnie then we had the clam we got yeah yeah how is this not called yeah steph fussy and the clam slam it has to be your publicist that's a good spin-off yeah they're gonna steph fussy in the clam slam they're like what is this no that was what have you done yeah this was we were going on here with a vision and you went completely and now we're just yeah we went off on a tangent no it was so so fun getting to sit with you and talk with you and i you know i'm a big fan and thank you all the things thank you for your time thank you so much thanks for having me