Paul Wesley Talks Axed Shirtless Scene On The Vampire Diaries

Paul Wesley will once again return to the director’s chair for an episode of this season’s The Vampire Diaries. Wesley talked to Entertainment Weekly about his experience directing the episode, what fans can expect in the episode, and that shirtless moment fans will never see. Here are some highlights from that interview:

On directing a second time

“It was easier on me mentally. I’ll tell you why else it was easier: I literally had no locations. My entire episode was indoors, on the studio, so I didn’t have to worry about weather, I didn’t have to worry about the sun going down. It’s a rare, rare thing. But apart from the logistics of it, I was much more comfortable in the director chair. I really trusted the process and it was a really pleasurable experience. Not that the other one wasn’t; it just was like I felt more comfortable in my own skin, in a way.”

On the challenge of directing the mystical element

“This episode in my opinion is a much more grounded episode. It’s actually not as mystical. There’s not a lot of mythology in my episode; it’s really about the more tender moments. The best and most exciting moments are the moments when we step away from all of that and we really get down to some beautiful interaction between two characters that is really intimate. What I love about my episode is that it is fast-paced, fast-paced, fast-paced, exciting, entertaining, and then it sort of slows down and there’s this moment of real tenderness, which I think is so important on our show. It’s all about the people and there’s some really beautiful moments and amazing performances. I’m excited about that interesting sort of juxtaposition.”

On taking out a shirtless scene

“I actually think I took out a shirtless scene again. I swear to God. Stefan wakes up and then he has to walk around the house and I’m like, “Does he wake up shirtless and then you want me to do like nine scenes shirtless, walking around the house? This is ridiculous. He wakes up, I need to put a shirt on.” That was my pitch. Because that’s what I would do. If I had to go downstairs and talk to [people], I would put a shirt on. It’s like the Playgirl mansion or something…”

Giving directing advice to Ian Somerhalder

“You know, not really. He didn’t really ask me for any so I didn’t offer any. [Laughs] I think the biggest advice I would give to any actor who’s directing and also acting at the same time is don’t even watch your coverage. You do a scene and then, you know what you did, it doesn’t matter what you look like. Ask your DP if the focus was good, ask him if the shot looks good, trust your DP and move on. Otherwise you’re going to spend hours criticizing yourself because that’s what we do as actors. We’re never satisfied with ourselves. Maybe I’ll watch literally six seconds of it just to make sure that it was set up the way I wanted to, but other than that, I do not want to watch myself. I have no interest in watching myself act.”

[Photo Credit: Source]

Paul Wesley Talks Axed Shirtless Scene On The Vampire Diaries