Exclusive Interview: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES star Candice Accola is the show’s sweet Caroline

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Contributing Writer

Posted: January 31st, 2012 / 10:27 AM

Candice Accola and Zach Roerig in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES - Season 2 - "The Last Dance" | ©2011 The CW/Bob Mahoney

On THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, now in its third season on the CW Thursdays at 8 PM, there is a great deal of brooding among the vampires, the werewolves, the hybrids, the humans and even the ghosts. Standing apart from the angsty crowd is Candice Accola’s character Caroline Forbes.

True, Caroline got turned into a vampire while in high school at the start of second season, and various people have tried to kill her again thereafter, but she has managed to maintain a sense of humor and a sunny (at least metaphorically) outlook most of the time, although her recent birthday party was something of a downer.

Caroline has also had a tumultuous love life, with human Matt (Zach Roerig) and werewolf/hybrid Tyler (Michael Trevino) both vying for her affections; she may even have caught the eye of ancient vampire hybrid Klaus (Joseph Morgan). Then there are Caroline’s divorced parents – her vampire-hunting mom, town sheriff Liz (Marguerite MacIntyre) has come around to accepting her blood-drinking child, but vampire-hunting dad Bill (Jack Coleman) is still having issues with his daughter’s lifestyle.

Accola, who originally hails from Houston, Texas, talks about playing the complicated Caroline at a party thrown for the press by the CW.

ASSIGNMENT X: When you started on VAMPIRE DIARIES, did you know that Caroline was going to turn into a vampire and, on occasion, a major ass-kicker?

Nina Dobrev, Candice Accola and Kat Graham in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES - Season 3 - "Our Town" | ©2012 The CW/Bob Mahoney

CANDICE ACCOLA: I definitely did not know. It was a very wonderful surprise, especially considering that at the end of the opener for Season Two, Caroline dies, so it’s nice to know that I had an opportunity to come back and still be part of the show, but now as a vampire.

AX: At this point, in terms of Caroline’s love life, are you Team Tyler, Team Matt or Team Klaus?

ACCOLA: I am officially Team Caroline. I think that Caroline just needs to learn a lot about herself and that the audience hasn’t really met all of Tyler or all of Matt [or Klaus], so I think it’s too soon to decide.

AX: In terms of the dynamics of what’s happening between the characters, do you enjoy matching up with a fellow supernatural, or do you enjoy when Caroline tries to reach back to her old human normalcy?

Michael Trevino and Candice Accola in THE VAMPIRE DIARIES - Season 3 - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" | ©2011 The CW/Bob Mahoney

ACCOLA: To be quite honest, it’s really fun just to do the supernatural, [the] stunts and play off this. It’s always fun to have a very, very human experience at work, but it’s also fun to have the complete opposite and to live in this fantasy world. So it’s a very fun to be working on.

AX: Speaking of stunts, how much physical technique did you already have down when you were cast?

ACCOLA: By no means was I going to be a professional dancer, but I grew up taking dance classes down the street and that’s actually been the most helpful in the stunt work, counting out the steps and “five, six, seven, eight, and punch.” It is funny how those little things that you learned as a kid that you don’t think are going to translate, all of a sudden, as an adult, they help you out in your job. So that was something that I did physically when I was young.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES star Candice Accola and NIKITA star Lyndsy Fonseca at the CW's Kick-Ass Cocktail Reception at the 2011 Winter TCA's ©2011 The CW/Joe Magnani

AX: A lot of male action stars say that one of the reasons they wanted to become actors was for the opportunity to play the fight scenes. Were you at all motivated by the idea of getting to do scenes where you might hit or bite somebody?

ACCOLA: I think as a child, aspiring to bite people as an adult would probably make you a bit of a creepy child. I think it’s been the cherry on the cupcake. [Playing a vampire] has [provided] really fun things to do.

AX: Given the perils Caroline has consistently faced, have you read any scripts and thought before coming to the end, “Oh, no, I’m dead”?

ACCOLA: No, I’ve just learned to accept it, because [if a character is being killed off], we’ll get an official phone call, and I haven’t received any official phone calls, so I feel okay at this point.

AX: And what would you most like fans to get out of VAMPIRE DIARIES Season Three?

ACCOLA: Just to be entertained, to be ready to watch the next episode the next week.

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD – COMMENT BELOW

Click on Link: TV Review: The Vampire Diaries – Season 3 – “Bringing Out the Dead”

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “The Ties That Bind”

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “Our Town”

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “The New Deal”

Click on Link: Exclusive Interview with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES star Nina Dobrev

Click on Link: Exclusive Interview with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES star Paul Wesley

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “The Reckoning”

Click on Link: TV Review – THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – Season 3 – “Disturbing Behavior”