'Vampire Diaries' Stars Who Said They Won't Appear On 'Legacies'

While many characters from 'The Vampire Diaries' paid a visit to Mystic Falls in 'Legacies,' not all former stars are looking to return — details

However long it takes? While some former The Vampire Diaries stars are more than ready to have their iconic characters return on the CW’s Legacies, not everyone is looking to come back.

The second spinoff of the hit supernatural series follows the story of Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) during her time at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. Matt Davis reprised his longtime role as Alaric Saltzman, a mentor to Hope and the headmaster of the school. His and Caroline Fobes’ (Candice King) daughters, Josie Saltzman (Kaylee Bryant) and Lizzie Saltzman (Jenny Boyd), also help Hope with the various mythical beings that wreak havoc for the teenagers throughout the show.

Although there have been small mentions of characters from TVD lore, creator Julie Plec previously revealed that there will be many more where that came from.

“We are going to try and do that as often as we can without making false promises about who we might see. I would love to be able to deliver on that as much as possible,” Plec said during an interview with Entertainment Tonight in October 2019. “I can say that I love being able to bring in characters from the first two shows [The Vampire Diaries and The Originals]. It’s always great to see these actors again in our crew family.”

As the door remains open, not only in the dialogue, showrunner Brett Matthews later noted that it was up to the former cast members to make that return possible.

“If any of the actors from our past ever called us and we had the right story, we’d do it in a second,” Matthews detailed to TV Insider in January 2021. “There’s always a chance, and if any did, I wouldn’t want to spoil those things. If anybody’s dying to come back and dip a toe back into this universe, just tell them to call me.”

Legacies has welcomed many familiar faces, including Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R McQueen), Kai Parker (Chris Wood) and Jo Loughlin (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe).

But for Joseph Morgan, the idea of coming back as Hope’s father doesn’t sound exciting after he first originated the role of Klaus Mikaelson in season 2 of The Vampire Diaries. Following his character’s death in his own spinoff series, The Originals, the Brave New World alum admitted that he found that to be the perfect ending for his character.

“No never, never. You’re never going to see it. You can hold your breath as long as you want,” Morgan explained during an interview with TV Guide in October 2020. “You know why? I have The Originals box set on my shelf, and it’s a beautiful thing because it’s five DVD sets that are a complete story from beginning to end of this guy, Klaus Michaelson — well, starting back in The Vampire Diaries Season 2.”

Scroll on for more former TVD stars that have confirmed they won’t be appearing on Legacies in the future:

Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Kat Graham

After playing the role of Bonnie Bennett from 2009 to 2017, Graham admitted that she was more than ready to move on.

"Anything is possible, but I will say I spent eight years playing this character and I said to my fans last year when we got the Teen Choice Award that I felt like that chapter is closed," the singer told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in July 2018. "I say that with absolute gratitude and appreciation, but I don't feel like reprising a character that was almost 10 years of my life. I'm very grateful, but I'm not interested."

Legacies occasionally references Bonnie offscreen, deferring to her when they need some witchy expertise.

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Paul Wesley

Wesley stole many hearts as Stefan Salvatore during all eight seasons of the gothic series. The Tell Me a Story alum later revealed that he would only be willing to return to Mystic Falls behind the scenes though.

"Unfortunately, that character is dead, so it'd have to happen without me," Wesley explained to reporters during a Television Critics Association panel in August 2019 about potentially coming back as Stefan on Legacies. "I have to be honest with you, I never see that happening. I don't think it will ever happen."

He continued: "Vampires have an eternal youth. That is unfortunately not the case with us. When they need to special effects my face, that's when I know I need to quit."

Wesley went on to direct an episode of Legacies in 2019.

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Ian Somerhalder

Similar to his on screen brother, Somerhalder was up for coming back to the TVD universe, but not as Damon Salvatore — though Legacies often mentions Damon and Elena (Nina Dobrev).

“I actually would love to talk to [Julie Plec]. I would love to go and direct one of [the Legacies episodes],” the V Wars alum told Entertainment Tonight in November 2019. “Because I know Paul [Wesley] went to do it and he called me and he’s like, ‘Bro, this is f--king crazy.’ Because it’s all of our old sets, which is a time warp, 10 years ago. He’s just going, ‘Dude!’ He was actually kind of emotional about it, he goes ‘This is crazy!’"

Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Joseph Morgan

Even though Morgan's portrayal of Klaus on TVD turned into a leading role on The Originals, the U.K. native wasn't sure coming back on Legacies would be good for the character's arc.

"I just feel like to come back as a ghost or a flashback or something, for me, that journey, that story has ended. That's the complete story, and it just doesn't feel right to me to do that," the director shared with TV Guide in October 2020.

Morgan noted that he had spoken to Plec about this in the past and they both agreed that him returning would be "strange" and "a little forced."

"Like I'm coming back just so we can see something else of him, but when we see it we go, 'Ugh, that was it?' And I don't want his legacy to be, 'Ugh,'" he noted at the time. "I don't know what the scene could be that it would be exciting enough and epic enough after the journey that he's had."

Credit: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Phoebe Tonkin

The Secret Circle alum turned a small guest role in TVD into an entire series focused on Hayley Marshall. When her run on The Originals ended in 2018 after five years on the show, Tonkin made it clear that she didn't see a future cameo happening.

"I think Hayley's story was properly explored both over the course of The Vampire Diaries, and over the five seasons of Originals," the Affair alum confirmed to TV Guide in June 2018. "I think Legacies will have its own new adventures with its own new characters and storylines."