Paul Wesley opened up in an interview with SiriusXM Urban View’s “The Mike Muse Show” about his bond with Ian Somerhalder and toxic masculinity all while encouraging men to be emotionally vulnerable.

Acting in a popular teen drama, Wesley experienced a lot of pressure to perform in his career-defining role as Stefan Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries, saying, “You spent your whole life hustling as a young actor, trying to get to that next thing, this, that, you never really enjoy it because you’re always putting pressure on yourself.”

Ian Somerhalder (left) and Paul Wesley (right) on The Vampire Diaries. Credit: The Cw/ The Vampire Diaries

However, through this opportunity, he met Ian Somerhalder, who played his on-screen brother Damon Salvatore. He recounts the moment they formed a bond and brotherhood over a night of shared bourbon and cigars.

“I just remember, first of all, we were on this journey together on this show, ‘Vampire Diaries,’ and it was such a huge sort of grind for us emotionally, physically…And that was a moment where we sat down and just were like, wow, this is so cool. We’re so lucky. How great is this? We’re having a cigar, we’re in a castle in England, and we’re on this great show. And that was a real moment of kind of gratitude and connection that we had with one another that I kind of think really stood out for both of us. We talk about that a lot.”

The duo have team up to create a special bourbon called “Brothers Bourbon.”

Wesley went on to emphasize the importance of vulnerability and true masculinity, especially coming off a role that put a huge focus on his looks and heartthrob capabilities, 

“I would encourage to any men listening to have emotional vulnerability with your friends. I think it’s really positive for the world, honestly,” Wesley said. “I think masculinity is a beautiful thing, but I also think part of masculinity is just being vulnerable and it’ll help people in whether it’s their careers or their personal lives.”

“I love it when we drop that machismo, that act, and we can sort of talk about things like real men.”

He continued: “It’s such a stigma, isn’t it, that men need to be tough? And you can be tough and you can still be a man and you can still be sensitive and talk about your feelings and open up with others. I love that. I love it when we drop that machismo, that act, and we can sort of talk about things like real men, frankly..I love that, man.”

The full interview with SiriusXM Urban View’s “The Mike Muse Show” airs Sunday, August 29 at 11:00 am ET.

This is a story about a girl named Caroline Forbes. 

Caroline is not the same woman she was when The Vampire Diaries first premiered in 2009. 

In terms of character growth, the vapid perfectionist — brought to life by the impeccable Candice King — underwent the biggest evolution in the show’s eight-season run. 

Though she was introduced as a shallow, oftentimes insufferable teen, with time, she blossomed into a strong-willed and impressive young woman who knew what she stood for and always stuck up for her friends.

Most of all, she grew into a fiercely independent. 

She was no longer the girl that needed a man to feel a sense of worth — a stark contrast from the Caroline we met on The Vampire Diaries Season 1, who looked for love in all the wrong places. 

In those early episodes, Caroline was a control freak who took on as many extracurriculars she could squeeze into her schedule (head cheerleader, in charge of dance committees, town activities, and more) to be the best.

Deep down, however, she was insecure and sought validation from the opposite sex, and then blamed herself when she didn’t get it. Not being “the best” made her feel worthless.

We saw that on full display on The Vampire Diaries Season 1 Episode 1, we saw that a smitten Caroline tried to date brooding newbie Stefan Salvatore. When he told her it would never happen and chose Elena instead, Caroline was heartbroken and drowned her sorrows. 

“How come the guys I want never want me?” she asked Bonnie before wallowing in self-pity and emphasizing that she was never good enough.

Teenage Caroline was a bit neurotic and even downright mean, as she lashed out at everyone around her, including her closest friends. Her toxic behavior was mostly fueled by insecurity and jealousy. 

While these characteristics undoubtedly gave the character substance, they also gave her something much more important — room to grow. And that growth was wonderful to watch over the years. 

Elena was always put on a pedestal, but Caroline was a constant work in progress, which leaned in her favor as it allowed her to flourish and surpass her story arc.

On the road to becoming your best-self, hardships are unavoidable, and Caroline went through her fair share. 

Her eventual complexity, good nature, and thoughtfulness made her a far better lead than Elena. Upon Nina Dobrev’s departure, she (along with Bonnie, who also deserved better) carried the series. 

Since Caroline’s self-esteem was effectively shot, she became the perfect target for any man who would give her even a smidge of attention. 

Damon Salvatore was the first to prey on and manipulate Caroline for selfish reasons. 

And it didn’t stop at Damon. In those early seasons, Caroline dated nearly every single man in Mystic Falls — Tyler, Matt, Klaus, Stefan, and Alaric, along with supporting characters like Liam and Jesse.

While the relationships usually progressed naturally, it was obvious that Caroline was trying to find herself and fill a void. 

That strength was always within her; she needed help finding it. 

Caroline was “revamped” — pun intended — when she turned into a vampire. Again, she was the victim of someone else’s selfish games, but it was a turning point for her and, quite honestly, the best thing that could have happened to her character. 

Her transition wasn’t wasted or used simply for plot development as she found both physical and mental strength while gaining a new outlook on life. 

If you’ve been waiting for the day where Klaus Mikealson strolls back into Mystic Falls to pay his daughter, Hope Mikealson, and the Salvatore School — which he helped fund — a visit, well, don’t get your hopes up. 

The first two seasons of Legacies have given us some grade-A guest stars from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals including Aunt Freya (Riley Voekel), Kai Parker (Chris Wood), and Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig).  We even briefly saw Lizzie and Josie Saltzman’s birth mother Josette (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe). 

But as for baddie Klaus Mikealson, the man who brought him to life, Joseph Morgan, doesn’t think he’ll ever reprise his role again.

And turns out, he has a really good reason!

TV Guide caught up with the actor to talk about his Peacock show, Brave New World, and when asked about guest starring on The CW teen drama, he bluntly and rapidly shut down the possibility.

“No never, never. You’re never going to see it.” Morgan said. “You can hold your breath as long as you want. 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 Mikaelson — well, starting back in The Vampire Diaries Season 2. So 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.”

As much as we’d like to see Klaus in the flesh again, you have to admit that’s a satisfactory answer. It shows that Morgan cares enough about the character not to reprise him without a purpose or taint his legacy. 

Klaus Mikealson’s story came to a fitting end in the series finale of The Originals when he redeemed himself for the greater good and sacrificed himself alongside his brother Elijah to save his daughter. Since then, Hope has carried on his legacy; his memory lives on as she mentions him pretty often and channels what he taught her to protect her friends and fight off a plethora of demons and monsters. 

Morgan added that he felt like series creator Julie Plec understood where he was coming from. 

“I think Julie [Plec] feels the same. It just feels like it would be strange, like a little forced,” Morgan continued. “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.’ 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.” 

Morgan may get a pass, but Candace Accola surely doesn’t.  We’d love to see her reprise her role of Caroline Forbes considering she’s raising two daughters with Alaric but has yet to pay them a visit or help out with the school! Don’t let us down, Caroline! 

The fact that she is still alive in the supernatural world and has such close ties to Mystic Falls but yet never comes to visit doesn’t paint her in a great light!