'Diaries' stars 'thankful for Twilight'

'Diaries' stars 'thankful for Twilight'

Paul Wesley has claimed that it would be "ignorant" to say that The Vampire Diaries was not helped by the buzz surrounding The Twilight Saga.

Both Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) and Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert) agreed that Stephenie Meyer's tales' success had paved the way for more vampire stories, even though The Vampire Diaries began as a novel series in 1991.

"I didn't see Twilight prior to shooting Vampire Diaries, but it would be ignorant and stupid to say that our show didn't generate a buzz because of the success of Twilight, but I think we have distinguished ourselves at this stage," Wesley told RTE.

Dobrev added: "But you know, the fact that Twilight was so successful, it made the world aware that people wanted to see more about vampires.

"So thankfully for us, Twilight has given us the opportunity to make a TV show and I think we have a few more years at least."

Wesley added that there were similarities between the two stories and admitted: "Some people say I actually look like Robert Pattinson.

"Well look, it's incredibly similar, we both have a high school setting, a mysterious guy that turns up and falls in love with a mortal girl. He's got all these conflicts because of the nature of his situation and the fact that she is a vampire. So I understand that the premises of both stories are almost identical."

He was unable to say who would win in a fight between Stefan and Pattinson's Edward Cullen because he "didn't know enough" about the Twilight vampire.

"That's really up to the viewer or reader to decide," he said.