Who Was Nina Dobrev Before 'The Vampire Diaries'?
Nina Dobrev is among the most celebrated actresses in Hollywood at the moment. The Canadian, born Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva, catapulted her career into whole new stardom with her portrayal of Elena Gilbert on The CW's hit The Vampire Diaries back in 2009. She has collected a bunch of prestigious awards throughout the six seasons of the series, including the Teen Choice Awards, the People's Choice Awards, and more, until her sudden departure from the show in 2015.
However, there's so much more to the actress than just portraying the girl next door character in The Vampire Diaries. Hailing from Sofia, Bulgaria, before immigrating to Toronto and having a bit of a hard time pursuing post-secondary education. Here's how Nina Dobrev's life looked before The Vampire Diaries, and what's next for the Hollywood heavyweight.
6 Nina Dobrev Hailed From Eastern Europe
Nina Dobrev was born in January 1989 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, before relocating with her family to Canada at the tender age of two. Artistry runs in her family's blood, as she was born from an artistic mother. Her father, Kamen, was fresh out of the Bulgarian army before eventually saving enough money to bring the whole family.
"My mom crossed into Canada to meet him at Niagara Falls with one suitcase and a kid in each hand," she recalled during an interview with Self. "I learned hard work from them."
5 Nina Dobrev's Education
Nina Dobrev was exposed to the love of acting at a young age. She joined Canadian actor Dean Armstrong's acting school in Toronto before subsequently enrolling at the School of Arts at Wexford Collegiate. At the age of 10, she faced a dilemma between acting or gymnastics, although we all know what she ended up choosing.
"It was either continue with the gymnastics and try to go to the Olympics, or audition more. Gymnastics was four hours a day, six days a week. There wasn't time for both," she recalled during the Self interview, "I would take the subway and then four different buses. Nothing was ever handed to me."
During her time on Degrassi, Dobrev also majored in sociology at Ryerson University, although she'd never graduated due to her hectic filming schedule.
4 Nina Dobrev On 'Degrassi'
Nina Dobrev got her first taste of fame with the teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation where she played the role of teen mom Mia Jones for three seasons. According to her storyline, Mia left the series in 2008 to pursue her full-time modeling career in Paris, although the actress jumped on The CW's The Vampire Diaries a year later.
"It was challenging because it’s not me. I went to a lot of web sites that dealt with teenage pregnancy. I read a lot of stories about girls having to go through what Mia did," she said in an interview, "There’s the alienation factor and there are all the stories and rumors, having everybody judge you. It isn’t easy."
3 Nina Dobrev Headlined Several Canadian Films Before 'The Vampire Diaries'
During Nina Dobrev's time as a rising star on Degrassi, she continued building her acting resume. She headlined several indie and television films in Canada, including the film adaptation of Anne Michael's war novel Fugitive Pieces, MTV's musical hit The American Mall, and Sarah Polley's directorial debut Away from Her.
"It's my first American thing, it was the lead, there was a lot of pressure but good pressure. It was something I was very excited about. I couldn't sleep because I was so excited to start my first day at work," the then-19-year-old recalled her American debut in an interview.
2 Nina Dobrev In Music Videos
Nina Dobrev has starred in at least two music videos throughout her career so far. She made her debut in the accompanying video for indie duo Wade Allain-Marcus and David Baum's "You Got That Light" from their 2009 EP of the same name. The video, which tapped Brent Geisler and Jack Allred as the director-producer pair, didn't even break to 20,000 views on YouTube.
This wasn't the only music video Nina has been involved with, though. She re-joined her Degrassi cast Stefan Brogren, Lauren Collins, Cassie Steele, Miriam McDonald, and more in Drake's single "I'm Upset" from the Scorpion album.
1 What's Next For Nina Dobrev?
So, what's next for this Hollywood starlett? The 33-year-old shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon, and if anything, she should have had a solid acting career after departing The Vampire Diaries. Since then, she has been around Hollywood, picking some romantic roles in the meantime, but her career is still far from its peak. She's been diving more into film roles and withdrawing herself from TV projects, but sadly, almost none of them was a blockbuster hit except for 2017's Return of Xander Cage.
Nina's career is still far from obscurity, though. She has several projects on her horizon, including an upcoming comedy Sick Girl.
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