Quantrell Colbert/The CWEnough with that pesky Edward Cullen and his family-friendly vampire brood! There's no denying that The CW's The Vampire Diaries grabbed a good portion of the bloodsucking market this season, and the whole cast is coming back for in the second round!
And, trust, we know that plenty of you are into the fangy fun of it, too.
The hot vamp show stars the adorable Nina Dobrev, bad-boy Paul Wesley and Lost alum Ian Somerhalder in a ferocious mix of teen melodrama and supernatural fantasy. But what really goes down behind the scenes on the sweaty, steamy set in Atlanta, Georgia?
We recently caught up with stars Candice Accola and Steven R. McQueen, who play ex-mega-bitch Caroline and screwed-up outsider Jeremy, and wrenched a few droplets of bloody cast dish from them:
They still get starstruck.
Accola's intimidated by iconic women, none more so than Diane Keaton. "I had the opportunity to meet her on the way to the pilot," she says. "She sat behind Kayla [Ewell] and I on the airplane. I was all ready to say, 'You are an inspiration to young women everywhere!' and all that came out was, 'You are, like, awesome!' Ha. That's how suave I get."
They like other vampires.
"I've been on a True Blood kick," says Accola, who also plans to see Eclipse when she and the other girls reconvene in Atlanta in July to begin filming. "Definitely by the time we get back."
Meanwhile, McQueen is a fervent Team Edward supporter.
"Vampires are just cool, you know?" he says, adding. "They just have some sort of rebel authority that's kind of cool."
They're humble.
Like many young stars today, they remember where they come from.
"I was working in an ice rink before all this," laughs McQueen. "Work became not only a gift, but therapeutic as well...the entire experience has been a blessing." Accola agrees. "It's amazing," she says. "It's just wonderful that everyone's enjoying watching it as much as we are making it."
They cause trouble on set.
"We're constantly doing pranks, most of which I can't talk about 'cause they're kind of, you know, mum's the word sort of things," says McQueen.
Accola's adds: "We don't really joke around too much because it's a lot to do in a little amount of time, but biggest troublemaker? Nina, for sure. She's the sneakiest."
They kinda, sorta, don't really, or do they, hook up.
Both kids braced the question of on-set romance with enough hesitation and nervous laughter to make us double-take.
"I'm sure by the end of all these seasons, everyone's gonna say that we've all dated each other," says Accola. When asked about Nina and Ian's rumored romance, McQueen said, "I wish I knew." When asked about Nina and himself, he said, "I wish I knew."
Hmm. Wish we did, too.