Nina Dobrev has told how fans were in uproar when she was cast in The Vampire Diaries – because of her hair colour.

The actress plays lead character Elena in the TV series, who was blonde in the books the show is based on, and said fans were “frustrated” to see a brunette in the role.

She said: “I couldn’t go online because everyone was like, ‘She’s not a blonde, Elena’s a blonde’.”

Nina went on: “But we had to change it because in the books Elena was a little bit more of a Queen Bee, the popular high school girl and it just didn’t seem relatable to a lot of people. The creators just wanted to make her more of a girl-next-door, who you can root for. If you’re not rooting for the main girl, then there’s no point in watching. You need to love her, you can’t hate her.”

The Bulgarian-born Canadian actress admitted landing the part was “a long gruelling process”.

“I’m so lucky that I got it because there was a lot of competition,” she added.

The Vampire Diaries begins on February 2 on ITV 2.

Source: The Press Association

Added scans from Nylon (Jan. 2010). Love the additional Nina pix!

Airing February 4th 2010 at 8pm on The CW

Stefan (Paul Wesley) helps Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Bonnie (Katerina Graham) out of a dangerous situation. Jeremy (Steve R. McQueen) asks Anna (guest star Malese Jow) to a party in the woods, unaware that she has her own reasons for wanting to meet him there. When Stefan, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena work with Bonnie and Grams (guest star Jasmine Guy) to open the tomb, everyone is shocked by what they discover. Candice Accola, Zach Roerig and Michael Trevino also star. Marcos Siega directed the episode written by Brett Conrad.

3 interviews with TVD cast.

Added stills from all season one episodes of The Vampire Diaries.

New shoot of Nina Dobrev.

The cast of The Vampire Diaries attended two events yesterday. They went to a Hot Topic store for a fan greet and Armani Exchange & Nylon host ‘Love Bites’ Party for the Nylon Cover.