Julie Plec wanted to make a Vampire Academy TV show before The Vampire Diaries even began
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Julie Plec is no stranger to the world of vampires and gothic teen romance after creating The Vampire Diaries and its two spin-offs, The Originals and Legacies. And now she's jumping right back into the realm of supernatural bloodsuckers with Vampire Academy, a TV adaptation of Richelle Mead's best-selling YA book series. But when she stopped by EW's Comic-Con video suite Thursday with showrunner Marguerite MacIntyre and series stars Sisi Stringer, Daniela Nieves, Kieron Moore, and André Dae Kim, Plec revealed that Vampire Academy is actually the vampire series she wanted to make first.
"This started in about 2007 actually, when I was on holiday chilling by the pool," Plec said. "I read Vampire Academy and I thought, 'God, this is a good book. God, I want to make this into a show.' Marguerite was on the holiday with me and we both said to each other, 'Wouldn't this be fun to make one day?'"
Fifteen years later, that dream is finally a reality, thanks to Peacock asking Plec, "What's the one show you always wanted to make?" Her answer was immediate: Vampire Academy. When Plec called up MacIntyre to see if she still wanted to make the show with her, MacIntyre initially said no, since it had been so long. But then she revisited the books and remembered just how much she loved the story and the characters. "What an idiot I would be to not do this," MacIntyre said.
Jose Haro/Peacock André Dae Kim and Daniela Nieves on 'Vampire Academy'
Plec and MacIntyre aren't the only ones who devoured the books when they were first published. Stringer, who plays the fiery half-vampire (a.k.a. Dhampir) Rose Hathaway, read the entire series when she was a young teen. "My sister was really into them and I stole them from her and I read them all," she recalled. "Love them. Loved it when the [2014] movie came out, wanted more movies, was so disappointed they didn't do any more." When she landed the starring role of Rose Hathaway in this new adaptation, she immediately called her sister to freak out about it together. "She was so excited for me," Stringer said.
The casting process was quite different from how it usually goes for a TV show, though. Plec and MacIntyre revealed that the show was cast entirely through Zoom calls, which meant the potential stars had to do chemistry reads without even being the same room. That was especially tough since the two pairs of actors have to bring to life epic romances on screen.
"Personally, I was so glad it was on Zoom because I get a bit nervous in the room," Moore, who plays the formidable Dhampir Guardian Dimitri Belikov, said. "We're very, very lucky. And I'm going to say it: We nailed that Zoom." Stringer also immediately knew her chemistry read with Moore went well, and she started dancing to BTS' "Dynamite," her favorite song, after the call ended.
Nieves' chemistry read with Kim was a little trickier, because she had to ignore the loud construction happening next door. Plec joked that was half the reason she got the part — because she didn't miss a beat, even with all the noisy distractions. "She is a professional," Plec said.
At one point during that chemistry read, Nieves, who plays Moroi (full-vampire) royalty Lissa Dragomir, kept getting closer and closer to her computer camera to simulate a moment when her character almost kisses Kim's character, Christian Ozera, and it threw him off. "I was like, this girl is too pretty," Kim said. "But in our chemistry read, I felt really comfortable with [her]."
Plec and MacIntyre said the almost-kiss was "hot," which they didn't think was possible during a Zoom. But both chemistry reads went so well that the creators knew they landed on the perfect actors. "Dimitri needed to be Mr. Darcy, Rose needed to be a flipping firecracker, Lissa needed to be elegant and full of compassion, and Christian needed to be rootable even in his outsider status, and here we are," Plec said.
Watch the video above for more. Vampire Academy debuts Thursday, Sept. 15, on Peacock.
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