Nina Dobrev

“	I think people should be with the person who makes them smile. The minute you’re not smiling anymore, you shouldn’t be in the relationship. That’s what you figure out by having good or bad experiences with boyfriends and finding out what qualities you like and don’t like in a person. It’s part of growing up and learning. You should always be with the people who make you feel happiest.	”
	— Nina Dobrev in the October 2012 issue of Seventeen magazine

Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva (Bulgarian: Николина Константинова Добрева, born January 9, 1989) is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress who plays Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce and Amara on Template:The Vampire Diaries. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mia Jones in Degrassi: The Next Generation. Dobrev has also been featured in movies.

Biography

Nina Dobrev was born on January 9, 1989 in Sofia, Bulgaria as Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva (Bulgarian: Николина Константинова Добрева). Her father Konstantin is a computer specialist and her mother Michaela is an artist. She has an older brother, Alexander. Her cousin, Jeny Nikolova, is a model in Canada. Nina moved to Canada at the age of two and has lived in Toronto, Ontario until 2009.

From a very young age she showed great enthusiasm and talent for the arts of dance, gymnastics, theater, music, visual arts, and acting. Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly after, she had roles in the feature films Fugitive Pieces and Away From Her as well as the popular television series Degrassi: The Next Generation on CTV.

Nina loves to travel and has often visited Europe both for pleasure, as well as competing internationally representing Canada in Aesthetic gymnastics. She enjoys playing volleyball, soccer, swimming, rock climbing, wake boarding, snowboarding, and horse back riding. But above all acting is her passion, and she sees it as an adventure that has just begun; she believes that the journey and the characters we create along the way will help us understand ourselves.

Personal Life

Ian-Nina-HQ-the-vampire-diaries-10203047-1493-2000 — Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev

Nina dated her co-star Ian Somerhalder, who portrays Damon Salvatore, for three years. The two were in a relationship, however, they officially broke up in May of 2013. Despite their breakup, the two remain friends. A few months later, Nina became romantically linked to Dancing With The Stars dancer Derek Hough. The two have been spotted holding hands and sharing various romantic tweets towards each other. ^[1] There was a rumor around October of 2013 that Nina and Derek had broken up, but this has neither been confirmed or denied. In a May 2014 InStyle Magazine interview, Nina says that she's a bit of a Tom Boy and loves to skinny dip. Nina also admits to carrying a bikini with her, no matter where she goes so that if the urge strikes to go for a swim.

Music

Nina played in the movie American Mall, where she sang the song called "Survivor".

File:Nina Dobrev - Survivor

Trivia

Nina plays three characters on The Vampire Diaries: Elena, Katherine and Amara. She has also played Silas (In Graduation).
Nina has become well-known for her nuanced and layered performances of the doppelgängers on The Vampire Diaries; each distinct and recognizable:
- Elena (as a human),
- Elena (as a vampire),
- Elena (as a vampire with no humanity),
- Elena (as a vampire with no humanity posing as Katherine),
- Katherine (as a human),
- Katherine (as a vampire),
- Katherine (as a vampire posing as Elena),
- Katherine (as a "Cured" human),
- Katherine (as a Passenger in Elena)
- Amara (as a human),
- Amara (as The Anchor).
Nina's nicknames are: Ninche, Ninjah, French Kote, Trouble, DoeDoe.
Nina was born on January 9, 1989 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Nina is 3 years 5 months and 13 days older than the character Elena Gilbert that she plays in the series, as Elena was born on June 22, 1992.
Nina was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and immigrated to Canada when she was 2.
Nina said she got interested in acting at age 15.
Nina has had her cat Lynx since she was 10.
Nina is a Capricorn.
Nina is right-handed.
Nina considers herself a foodie.
Nina doesn't like to take or post selfies by herself.
Nina doesn't watch much TV.
Nina says she's a klutz/accident prone by saying anything that bad can happen to her has.
Nina has a fear of spiders, saying she doesn't like anything that can crawl in your mouth while sleeping or anything with more than 4 legs. Except her cat Lynx.
Nina is fan of friend/co-star Katerina Graham's music, especially her song Power.
Nina is a certified scuba diver.
Nina knows how to surf, ride horses and ride motorcycles.
Her mother's name is Michaela (Bulgarian: Михаела), her father's is Nikolai (Bulgarian: Николай) and her brother's is Alexander (Bulgarian: Александър).
She's a major fan of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Nina attended Wexford Collegiate, an arts school in Toronto. In 2007, she began her post secondary studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, where she was majoring in Sociology. Nina also trained at the Dean Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto, Ontario.
Nina is tri-lingual. She is fluent in Bulgarian, French, and English.
- For her role as Bella in the World War II drama Fugitive Pieces, Nina had to learn Yiddish phonetically.
- Katherine Pierce, was born in Bulgaria and Nina speaks Bulgarian. For this reason, Katherine, who was German in the books, became Bulgarian in the series.
Nina has competed internationally representing Canada in Aesthetic Group Gymnastics. In 2005, she joined both the Senior World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark and the Junior World Championships in Plzen, Czech Republic.
Nina is named after her grandmother.
Her trademarks are her big brown eyes and long, dark hair.
She is close friends with her Vampire Diaries co-stars.
She dated her co-star Ian Somerhalder from mid-2010 to May 2013.
Nina has never been a teenage mother, yet she has played a character who is or has been a teen mother twice. Mia Jones her character on Degrassi was a teenage mother. Katerina Petrova (Katherine Pierce), her character in the series was a teenage mother who at 17 gave birth to a daughter Nadia in 1490 who was taken away from her by her father after she gave birth and given away so as not to bring any further shame on the family.
Nina was never a cheerleader, yet she has played a character who is or has been a cheerleader at least twice.
- Mia Jones, Nina's character on Degrassi was a cheerleader who was later forced off of Degrassi's Spirit Squad by the team captain who resented her for being an unwed mother.
- Elena Gilbert, Nina's character on The Vampire Diaries, was a cheerleader who quit the squad before the beginning of the series after the deaths of her adoptive parents, Grayson and Miranda Gilbert. This information was revealed to the audience in flashbacks. In the Season Four episode "Bring It On," Elena asks Caroline for her old position on the squad back. This backfires miserably when Elena goes to a cheerleading competition, and feeds on an opposing squad member. Elena gets into a fight with Caroline about the ribbon, and is told she cannot compete but does so anyway, later stepping out of the bottom of the team's pyramid and causing Caroline to fall.
Is a fan of Twilight, and even auditioned for the role of Bella Swan, before landing the role of Elena Gilbert.
- Is also a fan of True Blood and watches it.
In a July 21, 2014 live online StageIt chat with fans Nina admitted to becoming a recent fan of the cancelled NBC series Friday Night Lights and was almost finished with Season 1. In the same event Nina says she doesn't like to watch herself on TV or hear her own voice in voice mails.
The Vampire Diaries producers wanted a blonde hair and blue eyed girl. But they liked Nina too much.
All of her names have an "a" and an "o" in them (Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva).
She spends a lot of her time doing yoga.
Nina's favorite films are Knocked Up, Juno, The Notebook, and Schindler's List.
Her favorite TV shows are Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, and House.

Filmography

Year	Movie/TV	Role
2006	Repo! The Genetic Opera
	Playing House
	Away from Her
2007	How She Move
2007	The Poet	Rachel
2007	Too Young to Marry	Jessica Carpenter
	Fugitive Pieces
	My Daughter’s Secret
2008	Never Cry Werewolf	Loren
	The American Mall
	The Border
2009	Degrassi Goes Hollywood	Mia Jones
	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Mia Jones
	The Vampire Diaries	Elena Gilbert/Katherine Pierce/Amara/Silas
	Chloe
	Eleventh Hour
2011	The Roommate
	Arena
2012	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Candace
2014	Let's Be Cops	Josie

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Star Female	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2010	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actress	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Hottie Female	-	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Vampire	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actress	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2012	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Best Ensemble Performance	The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Won
2013	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Dramatic TV Actress	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Fantasy/Sci-Fi TV Actress	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite On Screen Chemistry (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Best Couple (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Best Bitch	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Best Tearjerker (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Sexiest Moment (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Love Triangle You're So Over (with Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Best Kiss (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	E!'s Best. Ever. TV Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2014	MTVU Fandom Award	Ship Of The Year (with Ian Somerhalder)	The Vampire Diaries	Won