Paul Wesley: Stefan, Stefussy & The Salvatore Brotherhood

25:00Come on. Come on now. Calm down, Alex. But if I showed you some photos of me, you'd be like, for sure that guy could have been on the Jersey Shore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You remember the Jersey Shore, obviously, right? Paul? Yeah. Oh my God. So I've never seen the Jersey Shore. What? But there's a funny story to tell you. So I used to do the whole Jersey Shore thing. I had a house in Belmar. and my friends and I used to like lift weights and you know like it was like you know gym tan laundry and all the kind of like literally wax our eyebrows and like you know walk around like this in our tank tops anyway it was like so pathetic um and I remember like I was in my 20s and I was doing like a something for the Vampire Diaries and somehow they were like oh the cast of the Jersey Shore is here and I was like oh cool I don't know I've never seen it and um and um the guy who plays the situation I love how you say the guy who plays the situation.

25:57Is he the situation? That's his real life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mike, the situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so that guy comes up to me. He's like, hey, Paul. And I was like, hey. And he's like, we used to hang out in the Jersey Shore. And I was like, we did? And he's like, yeah. And I asked a few friends. I'm like, yeah, he used to hang out with us. We used to go out with the Jersey Shore. I didn't even know. I was part of the Jersey Shore. Paul, you had the situation right under your fingertips. Yeah. And you didn't even know. I had no idea. You may have been out with Snooki and you didn't even know.

26:29For all I know, I could have been. Yeah. Paul, why do I feel like that's your life? Where you're like, I didn't know Madison Beer wasn't a beer. I didn't know I was friends with the situation. I didn't know any of this. Exactly. Like life just keeps happening. And Paul's like, what? Oblivious. Dude, that's crazy. Yeah. Okay, so did you ever get a spray tan? Of course I got a spray tan. You were gym tan laundering, actually. I did. I did a spray tan when I was. My friends, I'm telling you, I mean, it's like I shouldn't be admitting this, but like I'm telling you when I was like 17 and we used to like literally like it was all about like how big our muscles are.

27:03I was like 40 pounds heavier. Like it was all about muscles and being tan and then like making sure you have no chest hair and like walking around the Jersey Shore like this and like honestly fighting. We would get into like fistfights all the time. And like, oh, my God, it was like you have no idea. When you were saying that you were getting jacked and you were doing all that, you know what it made me think of? What? Donnie. Donnie from the OC. Paul? Donnie from the OC. One of my favorite shows. Were you on one episode? I was only on one episode. Okay. You made such an impression to remember that you were on the OC and to only be in one episode.

27:43That's pretty incredible. You'd be surprised how many people come up to me and go, Donnie. It is the craziest thing. Like just one episode. And I remember because I read for the main guy. Ryan. Ryan, who's Ben McKenzie is a good friend of mine. I adore him. By the way, so is Adam Brody. And I just met them on when I was doing Donnie, when I was playing Donnie. When I was doing Donnie. When I was doing Donnie. No. And I remember I read for Ryan. I didn't get it. I was very devastated. And they called me like, how about Donnie? You're more of a Donnie. And I was like, sure, I'll play Donnie. And then I just played myself, basically.

28:25Oh, it came so... Because that was like, you were in Chino with Ryan or something. And you guys like, or like, whatever. You were there. You were like the scary guy. Oh, yeah. I shot somebody. I shot the blonde guy. I was like, yeah, bitch. You shot Lou. I shot Luke. Thank you. You fully shot Luke. I shot Luke. You came into the party. You had the gun. I had a gun. Oh my God. Cut the clip with good old Paul. Roll the clip with Donnie. Bring it back. I remember I think you had like a thick armband. Oh yeah. Armband and oh my God. Oh you were so Donnie. I was so Jersey. I was so. Easy to play. It felt organic.

29:02100%. Didn't have to study for that role at all. so you eventually get into acting right and in the early days you end up living with your childhood friend ricky and his pomeranian in a studio apartment in the west village in the west village yes did you have two beds we had two beds oh that's the pomeranian and him on one me and the other two twins you know oh two twins two twins yeah twins we're right there next to each other Yeah. Oh, like a little nightstand in between. And by the way, this is like, yeah, exactly. Literally. And this is back when like we were like wearing tank tops and like, you know, and, and, you know.

29:40Still feeling yourself. Oh, yeah. Still feeling ourselves. So everyone was like, welcome to the neighborhood. And West Village. And West Village. What were you three getting up to around that time? God, no. By the way, I love that you said you three, including the Pomeranian. Yeah. Like, like the Pomeranian was clubbing with us. No, it was like I was on a soap opera with Brittany Snow. Oh, love her. Yeah. I think she did the show. Yes, yes. Love her so much. She's one of my dear friends. I adore her. She's the best. So Brittany and I played boyfriend and girlfriend on a show called The Guiding Light.

30:13I was like 16 years old making a bunch of cash. I was like, Ricky, I'm going to get an apartment in the West Village. And he's like, great. Is that how you would talk? Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Okay. Something like that. There was a little accent in there. It was giving a little New York. It was giving a little like Sopranos. Yeah, yeah. No, I used to have a thick Jersey accent. But anyway, and then I was just like, let's just like get the, and it was just like the best time of my life, you know, it was like fake IDs and just partying and, you know, doing this soap opera. And like, frankly, like, that's where I like kind of learned how to, you know, I remember when I first got on the soap opera, I was so uncomfortable.

30:48And like the soap opera taught me how to like work with the camera and like, you know, be more relaxed. And like, it was an amazing training ground. and so many great actors came from that. But like Britney, Britney's amazing. Want to hear something funny? I'm going to call out Britney. She said this story, so it doesn't really matter. Yeah, yeah, give it to us. It's really funny. Britney's, I wonder if Britney, she said this story, so it's fine. So I, we were on set and like, you know, I'm like 16, 17. So like, you know, whatever. I had like, you know, done a bunch. I had kissed, I had a girlfriend.

31:21I'd kissed women, girls before. And Britney and I had our first kiss scene. And I was like, cool, no big deal, like whatever. Because we were playing boyfriend and girlfriend. And Brittany was younger than I was. And we did the kiss scene. And I'm like, okay, like that was fine. Like that went well. And I remember afterwards, her mom comes up to me and goes, just so you know, that was her first kiss ever. And I was like, what? I didn't know that. And like to this day. That's so cute. Yeah, it's so sweet. Like to this day, like Brittany's first kiss is the kiss on camera with me. It was really sweet.

31:54Oh, you're a good guy. I feel like that you probably made it just like so sweet and like chill for her. Wait, that's cute. It was really sweet. Now we're really good friends. Yeah, it was really funny. And to see just how both like successful you've been in your own right. And to think about you like little youngins. Yeah. And like imagining Britney also being probably so nervous. Oh my God, I can imagine. Yeah. Oh my God. It's actually probably good that you didn't know until after. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's really sweet. Yeah. Okay. So what would you and Ricky do though? if you both if you had like a girl that you wanted to bring back and we've got the twin bets paul like what are we doing oh my gosh like what happened what did happen you're like ricky yeah um no it was um let me get let me get back to you on that one i don't remember i plead the fifth no i don't know I think we probably You figured it out I'd be like Ricky you know go take a walk get out of here But you can leave the Pomeranian Yeah leave the Pomeranian doesn't care Okay fair So you and Ricky had your stint you did your thing Yeah Then there's been another bromance in your life Uh huh With none other than your Vampire Diaries co-star Smolder Holder Ian Summer Holder The Smolder Is that what we call him?

33:09I call him the Smolder Holder Like when you call him every day or is that what you're saying? Just Smoldy I call him Smoldy Pants Smoldy For years, I called him smoldy pants. Does he like that? I think deep down inside, he likes it. What does he call you? Fuckface, probably, yeah. Am I allowed to curse? No. I mean, we're so funny. We call each other like, Ian and I are like, we're like in this like domestic partner. No, not a domestic partner. We don't live together. It's like this, like we're in like a marriage, you know? It's like we started off as like colleagues working together. Then we're like best friends.

33:44then we're like okay we see each other every day for eight years i love you but also like then we're like brothers then now we have this business together it's like we are so it is like such a complicated it's like my longest relationship i've ever had in my life we've been i feel like we've been together for 20 years and we know i know what he's gonna say before he's even gonna say it and he knows what i'm gonna say and we're yin and yang do you bicker like a married couple Oh my God. We bicker. We hug it out. We like, I mean, it is like - How do Nikki and Natalie feel about it? Like when you guys are all together?

34:18They're like the calm energies and like we're the Tasmanian devils. Like they're like, by the way, thank God for Nikki and Natalie. Like Natalie's like calms me down so much and I feel like Nikki calms him down so much because him and I are a little - No, Natalie's energy, when we got drinks, I was like, she is so good. She's so good. She is so steady. So steady. calm, sophisticated, lovely. I'm so happy for you. But now knowing the two of you are like that, I'm like, ooh, even more now. That makes sense. Yeah. And like, yeah, Nikki and Nikki as well is like much more like Ian is like, Ian is like moves a thousand miles a minute, you know?

34:57And like, have you met Ian? No. He's like, I mean, the guy will literally, he can talk to anyone for like two hours. Like he will literally just corner you and talk to you and lose track of time. Like he is like this, he's the most personable person that you'll ever meet. Like you would love him. Everyone just looks into his blue eyes and just like melts. It's like, I mean, it doesn't work on me anymore. I'm like, get the hell out of here. Yeah. But it worked initially. Wow. Okay. Almost 20 years in this partnership, in this marriage. Go back, think about what was your first, first impression of him?

35:33And like, when did you first meet him? I, my first, the first time I met him was in Burbank, California. After we both got cast on the show, we knew we'd be playing brothers. And they're like, you need to go to this dental office because you need to get a fang fitting. We need to, you need to get your fangs fitted for this, for the show. Cause they have to mold them. So I remember I was like pulled up to this dentist and he's like leaving. And I'm like, Hey, Hey. And Hey, I'm like, I guess we're going to play brothers. He's like, yeah, yeah. He's like, I just got my fangs fit. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to get my fangs fitted as well.

36:09I was like, I'll see you on the plane tomorrow. And then I remember being like, okay, cool. And then I remember we decided to sit next to each other on the plane on the way to Vancouver because we shot a pilot in Vancouver. And I'm sitting there, we're chatting. And this is a perfect example of how me and Ian are total polar opposites. I'm glass half empty. I think everything is doomed. He's glass half full. and we're usually somewhere, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. This time he was right. I look at him and I go, so we're doing this pilot, huh? He's like, yeah. I'm like, I don't know, man.

36:42I'm like, vampire diaries. I was like, you know, you think we're going to get picked up? He's like, yeah, I think we're going to get picked up. I'm like, I don't know. You think it's going to be a hit? I don't think it's going to like be a thing. And he just looks at me and I still remember to this day, he just goes, au contraire, mon frere. it's gonna be a big deal mark my words and I was like oh contraire mon frere I was like who speaks like that but anyway he was right he was right he was right he was dead on oh my god that's actually kind of crazy though because knowing because you guys ended up shooting all the time in Atlanta yes but going for that pilot I've obviously interviewed actors before that it is crazy to know like most of the time that first episode is not filmed where it's gonna be filmed Yeah.

37:27And you have no idea if you're going to get picked up. No idea. When was the moment? Do you think you were like, oh, I like I think I really like this guy. Like so first you're kind of like dipping your toe in the water. You're like, oh, contrary. You're like, OK, this guy's like kind of kooky and I like him and he's uplifting. But when were you like, oh, we're friends? Well, so we so the show got picked up and then I was like, OK, I was like, well, and then I was like, I'm going to take this shit really seriously. Like this is a big deal. This is a huge because I had done like eight pilots and they all failed.

37:56And like, I mean, some got picked up, but none of them lasted. And I had this feeling after the show got picked up, I was like, and it tested really well. They tell you about like whether it tests well with the audience, like they're like something special with this one. I was like, we have to do a good job. So I was like, Ian, we need to like, we're playing brothers. We need to like bond and we need to like really study together. He's like, you're right. He's like, I have an idea. He's like, let's fly to Atlanta and let's get apartments next to each other so we can just live next to each other.

38:23And I was like, good idea. So I remember, and to this day, I remember, we literally get to the airport and I pull up, I'm wearing these light blue jeans, a black leather belt, a white Hanes shirt, black Ray-Bans and cowboy boots, these like fry boots. And I look over at him and he's wearing the exact same thing. We literally looked at each other and we're like, we looked like the Blues Brothers. We got off the plane and we decided to go apartment hunting and got apartments next to each other so that we can be close to each other so that we can practice and study lines together. And it was just like the funniest thing pulling into Atlanta wearing the exact same...

39:08Oh, we had the same color backpack as well. Paul. And I remember we stayed at the W Hotel for the first night. we walked in and everybody just looked at us like who are these guys it was really funny he's basically your soulmate yeah since day one so he was like my brother the minute we landed in atlanta okay but then i'm like i can't help but be like why do i feel like i can see ian and you living next to each other was a good idea at first and then you're literally like coming home after a long day on set then you're going into your rooms and he's like knocking and you're like paul come out and play yeah yeah i was like leave me alone he's like knocking on the wall no but it you know truthfully like you know jokes aside like we really like we didn't mess around like the first two seasons we were like oh my god and then like by the third season we're like we're good let's this is doesn't need to be fake bourbon on set anymore like let's go ahead and maybe switch that out with some woodford reserve and by the way yeah sorry warner brothers because you guys did drink so much.

40:06We were just constantly, by the way, it's not like we were shit-faced on set, but like, you know, towards the end of the day, you know, you're like, I've drank enough of this like unsweetened iced tea, which is supposed to be bourbon. I think I can like, you know. And like the amount of scenes that like Ian had to do, like dancing, like in the mansion alone. Give that man a little something. Give that man, yeah, get him some bourbon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaking of bourbon, look at that transition. You guys started Brothers Bond bourbon inspired kind of by these like vampire diary days that you had together.

40:39Yes. How many drunk nights did you guys have trying to develop this and get it right? So, you know, so COVID hit, right? So we always talked about doing a bourbon and I remember COVID hit and it was like, I couldn't leave. Like I was sort of a nomad. I was shooting these TV shows. I was like up until COVID and then I was stuck. We were all stuck. We couldn't leave. And I remember being in, we lived in the same little community at the time. We had houses in Topanga. And I remember Ian called me up one day. He's like, hey, man, we're not doing shit. We can't leave our houses. We can't do anything.

41:19He's like, do you want to just come over and blend some bourbon? And let's figure out how to blend some bourbon and let's launch a bourbon. And I was like, yeah, I'm not doing anything else. So I just would go to his house and we would just drink, create these blends for like, and in his kitchen, we'd go by the fire pit outside. And we would just like, try like he I would come to his house, and he would have all these like graduated measuring cylinders. He looked like a mad like, you know, like, in Back to the Future, what's his name? DACA? What was that guy? He kind of looked like that his hair was every was mad at his be had a beard.

41:53He was like, had all this bourbon is like, like a chemist. And I remember we were just like, We just spent months just creating these blends that we liked. And then we finally found something we loved. And then we sent it into this lab, essentially, to analyze the mash bill. And they were like, this is your mash bill. I was like, great. That's Brothers Bond. And then we did a small friends and family round and raised a little bit of money and launched the bourbon. And boom. That was it. It's so crazy to see. And it's such a great idea. obviously you guys have such a strong brand already in the two of you but then to launch that that felt very organic for you guys yeah together and we like genuinely like gen this is not like a plug like we genuinely love bourbon and like that's all we drank in atlanta you know when we would film finish filming and be like god like we just shot 14 14 15 16 hours let's go to the bar and we would always drink bourbon that was like our thing and so like the brothers bond Obviously, it's like a nod to me and Ian on screen.

42:53We have a bond as brothers. But also like off screen, that was like our brother's bond. You know what I mean? So it was very funny because when we started the company, we didn't have a name. And we were like pitching Walmart. And our CEO is like, we need a name. And they're like, we're all calls in an hour. We can't just like pitch a brand that doesn't have a name. And Ian's like, okay, I got it. I got it. I got it. I was like, okay, what is it? He's like, Brothers Supreme. And I was like, Brothers Supreme? I was like, dude, that's the worst name for a bourbon brand ever. I was like, we are not Brothers Supreme.

43:23He's like, I think it should be Brothers Supreme. I was like, all right, give me a minute. And I sat there, I was like, brother. And I started like texting all these, and I was like, Brothers Bond. I was like, Brothers Bond. He's like, great, done. And then like 15 minutes, 15 minutes before I pitched to Walmart, we had the name Brothers Bond. Well, I also love it because it's so you and Ian, like he basically came up with the first word and then you're like, no, no, no, no, no. Adjust, adjust, adjust, adjust. Last dress. Second word is this. Boom. Go. Okay. Stefan obviously had doppelgangers, but do you have any alter egos when you're drinking?

43:55Paul? I'm like, you know, I'm like a pretty good drinker. Do you know what I mean? Which is probably not a good thing. Are you like happy? Are you quiet? No, I'm just like happy and like funny. And like, you know, sometimes I do these Q &As online. Oh, we're getting there. Okay. Like half the time I'm like drinking. Okay. So like, you know, yeah. Well, that's how I know. Maybe more than half the time. No, I love it so much. That's how I know. Like that is some people's worst nightmare is like, I don't want to do anything online unless I know exactly what I'm posting. You're like, oh, no. Oh, I'm drinking.

44:31Oh, no, give me a drink. No, no, no, give me a drink. I'll tell you what I like. What I don't react well to is like some people are like, oh, I'm going to smoke a joint and then I'm relaxed. That's like my worst nightmare. If I smoke a joint, which I don't react well to marijuana, I will be the most awkward, insecure. I'll have a total mental breakdown. I'll have a panic attack. But if you give me a bourbon or whatever, I'm chilling, man. You're ready to go. I'm my real self. Okay. Let's talk about those Q &As. Yeah. You have really cornered the market. Unintentionally, for the record. This was not a master plan.

45:10Paul. Another byproduct of COVID. Okay. Boredom. A lot of good things came for you, okay? I guess so. So you started posting this like close friends Q &A thing, basically. And talk to me about the criteria for, you know, close friends. Okay. So this is the genesis. Okay. So a girl that works with us named Remy, who's awesome. She does all the Brothers Bond. Like she does our social media. She does a lot of our marketing. She does whatever. Long story short, Remy was like, hey, there's this app that allows you to have close friends that subscribe to your close friends. Because I didn't have a close friends like on my own Instagram.

45:52And there she's like, it allows your fans to be close friends. It's this app thing. I forget the name of it. And I was like, she's like, should I sign you up? I'm like, sure. What the hell else am I doing? It's COVID. And so she's like, great. Do whatever you want. I'm like, well, I'm not going to like it's not only fans. I'm not going to like post shirtless selfies. But I'm like, so what can I do? What can I do to like make people feel? So I'm like, how can I interact with people? So I just started doing these random, like, ask me a question and like, let's just shoot the shit, you know? And that, and then suddenly this was, I didn't realize that you could then take those Q &As, screen record them.

46:29And then suddenly they ended up on TikTok. And I, by the way, unbeknownst to me. So suddenly I'm all over TikTok with these Q &As. And that is how this whole thing happens. It is like the through line of this is Paul Wesley has no idea what the fuck is going on. This whole interview. You're like, and then somehow this thing called TikTok. I know. It sounds like it's this premeditated, I promise you. It's not. No, no, I believe you. You could tell. Yeah. Okay. So we're going to make the daddy gang feel like close friends of yours today. All right, let's do it. We're going to do a little Q &A. Okay.

47:05And you're going to get in the headspace of like, your phone's in front of you. You had a little bourbon. Yeah. And you're just going to answer from the heart. Whatever comes to mind. Okay. What is something that really pissed you off lately? What is something that really pissed me off lately? Oh my gosh. So many things piss me off all the time. Well, I haven't spoken to Ian in a week, so I've been pretty calm. Zen, more than usual. No, I mean, listen, I love Ian. but he will drive me crazy because he is, he's too positive for, he's too, he's too glass half full and I need some negativity in my life.

47:47So I would say like Ian, the answer is Ian. Why haven't you spoken to him in a week? I just, I don't know. I've been busy. Yeah. I got to call. Should we call him? Please call him. We'll call him. Yeah, we'll call him. Call him now. Should we call him? Yeah. Just say, just tell him to say hi. Yeah. Come on Ian. All right. Let's see if he picks. By the way, he never picks up the phone. Let's just see, maybe. Do I even have him? I don't even have him in my favorites. That just goes to show you how little. I think he's in my phone. No, I have him in my phone. Do you have him in as Ian Somerhalder?

48:13Oh my God, you're going to laugh. I have him. I make fun of Ian's fedoras, his giant hats. Of course. I have a giant exaggerated fedora as his profile photo. He won't pick up. This is going to piss me off. If he has me what pissed me off, this is what's going to piss me off. Like I'm in the middle of the show. He never picks up. I feel like he would pick up. I think that's his personality. Ian, come on. Pick up the phone. I feel like you're the one that wouldn't pick up. I'm the one. I definitely wouldn't. Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. Are you kidding me? This is what pisses me off.

48:43Ian. Oh, wow. Okay, so he doesn't answer your calls often. No, he does. He's just, you know, Ian's the kind of guy that like, he's like, literally will like, put his phone down and corner someone for like three hours. And then no one can get a hold of him. And we're all just like, yeah. He's very focused on what he's doing. which is probably a good thing. He's not a multitasker. Got it. Okay, good.

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52:14Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, what is the craziest thing a fan has sent you? I mean, I have a crazy story. I don't know if this is something that they've sent me, but one time I came home. I was living at the time in the Hollywood Hills and I came home from a, this is kind of a weird, this is actually kind of creepy. I came home from something and it was like the middle of the night and I remember like at 11 p.m. I pull up and I'm in, I don't live in this house anymore, so it's okay. But I pull up to the driveway and all of a sudden I see like nine suitcases in my driveway. Okay. And like, you know, those like, it was the weirdest thing.

52:51You know, like back in the day when women would go to the hairstylist and they had those bowls. Oh, yeah. What do they call them for? Like a perm bowl. Like a perm bowl. It was a perm bowl. In your driveway? In my driveway. I was like, why is there a perm bowl in my driveway? I was like, what is going on? And there was a fan there and she goes, hey. And I was like, can I help you? And she's like, we've been emailing. You told me I can move in. By the way, I swear to God. And I was like, what are you talking about? She was emailing with someone who thought she was pretending to be you. Was pretending to me and said that she can move into my home.

53:30And she brought the perm bowl. I was going to say, I don't know what's weirder that she was ready to move in. Not weird at all. the she brought the perm bowl was the thing that weird to me the luggage i was like whatever it's fine we can deal with this the perm bowl i was like why does that have to come with the yeah or whatever it's a dryer that is when you're getting a paul so what did you do i just i said look it's not me i haven't been emailed first of all i was like how do you know where i live and she's like what do you mean everyone knows i was like everyone knows. I was like, what are you talking about?

54:08So that was, yeah. Yeah, that's weird. That was weird. I also heard someone sent you a big box of sausages. Oh yeah. Yeah. Someone did send me a big box of, thanks for reminding me. But yeah, no, I did. I did get sausages. And what did you take from that? I didn't eat the sausages. Yeah. I don't, I don't know if it was innuendo, if it was just, maybe it's because I'm Polish. Yeah. Kielbasa. It will make you feel better if that was it it was because of the kielbasa yeah maybe they were meant for ian um so they were so they were like get this to ian i was like no no worries i'll get that over to him um love island have you watched i've never seen love so do you not know what the clam slam i have no idea what the hell you're talking about that is the weirdest thing i've ever heard in my life if you had to think about like are at a clam slam i i what i don't even know where to start okay okay walk me through this this is your new madison beer okay so everyone in the world is talking about like the clams clearly not everyone in the world but you know nothing okay okay it's the clam slam that was heard around the world basically okay so there is this woman kenzie and on love island yeah she could just be mid conversation with you and then she just drops to the ground and she does a split

55:30i'm seeing your face oh my god i'm laughing so hard it's just a quick little one two boom to the ground snorted um what i mean this is so out of left field i don't even know but i just didn't know maybe you jersey i don't know like do you know what are you what are you asking me i guess i was wondering like as have i seen a clam slam in the jersey shore what have you ever seen a clam slam in real life like i have never i didn't even know i don't even know what i don't even know what to say i'm i've met it first time in my life I'm at a loss for words. I have not laughed this hard in an interview and still laughed.

56:16Yeah, no. Okay, so you've never witnessed a clam slam? No. Just in my mind now. No, this is good. This is good because the Love Island fans are going to love that. We're moving on. Please. Kenzie's going to love that one. Okay. Okay, are you and Justin Bieber in any way related? I don't think so. I don't, not to my knowledge. You see people say you guys look like. Yeah. Not when I was younger. It is true. Yeah. I've seen some photos of the fans have taken photos of the two of us and they put them and yes, no. Have you ever met him? I don't think so. Okay. We got to get that together. Yeah. Okay.

56:56Someone who also looked like you. There was a Halloween costume situation. Oh, yeah. And. Yeah. I'm going to have to find the pictures and put them up because when I was looking at them. It is so insane. It's unbelievable. Can you tell the story to everyone watching of like, what happened, Paul? Right. Well, I just, I don't even know how they came to my, like, how did I, how I learned about them, but effectively, like, I just started getting word of these that I was, people were like, hey, man, like, I didn't know you were doing Halloween costumes now. And I was like, what? Like, what are you talking about?

57:36Like, yeah, yeah. My sister just saw you in the Halloween store. And like, yeah, man, like you're hard on cash. Like what's going on? I was like, what is that? So I was like, somebody find me these Halloween costumes. And then suddenly fans started sending them to me. People online were like, hey, Paul, I just saw you at this Halloween store. And they would send me photos. And so I got wind of these Halloween costumes that are so unbelievable because they're so awful, where they just literally took my face and they would put them on various, it's almost like a comedy. They would put me in like various positions, like, you know, like Luigi, but then like the mustache was upside down and then they'd be like warrior, warrior, you know, Zen warrior master.

58:22And it was like me in a robe. And I called my lawyer and I'm like, what can I do about this? Like there's Halloween costumes with my face. I was like, there was one with me with a sombrero. It was like unbelievable. and I was like, where did they come up with these ideas? Anyway, I had a few people bring them to me. Like I actually have them, physically have them. So anyway, my lawyer found out the company that was making the Halloween costumes and she was like, hey, cease and desist. Like, what are you doing? Like, you cannot use my client's face and they were like, we have no idea what you're talking about.

58:53They're like, this is not, this is someone that looks like Paul Wesley. This is not Paul Wesley. Like this is, and it's literally my face and I'm like, what do we do? She's like, we don't, it's a company out of like the company's base in China. Like we don't know how to get, we don't know what to do. So to my knowledge, they're still producing these Halloween costumes. Oh, well, Wesley's still out there. He's out there like, and I'm just like G.I. Joe. And there's always a new one. There's like doctor. And then it's like, but then it's like my, like my hands are huge, but then I have these like short legs.

59:24It's like the weirdest. It's like, they're like the worst Halloween costumes ever. And so you just keep seeing like every Halloween. There's like a new I'm playing It's like cosplay Like I'm playing a new character Oh my god And so you have no compensation for this No compensation By the way I should be getting tons of compensation The sales are through the roof Through the roof Okay That's really weird Yeah Yeah Can you This is a really big question Yeah So I need you to lock in Okay Can you I'm still thrown off from the clam slam But I'm still recovering by the way Like I'm frazzled Well I started sweating I was laughing so hard Yeah, me too.

1:00:03I snorted. I don't snort. The clam slam will go down. You know what the clam slam is? Yeah, it will. This is a perfect transition. Literally. This is a good transition from the clam slam. Okay. It's kind of same caliber. Okay. What? Walk in. Okay. Can you define Steph Fussy?

1:00:29Mm-hmm. I got to lock in. Yep. That's what I said. Take your time. I got to take my time with this. You need a water break. Whatever you got to do. It's a bit of an enigma. It really is. I was doing the Q &A. Mm-hmm. As you know, the infamous Q &A. And one of the questions, someone called me a step fussy. and I was like I am going to answer that question they say I think they said are you a step pussy or something like that and I was like I'm gonna answer because I could choose the questions you know so I willingly chose that question I was like I think this is a good idea this is a good one to answer and I uh and I was like uh and I don't remember I somehow was like yeah I guess I am a step pussy.

1:01:21And somehow this became the greatest, like now when I walk down the street, I swear to God, people aren't like, hey, Paul, or like, hey, you know, Stefan from the Vampire Diaries or whatever, any other thing. They're just like, what's up, step pussy? So now for the rest of my life, I am a step pussy because someone asked me if I was a step pussy on my Q &A. Paul so Paul if you want you tell me what a stuff was I have no idea nor do I I can't even like we kind of maybe yeah understand what it's like it's yeah it's almost better to not define it it's almost better to not define it because it could be whatever it is for anyone and we can't put it in a box exactly we can't put it in a box yeah wow yeah and by the way I keep waiting for it to fade I'm like surely in time I will no longer be Steph Fussy.

1:02:18You're on Caller Daddy. It's been years. And we got Steph Fussy questions. Oh, no, no. It's been years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It will not leave me. But you did it to yourself. I did it to myself. You almost wonder, who was that person? And are they pissed that they are not getting the credit? The credit. Come forward. And how do you prove? How do you prove it? How do you prove? Who came up with Steph Fussy? Some genius. Some genius. Who knows? Who knows? We're going to circle back to that. We will. I have a question. Yes. Even though obviously you touched on this way earlier, but I still have to ask.

1:02:54When you and Nina started Vampire Diaries and you were like, we hate each other. How did you, when you look back, how did you two come together and make it look so good on camera? Because I'm like. Just, you know, just for the record, it's not that it was like we immediately were like, I hate you. It wasn't like that. We were like actually great. And then it was just like we would have these like it's slowly, you know, it was like, first of all, we were all in our 20s. I was. I will take a lot of responsibility because I was a bit of a curmudgeon. I was like a bit of a grumpy pain in the ass. I was like, I'm taking my acting seriously.

1:03:35I heard you were a little intense. No phones on set. Like I was a little bit. I was a little bit intense. I was a little bit intense. And then, you know, everyone else was like a little bit more chill. And so I think I'm going to take a lot of responsibility for being a bit of a pain in the ass. Okay. All right. So that's, that's, that's number one. And so, but we were both professional and we both knew and the work mattered to us. So regardless, so we would, we would like butt heads on set. but then the minute the cameras rolled it was like we knew we wanted to make it magical and like some actors just you can be like have two really good actors and the chemistry isn't there for whatever reason Nina and I had this chemistry and I remember when I was auditioning for the Vampire Diaries um screen testing for it it was like me and nine other guys and I remember like all these guys were like you know kind of kissing your ass trying to like you know whatever and I remember I just was like, I'm not going to look at her.

1:04:37I'm not going to look at her. I'm not even going to acknowledge her because I want to meet her in the audition. I want to meet her for the first time in the audition. And that because our scene was us meeting for the first time. And I just remember being in the audition at Warner Brothers, like in front of all the executives and just like we looked at each other and it was just like this immediate chemistry. And we were these two characters and it just was magical. And so regardless of us not like getting along it somehow clicked yeah i don't know i guess i didn't really answer your question no like when did you guys start to be like okay like maybe we can be friends like was it like season one we were like you know what no it was like season i was like season so her last season was season six okay you're like that's when we came from yeah her the and then five minutes before she left no um no and i just remember like in during season six i remember we Like we all kind of grew up and I chilled out and I was like less of a pain in the ass.

1:05:32And I just remember looking at her and I was like, you know what, Nina? She's still, I was like, you're going to miss me one day. I said that to her. I was like, you're going to miss me one day. And she's like, maybe, maybe. And I remember like then like she, and then like years, like two years went by and we kind of kept in touch. And then she came back to do the finale. And I like, and we like hadn't worked together in two years. and we like looked at each other and I was like, I missed you. You know what I mean? Like I missed her. Like I missed having her around. And then like it was like just, and then to this day, she's always like, I remember you said to me, you're gonna miss me one day.

1:06:11And you know what? You were right. Like you were right. And it was like, it's just like this thing that just like slowly happens. Well, you know what's also cool about that? And because I remember talking to Nina about it. It's like the amount of episodes that you guys were doing, TV shows don't really do it like that anymore. we're like, how many were in a season? 22. Sometimes we would do 23. I wish we could go back to those days so I could just binge it all. But now there's like eight. But like that amount, you guys were together so much. And so sometimes you almost like don't recognize what you have until it's gone kind of thing.

1:06:41Absolutely. And I also think like it's different environments. Like you're, you're, there was a lot of stress, you know, and you're young and like, there was this whole like, you know, this was like very pop culture, you know, like we were like at the forefront it was very different from like having like a success in like a prestige show where it's like yeah people know you but you don't have like screaming you know uh fans and we had this like a lot of pressure and it kind of like we just didn't know i i'm gonna speak for myself i didn't know how to handle it in a way that was like like really mature yeah i was gonna ask like the becoming so famous and having such a fandom, like, how, how did you feel about it in the beginning?

1:07:23And how did you like navigate that? I was really very deeply uncomfortable. Truthfully, and I'm not just saying that's like, oh, humility, like I genuinely like was deeply uncomfortable. And I kind of like turned into like a bit of a recluse. Like I didn't go out that much. I didn't do that much. And thank God we were in it. In a way, thank God we were in Atlanta because we were kind of like separated from Hollywood and all the parties and all the nonsense. And so, but I definitely like sort of like tried to hide under a rock a little bit, you know? And I didn't like luxuriate in that moment because it's such a special time, you know?

1:07:59Acting is such a difficult career and like to have something that's successful that people love and people like look forward to is such a privilege, you know? And I didn't take it for, it's not that I didn't, I didn't take it for granted, but I definitely, the things that came with it, I didn't enjoy them. Whereas now I'd be like, this is awesome, you know, but at the time I just didn't, I wasn't equipped. Yeah. Did you guys in Atlanta, like, would you guys hang out and like go to bars all together? Cause we're together 24 seven. Totally. Absolutely. Were you able to go out? Yeah. Yeah. It was, we had like our one bar that was like our stomping ground.

1:08:34That was like our bar. And it doesn't exist anymore, but it was called Krog Bar. And it was this tiny little bar. It was like a wine bar. And we took it over every Friday night, every Saturday night. It was like our thing. The whole cast would go, the crew would go, and nobody else really went. And that was like our thing. And we didn't really go anywhere else. Oh my God, that makes me really happy.

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1:12:00Probably. It's kind of creepy, kind of weird. No, I don't think it would have. Okay. Did Stefan and Caroline's relationship feel like a natural evolution to you? Not really. I agree. I didn't need that. Yeah. Do you think he should have ended up with Caroline or Elena? I think the brothers should have died together and he should have ended up with no one. Oh my God. Morbid. Ian feels the same. Wow. Have you guys talked about that a lot? Oh, yeah. Ian's like, I wish I died with you. He's like so upset. That's so you guys though. Oh my God, he's so upset. Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay, I'm glad you guys agree though.

1:12:38Yeah. Did you ever take anything from set? Yes. What? I took the daylight ring. And then I lost it. Paul. Can you believe it? Ian still has it. Paul. I took a pair of jeans. They still have Stefan on them. They had them engraved? Stefan? No, just so they wouldn't get mixed up with Damon's. Oh, like on the back? Yeah, no, on the inside. They put Stefan. You lost your ring. I lost my ring. So you guys can't like go to events and wear your rings together. You need to get like one - Not that we would do that anyway. Come on. Go to events and wear my ring? Me literally going, oh. But you have them.

1:13:16And Ian puts his on, no? Oh, Ian's like, I have my ring on just to give him a taste of Damon. I was like, you're a loser, dude. But you're also secretly like, I wish I had mine. But I secretly am jealous. He needs to get you one made for your birthday. Yes. I'll work on that. Yes. Okay. Who do you identify most with in real life? Stefan, Silas, or Tom Avery?

1:13:42Silas. That is such a good segue to the next one. Okay. Where do you stand with Matt Donovan today? I, firstly, love a Zach Roig who played Matt Donovan. I have a, my whole gag with Matt Donovan, the whole reason I'm always giving Matt Donovan shit is because Matt Donovan was the only human. He's the only mortal, okay? And he's the only one that like didn't die. How did he not die? And I'm like, how did Stefan die like nine times? And then like, how did Elena, he also, there's this one scene where like Stefan, I don't know if you remember this, like Elena's drowning in a car with Matt Donovan.

1:14:24And Stefan's like this immortal vampire. And I'm like, I'm going to go save the love of my life. And he dives down there and he's like trying to get her out. And she's like, no, no, no, don't save me. Save Matt Donovan. And Stefan's like, okay. And then he just takes Matt Donovan and she drowns. So like, I have this like, you know, I'm like, what is going on? Okay. I forgot that it was Matt Donovan in the car. That's my whole beef. That's my beef. Wait, that was so unbelievable. But it was because, like, Elena felt bad for Matt Donovan. Everyone always felt bad. Whatever. Imagine. Are you kidding me?

1:14:59Like, what? No. We don't care about Matt. We don't. We do not. I mean, we love Matt. Look, Matt was an instrumental character, and we love Matt Donovan, but we will the love of my life here. Come on. I'm going to say I'm not going to save the sheriff. And you saved Matt Donovan. And I saved the sheriff and let her drown. Okay. So to this day, it's a big problem for me. As it should be. Thank you. What storyline could you just not get behind still? Still. God, there was so many storylines because we did like 170 episodes. It's like my brain is like, it's all just like this mishmash. Yeah. I mean, there was a couple.

1:15:38What? There was like these, what did they have? These, gosh, you know the show better than me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never even seen the show. They had these, I've never seen it. I've seen I've seen the first couple of episodes and then I directed a few episodes I watched the episodes I directed I've never seen the show otherwise so I actually don't remember oh we gotta do like a rewatch should we wear daylight rings wait you know you wanna make some bank yeah you and Ian rewatch podcast Vampire Diaries that would probably do well call me I'll call you can we like do a yeah we'll do a whole thing unwell Yeah, I got a whole studio for you.

1:16:18We'll make it look like Mystic Falls. Okay, let's discuss. We'll talk. We're going to do a whole thing. We'll talk offline. We're going to get everyone too excited. So now you actually have to do it. That is true. You can't fall through. Let's talk about your love life. Okay. You got engaged last summer. Yes. Last summer? Yes. Congratulations. Thank you. You guys met in the wild. Yeah. Which is like so few people meet in the wild now. So can you indulge us? Like how did you guys meet? You know what's funny? Ian was there. Of course he was there. Ian was there. So we were promoting Brothers Bond.

1:16:51Okay. And my buddy owned a bar. The bar doesn't exist anymore, sadly, in the East Village. And he said, hey, pop into our bar and we'll get you guys a Brothers Bond cocktail and we'll, you know, whatever, shoot a few photos for us, get us impressed for the bar and we'll support Brothers Bond. And he's a good friend of mine. I was like, yeah, of course, let's do it. So we were like, Ian and I were in New York and I was like, let's pop into this bar. So we went to the bar in the East Village and we were shooting some content and stuff. And I had a couple other friends meet me there. And I just see this beautiful woman sitting there.

1:17:27And I was like, who's this hot girl? I was like, and I looked at her and I was like, okay, I don't wanna be creepy. I'm not gonna look. And but then I saw her look at me. And I was like, aha. It's like, okay. So clearly there's like something's going on. So I was like, I'm just gonna go. and I never like I like I like don't hit on girls it's like not my thing I'm terrible at it and I whatever so I was like I'm just gonna go there and I'm just gonna like say hi and thank god my friend who owns the bar happened to be there and I walk over and he's like hey and he's like hey by the way have you met Natalie and she was right there so thank god he introduced us because it probably would have been a disaster if I just like cold you know whatever yeah and I said hey nice to meet you.

1:18:08We started talking and found out she was from Europe as well. She spoke five languages. I speak two languages. And we started talking and then just really hit it off. And that was it. That was kind of like, you know, and then just like I left the next day, actually. We just like exchanged numbers and I left for Europe. I went on a guy's trip to Europe, to Italy, funnily enough. And then we just were texting and I would send her some pics from Italy. And then I got back to New York and she was still there. And then I asked her out on a date when I got back because we had been texting for like a few weeks.

1:18:42And then fast forward, you're now engaged. And now we're engaged. How was the proposal? Were you stressed? Did you put a lot of thought behind it? I put some thought behind it because so I had to go to once we started dating, we hadn't been dating for very long. And I had to go to Italy for I was doing a there's a there's a magazine called Icon. It's an Italian, whatever. It's a cool fashion mag. And I did the cover and we were doing a launch party in Rome. And they were like, you can bring a guest if you want. And we'd only been seeing each other for a little bit. And I said, hey, do you want to come with me to Rome?

1:19:18And she's like, sure. So it was in October, all the hotels were closing. I was like, let's rent a car and drive down to the Amalfi Coast. Let's just go see. I didn't book anything. And there was, there's a hotel down there, Belmont Caruso it's called. And it was the final day before the closing for the season of final two days. So we, and I booked a room and I was like, we had the hotel for ourselves and we had this like magical time there and really kind of like fell in love. And so I thought, so I thought, why don't I contact the hotel? This is years later when I want to propose and tell them the story and tell them I want to propose there.

1:19:56and so I contacted the Belmont I said hey this was like our first trip together and I want to make it special and they were so awesome this this girl um actually her name's Elena funnily enough who works uh at the Belmont now she works for a different company but at the time she worked for Belmont she's like of course I'm gonna make it really special so she set up this um we we sort of talked about it on our last night there I took her to the Belmont and our last night there there's this like private olive grove and she set up this long table with candles and a private chef and I and I tricked Natalie I was like hey you know the Belmont wants to do like a goodbye like a goodbye dinner for us because it's our last night here and she's like oh that's so nice I was like dress yeah dress nicely like you know I was like I was like and I kind of like made it um you know like it was them like the Belmont did this and not me and then we got there and she was kind of suspect.

1:20:51And then, of course, that's when she realized, and then I popped a question, and that's when she realized, like, oh, this was a setup. Paul set this whole thing up. Paul, that is so romantic. Yeah, it was really sweet. Wow. It's also so sweet to, like, connect it to an early core memory that you guys had together and then bring it back. Exactly, yeah. Wow. Oh, my God. I'm so happy for you. Thank you. Well, you have a lot to look forward to. You are starring in season four of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. Can you give fans anything? What can we expect? So I love this show so much. And I play a young James Kirk, which is one of the most iconic characters in the history of television.

1:21:35So obviously, it was a huge honor for me to be given this role. And what I love about our show is that it pays homage to the original TOS from the 1960s, which is such a important, iconic piece of television history and so important to so many people. While we also pay homage to that, but we also kind of create our own spin, our modernized spin. And we sort of like, we tell the story pre-enterprise. So this is Kirk, James Kirk, before he was captain. He's Lieutenant Kirk. He's not as like, he's not, it's like the genesis of who he is, but it's really about like the crew that was on the Enterprise prior to James Kirk taking the helm as captain.

1:22:20And this show is like, it's this beautifully imaginative, adventurous, cinematic series that has humor and heart. And we explore all different genres. And if you watch, sorry if I'm blabbing, I love this show so I can go on about it. What I love about the original series about Star Trek is that it is so optimistic. It is so filled with imagination. And our show is exactly that. It's like this, every episode is like kind of like individual. You can enjoy them like individually because they all have their own like sort of like story of the week. But there's this beautiful through line with all the relationships and all the characters.

1:23:03And I don't know, we're just really proud of it. We we want people to tune in. No, of course, as you should be proud of it. Also, it's so cool, like being a part of such a huge franchise, obviously. And now obviously knowing you and knowing how much you take your craft really seriously. It's so cool to hear you also talk about like recognizing what was so well done before and still having the respect for that and also leaning into a new version and finding a way to bring that to life while still. It's really cool. Yeah, I'm proud. it's a lot of pressure obviously because like William Shatner it's like I'm not you know it's like no pressure he is yeah exactly yeah um Kirk's look is quite you know the switch up from Stefan's like talk to me about that costume well I mean it's the Starfleet uniform it's like it's it's very um everyone's kind of wearing the same thing although I will say when he's um when he's not on the ship you do see him in some civilian clothing but like um you know it's definitely a switch up like it's definitely and i sort of lean into this sort of um you know kirk can be interpreted in so many different ways and my interpretation of kirk is like a little bit more less of the kind of you know machismo kind of like ladies man that sort of like is in pop culture and he's more of like kind of this i wouldn't say like bookish but he's definitely like a little bit more of the sort of not nerdy Kirk, but like, like still coming of age Kirk, like still trying to find out how to be like a captain.

1:24:41You know what I mean? That's what I love so much about, like, obviously everything you've done so far, like this is so different from Stefan. Yeah. And then even this, I feel like is so different from what you're about to do on the show that we're making. Because the character on You Deserve to Know, like your character is pretty sus. Yeah. And like, you know, when you're, when you're, when you're get cast in a show or when you're, um, when you're starring in a show that has become so popular, it is so difficult to break away from that image. Right. Like that's such a thing. Like it's like a CW thing too, I feel like, or even like friends or whatever.

1:25:16And so like my whole goal ever since I ended, um, uh, my work on the Vampire Diaries has been like, what can I do that's the opposite of Stefan? Like, how can I possibly how can I differentiate myself because I don't want to be you know I mean now I am now I am step pussy you're forever so at least I had that going for me no no no that is like in the hall of fame like Stefan Salvatore is kind of yet to the wayside it's sort of like in the shadows right like it's not it's not a big deal anymore it's a pussy through and through but that's not even like a television character now so now you can focus on Kirk you can focus on you know our new show stefan's over there but it is steph pussy is kind of like the top co and then we have all these little things like unwell right and then it's like we have yeah there's a bunch of different and it's like steph pussy and then within that is you know that needs to be on your trailer yeah i'm gonna make sure that's on your trailer please do you have anything weird on your rider like should i know about anything not that i'm gonna be filling my rider no no yeah like you know oh you mean like we we just we want this yeah like what's on your rider no should i start being that guy?

1:26:20I don't know. I feel like Ian would have good shit in his rider. He would. I feel like he would have like hair mirrors and hair products and a cowboy fedoras. You don't ask for anything? I don't ask for any. I'm going to start. What should I ask for? You need to put a rider together and we're going to make sure. What do you ask for? I ask for like sour patch and like. No shit. Iced tea. You can do that. Oh my God, yeah. Before I was pregnant, I'd have like Casamigos Reposado in there if I need a little hit. Brothers Bond. Brothers Bond. I told you when you gave me that bottle. By the way, you loved it.

1:26:49Matt and I drank it. We were like, oh. And then it was so nice because it was really good. And I was like, okay, now I can actually look at him in the eyes and be like, no, no, no, you're right. You don't have to pretend. It was delicious. Okay, so we'll work on your rider. Yeah, please. Paul, this has been so fun. Such a pleasure. I am so, like, I love getting to talk to people who have such a good personality. And you are one of those people where I could talk to you for forever. But the range in this episode from Jersey Shore, from Donnie. then we had the step pussy then we got clam slam we got yeah how is this not called yeah step pussy and the clam slam it has to be your publicist that's a good spin-off yeah they're gonna step pussy and the clam slam they're like what is this no that was what have you done yeah this was we were going on here with a vision and you went completely and now we're just yeah we went off on a tangent.

1:27:44No, it was so, so fun getting to sit with you and talk with you. And I, you know, I'm a big fan and all the things. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

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