Paul Wesley

aul Wesley is ready to leave behind his character from . Reluctant vampire Stefan “was the hero,” Wesley told but he is no longer interested in playing heroes. Wesley has gone even darker in Kevin Williamson’s on CBS All Access, now finishing its second season. Inspired by the sinister side of classic fairy tales like , and , the series turns them into intense psychological thrillers. Wesley says the show works because adults read these “relatable cautionary tales” with a “different perspective” than the way children do. Describing how resonated with fans, Wesley says that, even though it was a tale about vampires, fundamentally it was a story about being an outsider, which made it relatable to a broad audience. Now, with and his new foray into directing—he previously directed episodes of , in addition to the short films and the forthcoming —Wesley is ready to bite into something a bit more nuanced.