THE INSIDER: CANDICE ACCOLA
The Vampire Diaries vixen proves it's cruel to be kind... or a Japanese pop star.
As many of our NYLON cover girls could tell you, it’s fun being the bad girl – and even more so when it’s all just an act for the cameras. The latest blonde to get a taste of femme fatale glory? Candice Accola, who stars as Carolyn Forbes on The Vampire Diaries. She may not be the gee-whiz heroine with the flippy hair and loving eyes, but hey, that’s why we like her.
Let’s start with the tough question – do we really need any more vampires? I’d say no, but I’d also say you do need this show because it’s not what you’d expect it to be. There’s a lot that happens, it’s very exciting, and you have to watch every single episode because it’s not a slow moving show at all, there’s crazy stuff that goes down.
Crazier than playing baseball with Edward Cullen? Yes. I think our story edges [vampires] up a little bit, and it’s more relatable to our generation because there are so many different kinds of characters in our story. Also, we have a lot of time to build the situations. It’s not like, we have an hour and a half and tada, there’s vampires! In the first episode, nobody even knows about vampires.
Are they the same kind of vampires as in True Blood?
Nope, not at all. We don’t get to be as crazy as True Blood, but it’s interesting to compare the different shows. We do that all the time in rehearsal, asking what does it mean to turn into a vampire? Like, we literally went to the writers saying, “What are our vampires?”
Before you booked this job, weren’t you a Japanese pop star? I guess? Kind of… Okay, yes. I was.
And you also went on tour with Miley Cyrus, right?! I did! I did it all last year. I mean, when there’s a writer’s strike in Los Angeles, you’ve got to look for more work! And I was really lucky that I got some!
In one word, what was it like being Hannah Montana’s backup girl? Um, deafening? It was a blast, I’d worked with the band director before; he’d produced my record when I first moved to LA. And I was friends with the rest of the band, so I was basically getting paid to go on the road with a bunch of my friends. And Miley was a sassy little thing who’s super talented! So what else do you do when there’s a strike? You go on tour with a Disney pop star! It was the biggest selling tour in a decade, so it was historic to be a part of that. It was a dream.
I’m assuming you’re also friends with your Vampire Diaries cast? Absolutely. The cast legitimately hangs out every night. Nina [Dobrev] moved in with me, and we get along outside of work really well.
Does everyone in Georgia secretly watch Degrassi, the way we do here in New York? Yes! All the time. She gets recognized a lot, both here and in Los Angeles. It’s so popular in Canada that sometimes she’s surprised, because she didn’t expect it to be a big American thing.
I know you can’t talk too much about your character yet, since you don’t want to give anything away, but your manager told me she's like the Spawn of Satan?
She’s not the Spawn of Satan! No! She’s just misunderstood! Seriously, she’s just got a lot going on. And I love playing her. The lines I get to say, you know, it’s fun to be sassy or unapologetically conniving and manipulative.
And how does the fake blood on your set taste?
To be honest, I don’t know yet! The vampires haven’t gotten to me! But I’m assuming whatever the blood is, it’s going to be in the corn syrup family. Nina says it tastes like pancakes. And I think it’s better than True Blood’s blood, Nina actually brought a bottle of True Blood back from ComiCon for me…
You didn’t want to go to ComicCon?
Uh no. I already had the Hannah Montana tour.
--FARAN KRENTCIL
Let’s start with the tough question – do we really need any more vampires? I’d say no, but I’d also say you do need this show because it’s not what you’d expect it to be. There’s a lot that happens, it’s very exciting, and you have to watch every single episode because it’s not a slow moving show at all, there’s crazy stuff that goes down.
Crazier than playing baseball with Edward Cullen? Yes. I think our story edges [vampires] up a little bit, and it’s more relatable to our generation because there are so many different kinds of characters in our story. Also, we have a lot of time to build the situations. It’s not like, we have an hour and a half and tada, there’s vampires! In the first episode, nobody even knows about vampires.
Are they the same kind of vampires as in True Blood?
Nope, not at all. We don’t get to be as crazy as True Blood, but it’s interesting to compare the different shows. We do that all the time in rehearsal, asking what does it mean to turn into a vampire? Like, we literally went to the writers saying, “What are our vampires?”
Before you booked this job, weren’t you a Japanese pop star? I guess? Kind of… Okay, yes. I was.
And you also went on tour with Miley Cyrus, right?! I did! I did it all last year. I mean, when there’s a writer’s strike in Los Angeles, you’ve got to look for more work! And I was really lucky that I got some!
In one word, what was it like being Hannah Montana’s backup girl? Um, deafening? It was a blast, I’d worked with the band director before; he’d produced my record when I first moved to LA. And I was friends with the rest of the band, so I was basically getting paid to go on the road with a bunch of my friends. And Miley was a sassy little thing who’s super talented! So what else do you do when there’s a strike? You go on tour with a Disney pop star! It was the biggest selling tour in a decade, so it was historic to be a part of that. It was a dream.
I’m assuming you’re also friends with your Vampire Diaries cast? Absolutely. The cast legitimately hangs out every night. Nina [Dobrev] moved in with me, and we get along outside of work really well.
Does everyone in Georgia secretly watch Degrassi, the way we do here in New York? Yes! All the time. She gets recognized a lot, both here and in Los Angeles. It’s so popular in Canada that sometimes she’s surprised, because she didn’t expect it to be a big American thing.
I know you can’t talk too much about your character yet, since you don’t want to give anything away, but your manager told me she's like the Spawn of Satan?
She’s not the Spawn of Satan! No! She’s just misunderstood! Seriously, she’s just got a lot going on. And I love playing her. The lines I get to say, you know, it’s fun to be sassy or unapologetically conniving and manipulative.
And how does the fake blood on your set taste?
To be honest, I don’t know yet! The vampires haven’t gotten to me! But I’m assuming whatever the blood is, it’s going to be in the corn syrup family. Nina says it tastes like pancakes. And I think it’s better than True Blood’s blood, Nina actually brought a bottle of True Blood back from ComiCon for me…
You didn’t want to go to ComicCon?
Uh no. I already had the Hannah Montana tour.
--FARAN KRENTCIL
This story was published on September 24, 2009.
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