Candice King Opens Up About Her Cameo, Full Circle Moment in Legacies Series Finale

Thursday night’s Legacies series finale was bittersweet for fans of the long running The Vampire Diaries universe. While the episode marked the end of an era for The CW, it also gave fans a couple of cameo appearances that they’d been asking for for years — particularly the return of Candice King as Caroline Forbes. As it turns out, it was an emotional, full-circle moment for King as well. King’s own daughter, Florence May — who she was pregnant with in real life while filming Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries — got to appear in the episode with her.

“Julie [Plec] and Brett [Matthews] and I have been trying for a long time to get Caroline into the Legacies world, but scheduling was a big part of that — first a pandemic, then I had another baby,” King explained to TVLine. “So, when I finally had the opportunity to come back, I was like ‘This is my one chance!’ And I asked them, ‘Is there a world in which a precocious little six-year-old could be a featured extra?’ They loved the idea because that’s really where Josie and Lizzie came from. I surprised the producers with my pregnancy before we went into Season 7 [of The Vampire Diaries], right before Comic-Con, so the storyline came from that. Julie jokes that there’s a whole series that was born from me giving birth.”

King also posted to Instagram about the cameo, calling Florence May “the OG Josie and Lizzie” while also remarking about the set. What was the library at the Salvatore School was also in The Vampire Diaries — one of the very few sets from the original series to remain.

“That’s one of the few sets that stayed intact,” King said. “The Salvatore grand room, which is where we filmed the final scene of the series, was also pretty similar to what was originally there. But everything happened in that library. We did that show for eight seasons, and we saw each other through a lot of long days and nights. It brings you right back when you walk into a room like that.”

She continued, “It felt like coming home. Caroline Forbes changed my life. I was playing her in formative years of my own, from the ages of 22 to 30, so we have a lot of parallels. When you play someone for a long time, the writers start finding ways to work your own nuances into the character. But I don’t take credit for that element of anyone loving the character. The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies all had great storytelling, which is rooted in the writing. Those writers know how to keep viewers coming back. To be able to write and create binge-worthy TV series is a gift, especially nowadays with the massive amount of content available to choose from.”

While King’s return was sadly brief due to the series ending, she said that had the series gone for another season, fans would have gotten to see more of the beloved Caroline Forbes, now serving as headmistress for the school.

“Oh, 100 percent yes,” King said. “This really had been in the works for a long time. With The Vampire Diaries, I worked throughout my pregnancy and for my first year of my daughter being alive. I spent many, many hours away from my baby. I was back on screen six weeks to the day after Florence was born. So, when it ended, even though I did The Originals for a bit, I really needed to take a break and be with my family. Lo and behold, when we were finally gearing up for Caroline to come back to the Salvatore School, the pandemic hit. And I was pregnant again. I had my fingers and toes crossed for a Season 5. I was excited to finally have the opportunity to see Caroline play out this headmistress role.”