The Vampire Diaries Star Kat Graham Opens Up About Not Returning to the Franchise

Next week, after 13 years spanning three different series, The Vampire Diaries franchise comes to an end with the series finale of Legacies. As part of that series' send off, fans are hoping to see the return of beloved characters from both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals — Joseph Morgan, who played Klaus Mikaelson in both series has already confirmed his appearance — but there is one actor who will not be coming back. Kat Graham, who played the witch Bonnie Bennet for eight seasons on The Vampire Diaries says the door is closed.

Speaking with ET, Graham said that while she is grateful for her time playing Bonnie, she also feels like she spent more time in character than as herself.

"I mean, eight years, you know eight years of my life," Graham said. "I feel like I spent more time as a character than I spent as myself!"

She continued, "I feel like I gave that show, and hopefully the fans that watch it, eight years of my life and poured so much into it and sacrificed a lot of time with my family, even time doing work with the UN refugee agency, doing my activism — so much of that has to get put on hold when you're a twenty-two-episode series for eight years. So, as grateful, and I mean grateful because I grew from that show, I became who I really am in my twenties from that show, for me, yeah, the door is closed."

While Graham is firm on not returning to the franchise as it comes to an end, as was noted above Morgan is set to appear. While Morgan said back in 2020 that he had no intention of ever returning to the series — at the time he spoke about Klaus Mikaelson having a "complete" story — the actor recently confirmed during an Instagram Live that he will be appearing in the final episode of Legacies.

"I don't know if I've got permission to do this," Morgan said. "I don't know if I need it, to be honest with you. Regardless, we're here now, so I'm going to tell you a couple of things: You are going to see Klaus again in the final-ever episode of Legacies. Just for a fleeting moment. That's it, you heard it here first… This was never about a 'ship for me or for Klaus. This is about family. Family is power. This is about a father and his daughter, their relationship, what he feels he owes to her. That's what this is about. So, there was a very secret, very clandestine scene recorded."

It was announced last month that Legacies would not be returning for a fifth season. Legacies was just one of series creator Julie Plec's shows to be cancelled, including fellow The CW series Roswell, New Mexico as well as the NBC freshman series The Endgame.

"To the cast and crews of all," Plec wrote in Twitter shortly after the news broke. "Some who have been part of the family since Day 1 of TVD in 2009. To the marriages that happened along the way, the children who were born, the friendships we all made and to hopefully many, many more stories to come. And to the fans. Without whom none of this matters. It has been my honor to be a part of telling these stories for you. A final tip of the hat to our kindred spirits in cancellation at the CW. What a run we've all had. It's sad when the business changes beneath your feet. May you all find your way to your next adventure with the knowledge that you did yourselves proud."

You can check out the series finale synopsis for Legacies below.

"WELCOME HOME – Hope (Danielle Rose Russell), Lizzie (Jenny Boyd), MG (Quincy Fouse), Kaleb (Chris Lee), Jed (Ben Levin), Cleo (Omono Okojie) and Alaric (Matthew Davis) reflect on recent events and what comes next for each of them.  Hope and Lizzie each find solace from unexpected yet welcome sources. Also starring Aria Shaghasemi and Leo Howard. The episode was written by Julie Plec & Brett Matthews and directed Michael A. Allowitz."

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW. The series finale "Just Don't Be A Stranger, Okay?" airs Thursday, June 16th.