By Allyson Dickman > Senior > Journalism > University of Maryland
Forget Teams Edward and Jacob—it’s all about Team Salvatore. Or at least it is for Katerina Graham, the teen witch on CW’s latest hit, The Vampire Diaries. Ask her to choose between her two vampires, Stefan (Paul Wesley) or Damon (Ian Somerhalder), and Graham will plead the fifth. But the 20-year-old actress will admit the show is the first of the new vampire craze to catch her attention. “I haven’t seen a show that has this great writing but is still very edgy and still is very dark,” she said.
It probably helps to have more than fangs on the show. Graham plays Bonnie, a high school student who is both a descendant of witches and best friends with a vampire's girlfriend. But before she was waking up in graveyards and casting spells, Graham had many small acting roles, starting with The Parent Trap.
Getting stardom wasn’t easy. The actress credits her African-British father and Russian-Jewish mother for getting her through the sometimes harsh acting world. “I was used to hearing things about my parents, about how they would get discriminated against, and it kind of gave me a tough skin to go into acting,” explained Graham, who was born in Switzerland. “As long as I had their love and their support I always felt like I could stick through it.” And now she’s starring on a hit TV show, making music, and appearing in popular movies like 17 Again with Zac Efron.
“I wish I could say that there was a balance sometimes, but most of the time there is no balance...you just have to just go all in,” said Graham, adding Facebook is the closest she gets to a social life. She’s not kidding. The actress moved to Georgia to shoot The Vampire Diaries, leaving behind friends, her mom and her dog. “Sometimes I want nothing more than to hang out with my friends,” she said.
Graham is nothing but grateful for The Vampire Diaries, which recently won the People’s Choice Award® for favorite new TV drama. But she advises anyone interested in acting to think twice. “Honestly, most of the time it’s like 90 percent grind and maybe 10 percent glamour, if even that much.”
photo from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gWQaU40PH24/SpghOrTbK_I/AAAAAAAADcA/KefOJzt5zKo/s400/katerina+graham+the+vampire+diaries.JPG
