Could you imagine Dawson's Creek's Pacey Witter with fangs? Nope, us neither. But it turns out that actor Joshua Jackson came very close to landing a role in The Vampire Diaries back in the day!
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In 2010, the series co-creators Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec were on the lookout for the perfect actor to play their new villain, Klaus Mikaelson, who was set to make a splash in season two before being killed off.
It was only a small role, but the decision over who to cast was made difficult after the duo received more than 200 audition tapes for the role, from aspiring actors not only in the US but Australia and England too.
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Speaking to Entertainment Weekly while they were still in the midst of casting the role, co-creator Julie opened up about her "fantasy" to have the Dawson's Creek star join the show.
She explained that the team behind the CW series, which ran for eight seasons between 2009 and 2017, were not keen on casting a famous actor but would make an exception for him.
Joshua Jackson played Pacey in Dawson's Creek
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"I think our show works so well because we don't really stunt cast," she said.
"That being said, if there's some big hot TV star that's available that we love, then… As I always joke, I have my Joshua Jackson fantasy: Pacey in Mystic Falls."
British actor Joseph Morgan eventually landed the role
Sadly, the 42-year-old actor didn't land the role. It instead went to British newcomer Joseph Morgan, whose performance as the eminently evil vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus made him too irresistible to kill off. They instead rewrote the larger storyline to include Klaus right up until season seven.
He also became the central focus of The Vampire Diaries spin-off series, The Originals, which follows Klaus, along with the rest of Mikaelson family as they return to their supernatural origins in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
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