When The Vampire Diaries debuted in 2009, it quickly gained a massive following, propelling its lead actors into the spotlight. Paul Wesley, who played the brooding and compassionate vampire Stefan Salvatore, and Ian Somerholder’s Damon Salvatore, became fan favorites. However, the actors had to put themselves through a lot to be on screen.
With the series focusing on blood-sucking vampires, the creators had to find creative ways to portray the gory scenes and more. In fact, with Wesley’s character drinking bourbon in various scenes on the show, they had to come up with something that looked like alcohol but was actually just iced tea.
Paul Wesley discusses how his character’s on-screen drinking affected his own health
In The Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley’s character Stefan Salvatore’s habit of drinking bourbon became a signature trait. It helped symbolize both his attempts to fit in with human norms and his struggle with darker, more turbulent emotions. However, the actors were not able to consume alcohol on set and remember their lines, so the director and crew came up with the next best thing: iced tea.
During the Welcome to Mystic Falls Convention in Paris (via Cheatsheet), Wesley shed light on just how badly the high caffeine intake had affected him. After all, it was cups and cups of iced tea throughout the first season of the show.
So, the first season I couldn’t sleep. I was jittery; I thought I was nervous. Turns out I was just consuming so much caffeine.
Although it was quite a struggle to pull through, Wesley managed to do just that. After all, he wasn’t alone as his co-star, Ian Somerhalder had to go through the same thing with him. Luckily for the stars, it was only a problem during the first season. The 42-year-old also admitted, “So season 2 we switched it out to decaffeinated iced tea.”
Wesley and Somerhalder’s days of drinking fake bourbon are long behind them. However, the co-stars and on-screen brothers found a way to their characters’ love for the drink and their own to life.
Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder team up to create their own bourbon brand
After years of making bourbon their go-to drink on The Vampire Dairies, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder decided it was time to create their own brand. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 42-year-old found himself wondering what else he could try his hand at after the series came to an end.
While Wesley might have been the brain behind Brother’s Bond Bourbon, he quickly roped in Somerhalder who seemed to love the idea. However, he wasn’t the only one. In an interview with THR, the younger actor revealed that he did not expect the drink to do as well as it did.
We’re in a way kind of tapping into the nostalgia of the show that everyone misses because it’s just unbelievable how popular the show is. We launched this thing, and I think people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the two brothers.’ They immediately had that emotional connection to it.
Although Wesley and Somerhalder did not expect a massive response, that’s exactly what they got. The actor added, “I think that’s why it took off, but I didn’t realize how potent that was.”
In fact, ever since its launch in 2021, the brand has become Instagram’s most-followed alcohol brand with 1.76 million followers. It might have been a side project for the two stars. But their time on the show and iconic drink seems to have paid off in more ways than one.
Wesley and Somerhalder’s bourbon brand has even been deemed one of the fastest-growing whiskey brands with more than 100,000 cases shipped over the last three years.
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