Sebastian Stan passed on a lead role in the iconic CW series The Vampire Diaries, thinking it would only last a season. Stan’s career turned 180 degrees when he took a Vibranium arm and went toe to toe with Captain America in the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

But before that, his career only consisted of steady television work, with minimal pay. In several of his interviews, he reflected on those times as financially stressful, and he was almost out of funds before bagging his career-defining Marvel role. 

But that all would have been different if he had taken one of the lead roles in The Vampire Diaries.

In a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sebastian Stan discussed his upcoming movie The Batman Part II and Avengers: Doomsday. While discussing future roles with the host, the actor also ventured into the one that he could have starred in if his stars were better aligned at the time. The role was one of the lead characters in The Vampire Diaries, Stefan Salvatore, that ultimately went to Paul Wesley.       

"They offered me Paul Wesley's role. I'd just come off Kings... I felt really burnt out from that not working out," Stan said about The Vampire Diaries miss.

While discussing this further on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor remembered being dejected after NBC’s Kings did not work out and thought the CW series was also something that probably would not pick up beyond the first season. However, the Fjord star admitted he was wrong, and the show went on to become America’s most beloved teen show.  

The topic of The Vampire Diaries came up when the host, Josh Horowitz, pointed out the rumors of him almost starring in the show that gained prominence after Samantha Highfill’s 2025 book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries, referenced almost casting Stan in the series. The book had a detailed list of contenders for both leads, and one of them was Stan, whom the studio was seriously considering but could not lock in because of his commitments to Kings.

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These were not the only rumors Stan addressed in the podcast, as there are plenty of speculations swirling around his future appearances, most prominently his DCU role.      

The shroud of secrecy enveloping Sebastian Stan’s unannounced casting in The Batman Part II continues to drive DC fandom into a frenzy of speculation. From fan-favorite adversaries like Two-Face and Victor Zsasz to Gotham's master manipulator Hush, theorists have floated nearly every possibility without landing on any concrete truth.

True to form during his recent chat with Josh Horowitz, the Avengers: Doomsday headliner artfully sidestepped the inquiries, deflecting any potential slip-ups and leaving his hush-hush comic book role firmly under wraps. 

Instead of letting anything slip, he made a joke by saying he is playing Batman in the sequel while imitating the iconic voice of the Caped Crusader. Once heavily rumored as the next Harvey Dent, Stan has neither confirmed nor denied the idea of playing the character in the upcoming movie. With Matt Reeves keeping a tight lid on things, the mystery will now only be solved when the movie releases in 2027.   

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Do you think The Vampire Diaries role would have changed Sebastian Stan’s career trajectory? Do let us know in the comments.