Zach Roerig, Michael Trevino and Paul Wesley originally auditioned to play Damon before landing their respective roles.
All episodes in season 8 are titled after quotes in the first season.
Nina Dobrev was born in Bulgaria and speaks Bulgarian. For this reason Katherine, who was German in the books, became Bulgarian in the series.
The casting for Klaus took so long that the character's introduction to the show had to be delayed. To replace Klaus in the episodes he was first meant to appear in, the character of Elijah was created. (Elijah is a creation of the show. Klaus is the only member of the Mikaelson family to have originated in the source books by L.J. Smith.)
Nina Dobrev (Elena), Paul Wesley (Stefan) and Ian Somerhalder (Damon) are the only actors in the staff who get paid $40,000 per episode.