As a feminist, I think you never want to have your characters defined by the relationships that they're in, and it did give her a chance to be a sophomore in college without a boyfriend.

The fans [of Vampire diaries] that we have now are the people who will watch it any day of the week. So, my first instinct was a little bit of an ego tap, but the second I processed it, I was fine. The only weird thing will be maybe not having as many people live tweeting because they're actually out doing something more interesting on Friday night. I'm not going to sit at home, reading Twitter on Friday night.

There are so many women who I deal with, on a daily basis, that I don't feel like I've ever been stymied or struggled because I'm a woman.

Our problem is that when you lose the touchstone, which is humanity, then when you have something like humans dying, it needs to feel profound.

As a feminist, I think you never want to have your characters defined by the relationships that they're in, and it did give her a chance to be a sophomore in college without a boyfriend.