Paul Wesley rose to prominence in The CW‘s heyday when he starred in The Vampire Diaries, co-created by Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson. Wesley played Stefan Salvatore, an ancient vampire from Mystic Falls who gets involved in an epic tale of a frail co-existence between different factions of the town’s natural and supernatural inhabitants. The actor is revisiting vampires, but not in the role he was known for. Deadline reports that Wesley is the executive producer of an untitled comedy series developed for Fox. The show is written by Victor Fresco and is set to be directed by Liz Friedlander. Wesley, Friedlander, and Aaron Kaplan originated the idea before bringing Fresco in.
Wesley is best known for acting, but he won’t take the lead on the show since it focuses on a 25-year-old vampire. The premise resembles HBO‘s Barry, where characters are stuck in a certain lifestyle while they crave something different. The vampire, in this case, is described as determined but struggles with running a family business for his murderous and suffocating vampire parents. Meanwhile, he’s trying to chase his dream of becoming an actor.
What Has Paul Wesley Been in After ‘The Vampire Diaries?’
Wesley played Stefan for eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, with his character dying in the series finale, which aired in 2017. Soon after, Wesley starred in two seasons of the now-defunct CBS All Access‘ anthology series Tell Me a Story. He played Eddie Longo in Season 1 and Tucker Reed in Season 2. The new comedy series reunites him with Friedlander and Kaplan, who served as executive producers on Tell Me a Story before the show was canceled after two seasons. Friedlander also directed Wesley in some episodes of The Vampire Diaries. Wesley has been recurring as James St. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Fox has been moving away from licensed content in the past few years, opting to create its own scripted shows. This move led to the cancellation of the 9-1-1 shows, with the flagship series moving to ABC and the spinoff ending after five seasons. Some of the new Fox-owned comedy shows are Animal Control and Going Dutch. There is no premiere date for Wesley‘s show since the lead has yet to be cast, but stay tuned to Collider for updates.
In the meantime, relive the tales of Mystic Falls by streaming all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries on Hulu in the US.
via Collider