Nina Dobrev

Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva, known professionally as Nina Dobrev, is a Canadian actress who portrays Katherine North.

Early Life
Dobrev was born Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at age two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She has an older brother, Aleksandar Dobrev. Her father, Konstantin Dobrev, is a computer specialist and her mother, Mihaela Dobreva (née Radeva), is an artist.

Dobrev attended Vradenburg Junior Public School and J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes and competed in rhythmic gymnastics. She took acting classes at Armstrong Acting Studios in Toronto. Dobrev subsequently attended the arts program at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough until her graduating year.

Dobrev entered post-secondary studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in Sociology, though her pursuit of an acting career prevented her from graduating.

Career
Dobrev's first major acting role was as Mia on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, a role she played for three seasons starting in 2006. She appeared in several feature films in the mid-2000s, including Fugitive Pieces and Away from Her. Dobrev also headlined a number of television films, including Sci Fi Channel's Never Cry Werewolf, MTV's The American Mall, and two Lifetime original movies. In 2007 she appeared in the music video of "You Got That Light" performed by Wade Allain-Marcus and David Baum.

Dobrev left Degrassi in 2009 to star in The CW's supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries, a television adaptation of the book series of the same name, playing the lead role of Elena Gilbert. Dobrev also played a series of doppelgängers of Elena on the series, most prominently 500-year-old vampire Katherine Pierce. She crossed over to The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals, as doppelgänger character Tatia, in an episode in 2014. In April 2015, Dobrev announced via Instagram that she would be leaving The Vampire Diaries after portraying Elena for six seasons. In January 2017, it was announced that Dobrev would return as Elena and Katherine in The Vampire Diaries series finale.

In March 2018, Dobrev was cast in the role of Clem in the comedy Fam, a CBS television pilot that was picked up to series in May 2018. The sitcom premiered January 10, 2019. On May 10, 2019, the series was cancelled after one season.