"Vampire Diaries" season 7, which is set to air on the Fall of 2015, will start without its former lead actress, Nina Dobrev. The Bulgarian-Canadian, who played the roles of Elena Gilbert, Amara and Katerina Petrova, announced her departure from the series through an instagram post two months ago. With Dobrev's departure, Stefan Salvatore, played by Paul Wesley, is expected to become the show's main protagonist. 

In an interview E! Online, Caroline Dries, the TV series' executive producer, gave hints about Stefan's character transformation. Dries commented that in the coming season, the new protagonist's will take on more of a heroic role in the series. She said, "I'm really excited to see Stefan come into his own and he'll really take to the role of a hero, which will be really cool." She further expressed her thoughts and added, "He's always been a hero but I think in a broader sense he'll become more heroic next season."

Paul Wesley, during an interview with People Magazine, was asked on his thoughts about Nina's exit from the show and how it will impact the coming Season 7. The actor responded with how it will be different and never the same. "Obviously there's a great nostalgia," Wesley commented after making his remarks about Dobrev leaving the cast of the said series.

in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon Salvatore revealed his thoughts on how the coming season should proceed after the events of season 6. "Our hope for the show is to go back to what originally made people fall in love with the show," he said. The 36-year old actor then added, "Stuff that we all fall in love with. Season 1, Season 2 of the show were so dark. It was awesome!"