515 replies to this topic

[Amester0120]

Thought we should have a topic for our fair heroine. Oh and feel free to suggest any better thread title ideas.


Anyway I'm pretty much liking Elena up to this point. I like that she actually wants to stay away from the vampire that's thirsty over her blood and could kill her at any moment and not just shrugging it off because of how handsome he is. She's a good sister and seems like a good friend. And slapping Damion was awesome.

Edited by Amester0120, Nov 5, 2009 @ 11:25 PM.

[mykka]

I like what somebody suggested in the episode thread, "the Yin to Katherine's Yang".

Anyway, I really like Elena, ever since the show began. She's a layered character, she's caring, she's got a vulnerable side, she's sweet, she's loyal and protective of her friends, and she can fight back whenever she has to.
I think she has good chemistry with all the characters on the show, especially Bonnie, Matt and Jeremy.

Edited by mykka, Nov 6, 2009 @ 12:30 AM.

[MethodActor05]

Nina Dobrev is steadily improving in this role. She's still the weak link, I think, but she is getting better week by week. I think she's already out of Mischa Barton territory. I like her a lot more than I ever did with her as Mia on Degrassi.

Elena is a good character. Usually main girls are annoying as hell because all we hear about is how wonderful they are, but in this case, we're seeing WHY she's a good person- what she does for Jeremy, and for Caroline, and the supportive way she treats Bonnie's newly emerging witch powers.

You kinda wonder, though, if Shenae Grimes is absolutely pissed about the fact that fellow Degrassi alumn Nina ended up on the bigger CW show and will wind up getting more attention than Grimes ever did as Annie. LOL. Schadenfraude. Gotta love it.

[Toga88]

Elena is a good character. Usually main girls are annoying as hell because all we hear about is how wonderful they are, but in this case, we're seeing WHY she's a good person- what she does for Jeremy, and for Caroline, and the supportive way she treats Bonnie's newly emerging witch powers.

Word. I'm just so happy that Elena isn't Lana Lang 2.0 -- I got the vibe that she would be when I read the pilot script, but the show proved me wrong. She's smart, proactive, and I genuinely like her (and can see why the other characters like her). Good for her.

[Wendi]

I vote for

"the Yin to Katherine's Yang".

too.

I disagree that she is the weak link in the cast. She is very good compared to most of the other CW/WB actresses imo.

She has decent amount of chemistry with every member of the cast. Elena's relationships with her friends and family are all believable. I wrote in the episode thread that the pillow scenes between her and Bonnie was wonderful. It was sweet to see Elena so happy for her friend. I expected them to start jumping on the bed at the awesomeness that was Bonnie's new abilities. So girly.

One scene that I think is my favorite Elena scene was when she lied to Matt about where Vicky was after their fight in the alley at the Halloween party. You could tell her heart was breaking having to lie to Matt about his sister and the guilt. Nina was awesome in that scene.

[Amester0120]

Ok I'll change the thread title...I just don't know how ::hangs head in shame::

[Wendi]

LOL, I have never started a thread so I wouldn't know how either. PM a mod and I am sure they'll do it or direct you on how to edit it.

[TWoP Sun]

(Will do)

[Chas411]

I absolutely love Elena and I think Nina is adjusting quite nicely to the role. She's an example of what strong lead heroine's should be and I'm glad she's not all pathetic and doing a Bella on us. I think Nina has great chemistry with the boys as well. Although my preference is Elena and Stefan, I do love her snipey scenes with Damon. It all feels very in character gor her to be feisty and righteous. And I love that they are really developing her as a well rounded character and her reactions aren't solely done for the purpose of everyone liking her.

Edited by Chas411, Nov 7, 2009 @ 11:25 AM.

[gazebogrl]

Elena is a very nice-looking sensible brunette. The kind of girl you wish would be your kid or would date your kid. She has oodles of chemistry with cute, broody Stefan. I'm having trouble picturing her being attracted to sexy, evil, charming Damon because she is a nice, sensible girl. But who knows, maybe there's more than meets the eye.

I like her friendship with Bonnie. She genuinely cares for Bonnie and very supportive of her.

I am hoping to see different shadings of Elena, I don't think I'd like her to always be the heroic heroine all the time.

[Dulcinea815]

I pretty much <3 everything we've seen of Elena so far. No doubt will she and Stefan eventually reconcile, but I loved that she was put off by him being a vampire in the beginning, instead of more drawn to him because of it. I can't stress it enough, because it was something that infuriated me about Twilight.

I remeber that I loathed Mia on Degrassi, and thought Nina was the epitome of annoying, but now, she's basically my girl crush. She is just extremely beautiful, and actually a very capable actress. I can't wait to see more of her.

[couldhavebee]

I love Elena so very much, which is shocking given that she's the sort of character I'd generally snark on for being a vaguely annoying 'Mary Sue.'

I'd attribute part of my love for this character to the acting. No, ND won't exactly be in the mix when we're talking Emmy nominations, but IMO she's such an ideal fit for this role. She makes me believe that Elena really does have this thoughful, semi-ceberal sadness to her as a result of her parents' dying and of the stuff the family's been through since. She adds a layer of depth and relatability to the character not found NEARLY as much in the book version of Elena IMO, (but I'll take that to the appropriate thread!)

I also credit the writing---Elena could easily have been like Twilight's Bella, (whom I loathe, though that's just my opinion, of course!) Instead, they've written Elena as someone with spirit, someone with a mind, someone who questions what she's told, stands up for what's right and who genuinely cares about (gasp!) people other than her boyfriend, like her friends and family.

I'm not claiming Elena's an especially unique or well-defined character, but something about the combination of the writing and acting has turned her into someone I genuinely like, root for and even relate to.

Edited by couldhavebee, Dec 6, 2009 @ 9:39 AM.

[atlanta]

I know this might be a weird question, but is Nina's hair real? She's got such great thick, healthy looking hair and so many actresses wear extensions so I can't help but wonder. I'm thinking it's real though. I notice weird things like this. lol!

[Morrigan8472]

It LOOKS real, but it might be a weave. I've never seen one so well-maintained though. The other factor is that she was on Degrassi, where basically all the female cast members (Cassie Steele, Amanda Stepto, and Melissa McIntyre for sure and maybe Sarah Barrable-Tishauer and Lauren Collins too) got extensions after Sheanae Grimes got them in season five and became the lead. Nina joined in season six with very long CURLY hair, which looked like extensions to me. I think she went to straight hair about two years later so her hair might have grown out or who knows. My knowledge of weaves and extensions is limited to watching Tyra Banks destroy her contestants' hair on ANTM for twelve seasons.

All I can say is that she probably had extensions in the past, but now her hair is much shorter, straighter, and obviously less voluminous so I chose to believe that it's really hers or else they would be doing a lot more with it. But she definitely has a wig as Katherine, and I have no idea whats going on with her do in the previews.

[JennyLiz]

I like Elena's hair on this show. I was actually commenting to my friend a couple weeks ago that her hair really looks like a high school girl's--straight and shiny, as if she uses a straightening iron. I think it's much more realistic than all the girls with perfect cascading curls on other teen shows (AHEM Shanae on 90210, and of course everyone on Gossip Girl).

[atlanta]

Nina will be in the Feb. issue of Self magazine, fyi: http://omg.yahoo.com...lly-stylish/269

[clovebrock]

They keep bringing up that "I used to be more fun" side of Elena -- first from Caroline, now from her. But for me, it's tough to put together that party-hearty cheerleader persona with the "Mom always encouraged me to write" backstory and with her longtime close friendship with Bonnie, who seems so restrained. I much prefer that fun side of Elena, for sure -- and I'm sure we're going to see more of it as a friendship with Damon develops -- but I feel like that might not be the most consistent characterization.

[Chas411]

But for me, it's tough to put together that party-hearty cheerleader persona with the "Mom always encouraged me to write" backstory and with her longtime close friendship with Bonnie, who seems so restrained.

I think that similarly to Elena, Bonnie could have possibly been a lot more laid back and fun before she found out she was a witch. I think that the effects of the last year could have made the two characters a lot more intense/mature or uptight in the eyes of Caroline who might represent the type of fun loving life they used to enjoy.

[JennyLiz]

They keep bringing up that "I used to be more fun" side of Elena -- first from Caroline, now from her. But for me, it's tough to put together that party-hearty cheerleader persona with the "Mom always encouraged me to write" backstory and with her longtime close friendship with Bonnie, who seems so restrained.

I feel like Elena and Bonnie have always been a bit more serious than Caroline. However, Bonnie is a cheerleader (and Elena used to be one) and the three are best friends. I think Elena is correct in saying she used to be MORE fun--however, this doesn't mean she was totally crazy. We know that she was a cheerleader, and is not opposed to drinking and partying (same as Bonnie). However, I get the feeling that she and Bonnie have always been a bit more grounded than Caroline.

[mykka]

Wow, she totally rocked last night's episode. I love badass Elena, she really can be resourceful. Now i'm looking forward more than ever to Katherine's plot, I think Nina will do her justice.

[badlydone]

Totally hating the whole Elena is adopted storyline. I loved the bittersweet irony of her being the descendant of an evil vampire and a member of one of the founding families that tried to exterminate her.

My secret heart of hearts holds out for some reveal that still makes her a Gilbert. That young Isobel went to Grayson Gilbert because she was carrying his brothers child. Soapy, I know but I just don't like that this sibling relationship was set up with Jeremy and now it feels diminished for me. Partly because, I loved how in some ways the older, younger dynamic of their relationship echoed in Damon and Stefan and that since so much of TVD is based on bloodlines I was interested to see how it would play out in terms of her relationship with her family and Stefan.

I know in reality not being related doesn't affect the love but color me a little disappointed.

On a upbeat note... Nina would appear to be about to kick ass in Children of the Damned

[fengshoe]

Well Elena is still a Gilbert, not by blood of course but she'll never think if herself as anything else but a Gilbert. I also don't think it takes anything away from her relationship with Jeremy in the slightest, only if the writers let it. One of the many failings of Heroes was making adopted Claire seem to be the more important sibling than her poor brother who was barely around. If anything once Jeremy knows about this, it could serve to make their bond as brother and sister stronger. I was a bit thrown off by the adoption storyline at first, other than wanting to avoid making Jeremy also possibly related to Katherine, it still does seem a bit unnecessary. But I'm coming to like the drama of it, especially with the idea that her biomom could be Alaric's wife who was possibly killed by Damon, or turned if some are right about her feeding from him in that scene.

What does bug me are some of the details surrounding it, like Stefan's assumption that she couldn't look like Katherine since she was Pierce and Elena a Gilbert. And how her parents took in Elena, it seemed like they just claimed she was theirs but the town would've known her mother wasn't pregnant.

[Impish Dragon]

I do find it refreshing that the heroine isn't one that sits around waiting to be resecued. And I do agree that Nina has gotten better about playing Elena since the series started. But I can't bring myself to like Elena or Nina's portrayal of her. And for me a lot of that has to do with the breathy way Nina speaks. Terribly shallow of me I know. Despite that, I'm interested in seeing the way she plays Kathrine in the flash back ep.

[Amester0120]

Nina talks about Elena and Katherine being in the same scene:

On if we’d ever see Katherine and Elena share the screen: “Playing Katherine takes so long. Getting into the character, there’s the hair and make-up process, and just getting dressed, alone, takes half an hour because there’s corsets and pantaloons. There’s so many layers that it takes half an hour to put the outfits on, so I couldn’t play both in one day.

[CarpingSlav]

Chiming in with my first post on the show...

I love Nina Dobreva (yes, I will add the "a" - as a Bulgarian, it feels weird to miss it out!).

Having never read or seen "Twilight" I can't compare with Bella but I have been impressed by her strong character, particularly when she found the truth about Stefan. I think Nina brings a lot of flavour and colouring to the character - def someone who will stand up for herself and those she loves.

(Plus she has very good taste in Stefan....)

[atlanta]

Why doesn't she use Dobreva? It's not like it's a long, hard to pronounce name.

[sab85]

Why doesn't she use Dobreva? It's not like it's a long, hard to pronounce name.

I certainly can't speak for Nina but just from knowing several people of Russian descent, many of them drop the -"a" just for ease of use. It certainly isn't that hard of a thing to explain but after the 500th time of correcting the officer at the DMV, the school record official, etc.; many of my friends just dropped the -"a" to not have to deal with it.

And on a totally different note, while I like Nina as Elena, I love her as Katherine. Well I guess I love the distinction between Elena and Katherine. I think it would be easy to make Katherine just a slightly heightened version of Elena (slightly bitchier, slightly sexier) but she's not. She's an evil bitch and I feel like Nina totally embraces that (God love her for it).

ETA: Just realized I didn't explain the naming thing. As I understand it (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong), in the Russian naming tradition, female last names generally have an "a" at the end. So if a father's last name is Petrov, his daughter's last name would traditionally be Petrova. Obviously not everyone in the US is accustomed to that and a few of my friends just got tired of correcting people and dropped the "a" so that their last name would match that of their male family members. I have no idea about Bulgarian names, is it the same/similar CarpingSlav ?

Edited by sab85, Feb 8, 2010 @ 11:52 PM.

[CarpingSlav]

Yep - similar tradition in most of the Slav countries.

Obviously in Russia and Serbia you might have other endings such as -ovich or -ovicha.

In Bulgaria it's usually 'a' at the end if you are a woman e.g.

The Bulgarian President is Georgi Parvanov and his wife is Zorka Parvanova.

Taking Nina in turn: her full name is Nina Constantinova Dobreva and from this we can determine that her father is called Constantin (middle names in Bulgaria are always after the father).

In respect of middle names, let's say someone is called "Anton" - if he has a boy and a girl child, their middle names would be "Antonov" and "Antonova".

But Sabs85 is correct that many people drop the 'a' because it confuses people and you get annoyed at having to correct them all the time. Interestingly with Bulgarians in the US, I've noticed that many also change surnames ending with -ov to -off.

And here endeth the lesson...

Edited by CarpingSlav, Feb 9, 2010 @ 4:42 AM.

[minneapple]

while I like Nina as Elena, I love her as Katherine. Well I guess I love the distinction between Elena and Katherine. I think it would be easy to make Katherine just a slightly heightened version of Elena (slightly bitchier, slightly sexier) but she's not. She's an evil bitch and I feel like Nina totally embraces that (God love her for it).

Yes, this! Plus she looks gorgeous with the long curls and the Civil War-era gowns. I've really been impressed by Nina; I had my reservations about her but I'm glad I was wrong.

[lovethesarcasm]

Regarding the addition of the "a" on the end of females' last names: The spelling changes, but does the pronunciation of the name change as well? Or is the "a" silent?
-I've never heard of this before, so I'm trying to wrap my head around it.