Paul Wesley 'totally clashed' with Nina Dobrev on 'Vampire Diaries' set

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Paul Wesley says he "totally clashed" with Nina Dobrev on the set of The Vampire Diaries.

The 37-year-old actor responded Thursday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour after Dobrev said in June that she and Wesley initially "despised" each other.

"I think the point that Nina was making, and I'll totally back her up on this, is that we totally clashed [the] first couple years in terms of just getting on each other's nerves, and then developed this wonderful friendship," Wesley told reporters.

Wesley and Dobrev co-starred as Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert in six seasons of The Vampire Diaries, which ended in 2017 after an eight-season run on The CW. Wesley said he and Dobrev now text "at least once a week" and "hang out all the time."

"I think sometimes when people work together non-stop, do press non-stop for years and years on end, you don't appreciate the person that's in front of you," he told reporters. "It's like the people that kind of maybe you don't get along with in the beginning later surprise you, you know? And I think a lot of my friendships are like that."

Dobrev had discussed her relationship with Wesley during the June 10 episode of the Directionally Challenged podcast.

"Paul and I didn't get along at the beginning of the show. I respected Paul Wesley, I didn't like Paul Wesley," the actress said.

"Everyone thought that we had such good chemistry. I realize now that there's a fine line between love and hate and we despised each other so much that it read as love," she added. "We really just didn't get along the first five months of shooting."

Wesley now stars in the CBS Access series Tell Me a Story, which was renewed in December for a second season. Dobrev will star in the new film Run This Town, which premiered at SXSW in March.