Paul Wesley

The actor received his Hollywood break in daytime television and proceeded to wow audiences with layered performances as a teenage drug dealer on "Everwood" (The WB, 2002-06) and as a kindred spirit roaming the earth in the ABC Family miniseries "Fallen" (2006-07). In 2009, Wesley had a career-defining role he could truly sink his teeth into - that of romantic and brooding vampire Stefan on "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW, 2009- ). Although his acting projects generally seemed to center on supernatural characters, Wesley often portrayed them with heart and humanity, making him one of the most inspired and well-rounded actors of his generation.

Paul Thomas Wasilewski was born on July 23, 1982 in New Brunswick, NJ and grew up in Marlboro, NJ. The only boy in the family, the future star had an older sister, Monika, and two younger sisters, Julia and Leah. After enrolling in a summer arts program when he was in third grade, Wesley found his true calling as an actor. He made his television debut on a 1999 episode of "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999) and followed up with a multi-episode arc on another long-running daytime TV program, "The Guiding Light" (CBS, 1952-2009). On the latter, Wesley played Max Nickerson, a troubled teen who escapes juvenile hall. His portrayal of the classic character Lancelot in "Young Arthur" (NBC, 2002) created buzz around the hardworking actor. Wesley then joined the cast of "Wolf Lake" (2001-02), a suspense thriller about a pack of werewolves living in a Seattle suburb. He played Luke Cates, the son of the town's most successful businessman and suitor of a 16-year-old girl who transforms into a werewolf on the supernatural series that also starred Lou Diamond Phillips.

Wesley bounced around between minor appearances in big budget feature films like "Minority Report" (2002) and television series such as "Smallville" (The WB, 2001-06; The CW, 2006- ), "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07), and "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (ABC, 2002-05) before getting a recurring role as drug dealer Tommy Callahan on the drama series, "Everwood." Wesley's character really shook things up in the fictional Colorado town after he begins dating good girl Amy (Emily VanCamp). The actor played another unlikable character on the family drama "American Dreams" (NBC, 2002-05), starring as a racist, macho football player. In 2006, Wesley starred in the ABC Family miniseries "Fallen." The actor played Aaron Corbett, a kind-hearted high school student who discovers at the age of 18 that he is actually a Nephilim (half human/half angel). The series was based on the young adult novels The Fallen, written by Thomas E. Sniegoski. Wesley later told reporters at the 2006 Television Critics Association press tour that he related to his "Fallen" character because he always felt like an outcast growing up.

The New Jersey native, who also starred in independent film releases such as the horror genre satire "Killer Movie" (2008) and the crime drama "Elsewhere" (2009), found more success on the small screen with a recurring role on "Army Wives" (Lifetime Television, 2007- ) as PFC Logan Atwater, a soldier whose dreams of marrying the love of his life are squashed after getting shipped off to serve in Korea. The actor also had a guest-starring role as federal agent Jack Bauer's son-in-law on Fox's megahit series, "24" (2001-2010) opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Elisha Cuthbert.

All eyes were on Wesley when he starred on "The Vampire Diaries" as Stefan, a 200-year-old vampire who discovers his long-lost love has been reincarnated as a modern day teenage girl (Nina Dobrev) and clashes with his older vampire brother (Ian Somerhalder). The series was based on the novels written by L.J. Smith. "The Vampire Diaries" was the perfect vehicle for the young actor to finally get leading man status in Hollywood, which was obsessed with the vampire genre caused by the success of the 2008 film "Twilight" and the HBO series "True Blood" (2008- ). Wesley also finished production on another feature film, "Beneath the Blue" (2009), about a group of experts investigating the U.S. Navy's involvement with dolphin deaths.