Creation Entertainment's The Vampire Diaries Con Boston final panel recap

David Alpay

Alpay announced from the beginning of his session that he wanted to do things a little different. He'd answer questions but wanted to save time at the end for "something special." He also had his violin with him so he played a little, and it turned out the "something special" was reading a fan fiction story about his character Professor Atticus Shane hooking up with Kat Graham's character, Bonnie. It was steamy, kind of awkward for a room full of strangers but certainly entertaining.

He didn't just leave fans thinking about Bonnie and Shane, though. Before the reading, he gave them plenty other things to think about with his answers to fan questions during the more typical Q&A part of the panel. Here's what he had to say:

• He discussed the charities he works with, Meade Canine Rescue and the Armenia Tree Project.
• Regarding the violin, he said "it's always been the devil's instrument, it's like the broke version of an electric guitar." He was taught how to play classical music, but started playing different kinds after joining a dance group from Canada that traveled all over the U.S. and Europe. From that, "I thought what else can I do?" said Alpay. He's now inspired by rock and other genres.
• He recorded some violin tracks for a friend's solo album.
• If Shane had stayed on the show, he wishes he'd had a romance with everyone -- "it's the most beautiful cast on television, are you kidding me?" Then he noted that there had been a lot of moments between Shane and Bonnie where it could have gone in that direction but show creators didn't want to do the professor-student relationship.
• His research process for a role depends on the role but sometimes he keeps a journal and writes stuff down. He watches shows and movies and just observes people in general to learn from them. He hopes his observations translate into his acting.
• Unlike Shane, he's never been a teacher or murderer. But he found Shane relatable otherwise.
• He auditioned for various roles on The Vampire Diaries six times before he got cast.
• While some people take a character and accentuate it, he thought that Shane, for all the things Bonnie was going through, it was best if Shane was just her base cord. So he approached Shane normally, without accenting him or doing anything weird dramatically. He thinks this worked because when it was realized that Shane was evil, it was more of a surprise to viewers.
• He cannot play "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" but he can play and loves "Dust in the Wind."
• He said the fiddle is a mix of Irish and French culture.
• When asked about his favorite other TVD character, he said he likes Caroline, as well as Jeremy because he's innocent. He noted that all the characters are very different, a sign of good writing.
• When his previous show The Tudors began everyone was nervous because they didn't think people would like a costume drama, but it was a hit and paved the way for Game of Thrones and other similar shows. "People wanted to watch interesting characters wearing crazy stuff doing crazy things to each other," said Alpay. He enjoyed the experience while he was on.