The Vampire Diaries guest stars
379 actors have guest-starred in The Vampire Diaries across 171 episodes and 8 seasons. The most-credited is Marguerite MacIntyre, Sheriff Liz Forbes in 50 episodes. 94 of them have also guest-starred in five or more of the other shows in this catalogue.
Who came back most
| Actor | Character | Eps |
|---|---|---|
| Marguerite MacIntyre | Sheriff Liz Forbes | 50 |
| Claire Holt | Rebekah Mikaelson | 36 |
| Susan Walters | Carol Lockwood | 34 |
| Daniel Gillies | Elijah Mikaelson | 24 |
| Jodi Lyn O'Keefe | Josette "Jo" Laughlin | 21 |
| Penelope Mitchell | Olivia "Liv" Parker | 21 |
| Chris Wood | Kai Parker | 19 |
| Annie Wersching | Lillian "Lily" Salvatore | 18 |
| Elizabeth Blackmore | Valerie Tulle | 16 |
| Jasmine Guy | Sheila "Grams" Bennett | 16 |
| Melise | Anna Zhu | 16 |
| Chris Brochu | Luke Parker | 14 |
| David Anders | John Gilbert | 14 |
| Olga Fonda | Nadia Petrova | 12 |
| Scarlett Byrne | Nora Hildegard | 12 |
| Tierney Mumford | Lizzie Saltzman | 12 |
| Torrey DeVitto | Dr. Meredith Fell | 12 |
| David Alpay | Professor Atticus Shane | 11 |
| Jaiden Kaine | Beau | 11 |
| Nathalie Kelley | Sybil | 11 |
| Rick Cosnett | Doctor Wesley "Wes" Maxfield | 11 |
| Teressa Liane | Mary Louise | 11 |
| Grace Phipps | April Young | 10 |
| Lily Rose Mumford | Josie Saltzman | 10 |
| Nathaniel Buzolic | Kol Mikaelson | 10 |
The Vampire Diaries guest stars by season
| Season | Guests | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 62 | Marguerite MacIntyre, Melise, Robert Pralgo, Kelly Hu, Jasmine Guy, David Anders, Susan Walters, Bianca Lawson, Chris William Martin, Melinda Clarke, Mia Kirshner, Sterling Sulieman and 50 more |
| Season 2 | 60 | Susan Walters, Daniel Gillies, Marguerite MacIntyre, Taylor Kinney, Bryton James, David Anders, Michaela McManus, Randy J. Goodwin, Lauren Cohan, Dawn Olivieri, Gino Anthony Pesi, Lisa Tucker and 48 more |
| Season 3 | 58 | Claire Holt, Susan Walters, Torrey DeVitto, Marguerite MacIntyre, Alice Evans, Daniel Gillies, Melise, Jack Coleman, Persia White, Sebastian Roché, Casper Zafer, Nathaniel Buzolic and 46 more |
| Season 4 | 84 | Claire Holt, David Alpay, Grace Phipps, Phoebe Tonkin, Marguerite MacIntyre, Susan Walters, Todd Williams, Charlie Bewley, Nathaniel Buzolic, Rick Worthy, Alyssa Diaz, Arielle Kebbel and 72 more |
| Season 5 | 60 | Olga Fonda, Rick Cosnett, Penelope Mitchell, Shaun Sipos, Chris Brochu, Marguerite MacIntyre, Raffi Barsoumian, Kendrick Sampson, Caitlin McHugh, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Guy, Sabrina Mayfield and 48 more |
| Season 6 | 32 | Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Chris Wood, Penelope Mitchell, Marguerite MacIntyre, Annie Wersching, Chris Brochu, Colin Ferguson, Gabrielle Walsh, Tristin Mays, Emily Chang, Marco James, Christopher Cousins and 20 more |
| Season 7 | 61 | Elizabeth Blackmore, Scarlett Byrne, Teressa Liane, Annie Wersching, Todd Lasance, Leslie-Anne Huff, Jaiden Kaine, Ana Nogueira, Mouzam Makkar, Tierney Mumford, Chaka Desilva, Lily Rose Mumford and 49 more |
| Season 8 | 43 | Nathalie Kelley, Demetrius Bridges, Kristen Lee Gutoskie, Wolé Parks, Joel Gretsch, Tierney Mumford, Lily Rose Mumford, Allison Scagliotti, Chris Wood, Marguerite MacIntyre, Sammi Hanratty, Jasmine Guy and 31 more |
Guest stars you know from somewhere else
The hardest-working character actors in this show's guest cast, ranked by how many other shows in this catalogue they have also guest-starred in. Not the most famous names, the most prolific ones.
| Actor | In The Vampire Diaries | Other shows |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Reilly Burke | Pastor Young | 44 |
| Christopher Cousins | Joshua Parker | 36 |
| James Remar | Giuseppe Salvatore | 22 |
| Sebastian Roché | Mikael | 19 |
| Annie Wersching | Lillian "Lily" Salvatore | 17 |
| Rick Worthy | Rudy Hopkins | 17 |
| Courtney Ford | Vanessa Monroe | 17 |
| Susan Walters | Carol Lockwood | 16 |
| Ryan Dorsey | Marty Hammond / Stefan Salvatore | 16 |
| Gina Torres | Bree | 16 |
| Jack Coleman | Bill Forbes | 15 |
| Briana Venskus-Vazquez | Jo | 15 |
| Melinda Clarke | Kelly Donovan | 14 |
| Gino Anthony Pesi | Maddox | 14 |
| Adina Porter | Nandi LaMarche | 14 |
Played more than one character
| Actor | Characters | Eps |
|---|---|---|
| Edgar Zanabria | Armory Guard, Customer | 3 |
| Maria Howell | Ayana, Mrs. Halpern | 3 |
Shares a cast with
- The Vampire Diaries and Drop Dead Diva — 61 shared actors
- The Vampire Diaries and CSI: Miami — 47 shared actors
- NCIS — 45 shared actors
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — 39 shared actors
- CSI: NY — 31 shared actors
- The Resident — 28 shared actors
- Bones — 26 shared actors
- The Walking Dead — 26 shared actors
Cast data from TVmaze, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.