Candice King Wants to Keep Sinking Her Teeth Into Something New

Candice King is always looking to “pivot” in life and with her career, but not in the Ross Geller way.

The 38-year-old actress, who grew up with a dream of being an international pop star, learned early on she’s allowed to “take a different direction” when someone doesn’t feel right. And by pivoting from music to acting, that’s how King landed her beloved role as Caroline Forbes on the hit show, The Vampire Diaries. She recognizes that in an unpredictable industry like Hollywood, it’s a “unique experience to get the opportunity to film eight seasons of a show with 22 episodes,” and one that she is immensely grateful for.

Now, King has pivoted out of Mystic Falls and into Beechwood Island, taking on a new role in the “dark, twisted world” of We Were Liars. The TV adaptation of E. Lockhart’s best seller is an emotional ride, King says, but one she was thrilled to join. “When we were reading the final scripts, we had to pause at different moments in our read-through because we were collectively all feeling very emotional,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We were on our own emotional ride, and we had already read the book, read all the scripts, knew what was gonna happen, and we were still feeling very affected by it.” 

Below, King opens up about bringing We Were Liars to life off the page, reuniting with Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec for her new show, if she thinks Klaus and Caroline should have ended up together in Vampire Diaries and overcoming her biggest challenges.

What initially made you want to pursue a career as an actor?

I always thought I was going to be an international pop star. That was my childhood dream, and that actually did take me to L.A. initially. I moved to L.A. when I was 16 and at that time got signed to Maverick [Records], which is also Warner Bros., and I had a record deal, and I met a whole bunch of other kids my age who were actors and on TV shows and also in the industry. So if I were to visit them at work, that was kind of my first experience of being on a set, and that was the coolest thing I had ever done. I specifically remember I had a friend who was on American Dreams and being able to walk on that set, I was like, “This is the most magical place I’ve ever been.” And while I was singing, my record label had encouraged me to start acting, and this is the early to mid-aughts. So I started auditioning and I booked roles and the more that I was acting, that’s when I decided to start taking classes and really pursue it as a career and realized that I loved music as a passion, but not as a career. 

With We Were Liars, what initially drew you to the project?

I’ve been hearing about this project for many years from Carina [Adly MacKenzie] and Julie [Plec], and I remember them both pursuing the book, and it wasn’t available at the time, so I’ve just, as a friend, been watching them along their decade-long journey to bring this book to the screen. And the story itself is just a fun escapism, like dark, twisted world, and that you kind of love this family, but you hate this family, but you like love to hate them a little bit. I’m also, most importantly, such a sucker for a love story, and reading the book and reading Gat [Shubham Maheshwari] and Cadence [Emily Alyn Lind] and their love story made me feel like I was 16 and 17 all over again. And made me think of the first boy that I had a crush on and and so any story I think that evokes all of those memories is always an exciting one to pursue creatively. 

What are you most excited for new fans and fans of the book to see with the TV adaptation?

For new fans of We Were Liars, for anyone that hasn’t read the book, I just want to say you’re in such good hands because if anyone knows how to write like an episode cliffhanger, it is Julie Plec and it is Carina MacKenzie. So each episode has you like, “I have to see the next one, I have to see the next one.” And for fans of the book, I truly feel that they are going to feel the sentiment that was on the page. They’re gonna feel it when they watch it on screen and I think that that’s really hard to do. And I truly feel that they did it as someone who read the book, obviously, I’m slightly biased because I love these women professionally, I love them personally, but having the opportunity to watch it as a whole, it feels like you’re in the book. 

Can you talk about your preparations to bring your character, Bess Sinclair, from the page and to the screen?

As far as the preparations go, I felt that there was only so much I could do independently without getting to know the family, essentially, without getting to know the other sisters, which is the other women I’d be working with, Mamie Gummer and Caitlin FitzGerald, who were wonderful. Being able to just work with them, let alone just have free time to go hang out with them, was just a dream. The first day that we all met each other, we met at the office, and then we were in Nova Scotia in Canada, and I was the only one with a car, and we all had errands to pick up things for our kids at the Walmart, and I was the only one with the car, so that was our first family bonding field trip and, you know, ladies can do some serious bonding when they go through a super Walmart together. I’ll just say that (Laughs). So having the ability to watch them work and see how they break down characters, and they both come from larger families and have multiple siblings, and so to fall into that dynamic naturally and then be able to feel that kind of play on screen was the most important part. 

What was it like reuniting with Julie Plec for We Were Liars? 

A dream! I love working with her. I love when I know that I’m reading the words of a Julie Plec rant or speech, like the cadence of that just feels so fun for me to say. And I also love when she directs. I’m such a super fan of working with her also when she’s a director and she directed episode two and so it’s fun. On one hand, it feels like a family reunion and on the other, we’re in a completely different area, this is a completely different story and role, and so I’m just so happy to be a part of it. 

Also I’ve known Carina forever since she was a journalist, which is wild, so watching her career and just like chomping at the bits, and even when she worked on The Originals as a writer — I think I did get to participate in one of the episodes that she was a part of — but this is like officially we get to work together, which is what I’ve wanted for a very long time, so I’m thrilled. 

I have to ask about The Vampire Diaries — what comes to mind when you think back to that experience and being a part of such a successful show? 

Gratitude. One, to now realize how it’s a very unique experience to get the opportunity to film eight seasons of a show with 22 episodes. As an actor, that’s hard. … And I’m proud to be part of something that has brought people comfort or joy. We still go to these conventions where we get to not only see each other as co-workers and kind of have our own reunion, but we meet and greet a lot of the people who continue to watch the show and fans of the series, and the things that they share are very personal. … My character, Caroline, lost her mother on the show to cancer, and I have a lot of people come up to me and say, “I watched that season and it helped me get through that period of time,” and so to be a part of something that gives someone the space to experience all those emotions, like a safe place to do that, is the coolest thing.

Playing Caroline Forbes for so many seasons, how did that inform the actor you are today?

Working on a show like The Vampire Diaries absolutely helped me become the actor that I am. We did a lot of night shoots. It was cold, it was hot. Things would go wrong, things would go right. We did stunts. I worked on that show when I was pregnant. I worked on that show when I was like 22. I worked on that show right before I turned 30. The pace also on doing a show like that, it’s quick, so I feel like it did prepare me for so many instances. Even on Liars, there was a night where it’s probably like 2 or 3 in the morning and so cold and we’re on a dock and it’s rocking and I’m in heels. It’s like, it doesn’t matter at what level, I feel like there’s always that really fun like, “Oh, we’re all just a group of people who’ve gotten together to make something.” And having a moment like that now in my career where it’s late and it’s cold, I just love it so much. And those are the times when I think back to those late nights and Vampire Diaries, where I just remember I was like, “This is the coolest. I cannot believe this is what I get to do.” 

One of the biggest debates still prevalent years after the show ended is whether Caroline and Klaus should have ended up together. What are your thoughts?

I love it because I also believe that not everyone always ends up together and if they had gotten together, I think the fans would have been so bored and rolled their eyes, and then they would have had to break up on the show. But I will say that has been my answer for so many years, and I feel like at this point, I don’t remember a lot of it, you know, it all kind of blends in together. It’s a little like high school or college, where you remember big parts but the days kind of blur. And I have my daughter, she’s 9, so she really wants to watch the show and I’ve told her, “Mommy’s kissing a lot of boys on the show. Maybe we’re not ready for it.” So when I’m ready for her to watch it, I will finally rewatch the show and I’m very interested to see if I become a Team Klaroline person ‘cause I’ve held out this long. But we’ll see if a rewatch finally gets me on everyone’s side. 

What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve been able to overcome to help get you to where you are today?

I’m sure that there’s a much more romantic, beautiful word for it, but pivot. Not the way Ross Geller says it (Laughs), but I think a pivot is so pivotal in life, I think that that’s OK. When I grew up, I just remember being so concerned when I was like, I don’t think I want to be a singer anymore, professionally. I toured as a backup singer, and I actually worked as a backup singer for Miley Cyrus when she was on the Best of Both Worlds Tour, and I think she had her 14th birthday on that or 15th, and I just remember going, “Oh, that’s an international pop star, like she’s magnificent,” and I just realized I don’t think that’s my path. And having the ability to say it’s OK for me to change my mind, or for me to take a different direction now. That’s happened multiple times in my career, whether it was wanting time to be with my family or wanting time to pursue things just for the fun of pursuing something different. I think it’s just a wonderful gift if we allow ourselves to receive that. 

Do you have a genre or role that you would love to do in the future?

I dream to be a rom-com girly or a half-hour sitcom. I still have memorized many episodes of I Love Lucy, and I just love a sitcom. I know they don’t necessarily film them the way that they used to, which back in the day just seemed like the coolest thing. I remember seeing a taping of That ’70s Show, and was like, “God, it’s like a party. They film these things on a Friday night.” I was just like, wow! So if that kind of crosses my path one day, what a joy it will be, but I’m also having fun with the surprises that life brings to me as well. 

If you had to describe what makes Candice King, Candice King, what would you say? 

Not to compare myself at all, but I think why I love I love Lucy so much is because I feel like I’m Lucy stuffing the chocolate bonbons in my mouth, and I’m Lucy who thinks it’s a great idea to buy some steak to keep in the freezer, not realizing I’ve bought an entire cow, and, you know, locking myself outside ‘cause I wanna be Spider-Man or like a superhero for the kids’ birthday party. So I try and I do my best and I’ll definitely make you laugh for better or worse (Laughs).