Legacies Creator Explains How Major Vampire Diaries Cameo Happened

screenrant.com:

The creator of Legacies reveals exactly how they got Candice King to return in the series finale. Legacies is the second spinoff show in the universe of The Vampire Diaries, which originally began airing on The CW in 2009. The show, which was adapted from the L.J. Smith young adult novels of the same name, followed high school student Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as she fell in love with immortal vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) before becoming entangled in a love triangle with his brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). One of the other main characters in the series is Caroline Forbes, played by King.

Forbes was one of Elena's best friends in season 1, and she became instrumental in the series, becoming a vampire in season 2. Although she had major relationships with many cast members over the course of the series, she married Stefan, but he died shortly afterward, leading her to eventually end up with vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). After Legacies was abruptly cancelled, turning the impending season 4 finale into its series finale, King reprised the role of Caroline, who filled Alaric's shoes when she became the interim headmistress of the Salvatore School for the Young & Gifted, the institution attended by the main characters of Legacies.

Related: Will There Ever Be Another Vampire Diaries Spinoff Show?

While speaking with TVLine about the Legacies finale, creator and executive producer Julie Plec explained how she was able to get King to return to the universe. She says she had dueling instincts as a showrunner and a friend, wanting the character to come back, but only when King was ready. However, when they found out that the Legacies season 4 finale would likely be the show's last, she had