Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood — nicknamed “Forwood” and “Tyroline” by The Vampire Diaries fans — became a favorite couple on the teen drama. Their relationship is a classic tale of forbidden love, which made for a compelling storyline that lasted many seasons on the hit TV show. Caroline (a vampire) and Tyler (a werewolf) are from enemy communities, but they find love amid less-than-ideal circumstances.
Though some on-screen couples also date off-screen, and others hate each other in real life, Candice King and Michael Trevino have a solid friendship. Surprisingly, it didn’t make their love scenes awkward.
In The Vampire Diaries, King plays a high-school “queen bee” who’s also the reigning beauty queen of Mystic Falls and daughter of the town’s sheriff, Elizabeth Forbes. Trevino’s character is also a high-profile teen whose father is the mayor, Charles Lockwood. The Lockwoods are one of the town’s founding families, who later turn out to be werewolves.
At first, Caroline and Tyler aren’t close, but they tolerate each other because they grew up together. Viewing her as stuck-up, spoiled, and selfish, Tyler expresses his distaste for Caroline on multiple occasions, and she thinks he’s hot-headed and temperamental.
But in a turn of events, when Katherine Pierce visits town, she kills Caroline to send a message to the Salvatore brothers. Luckily, Caroline had Damon’s vampire blood in her system from when he healed her after a car accident, turning her into a vampire. The transition changes Caroline’s personality for the better. She becomes a loving and caring friend who goes above and beyond for the people she loves.
Her kindness forms the basis of a strong friendship with Tyler that turns romantic when she takes care of him during his first painful transition into a werewolf. The pair grows closer, bonded by a dark secret (Tyler’s werewolf gene). And after her break-up with Matt, Caroline realizes she has feelings for Tyler when she compels his date Sophie to exit a party.
Caroline and Tyler’s love stands the test of time, even through challenging moments, but they eventually break up for good and remain friends.
Lovers on-screen and friends in real life — every co-star’s dream was a reality for Caroline King and Michael Trevino. Though some of their fellow The Vampire Diaries cast members fell in love on set, the infamous Forwood never dated in real life but were and still are great friends. “Candice and I are actually very good friends and get along, and we hang out, but it is kind of like a brother-sister type of relationship. We’re close,” Trevino said.
In a 2022 Comic-Con panel posted on YouTube, King also spoke of her relationship with Trevino and how natural things were between them, even when filming love scenes. She remembered an incident where they had planned a double date with their significant others. They had to film a love scene quickly to make it to their dinner reservation on time.
“It was like the last scene, and we had to make out and be in bed together, and we were both dating different people, and they were waiting at dinner because we were supposed to be on a double date,” King recalled. “And we were just, like, ‘Come on, let’s make out really hard and fast, as fast as possible. We have a reservation to make.’”
Airing for eight seasons and 171 episodes, The Vampire Diaries was a bona fide success that birthed two spinoffs. The prequel The Originals ran for five seasons and is considered by many fans on Reddit to have a better storyline than its predecessor. And the sequel Legacies lasted four seasons before its cancellation.
After The Vampire Diaries ended, many cast members moved on to other projects, and some segued into directing. Most recently, Nina Dobrev, who played Elena/Katherine, starred in the holiday movie Love Hard. And Kat Graham, who portrayed Bonnie, co-starred with The Umbrella Academy actor Tom Hopper in the romantic comedy Love in the Villa. Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, who played the vampire brothers Stefan and Damon, worked as directors and co-created Brother’s Bond Bourbon. And Candice King has since appeared in two films and the final episode of Legacies.
Most of the actors have maintained friendships, and they continue to support one another in their post-Vampire Diaries ventures.