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Artscene By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF · FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2010 23 Oakville native sinks his teeth into hit vampire show O akville followers of the immensely popular television series The Vampire Diaries may have noticed a familiar face in last night's episode. Dillon Casey, an Oakville Trafalgar High School graduate and actor, has landed a guest spot on the show. The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural-fantasy television series based on the book series of the same name by L.J. Smith. The show follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), who falls in love with vampire brothers Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder). "It was a lot of fun," said Casey, 26, of his guest spot. "Vampire Diaries is a very successful show so the whole cast and crew are very confident and know what they want. It's never easy coming on to a show halfway in as a guest star because you feel like everybody's waiting for you to do something incredible to show why you got cast -- but they were all nice people and made me feel very comfortable, so that feeling didn't last long." The teen series premiered in Sept. 2009 on the CW Television Network. It quickly became a hit, likely due in part to the Twilight craze that has struck North American fans, and is now in its first full season. Casey plays a character named Noah, who becomes obsessed with Elena. He said he was excited to work with Dobrev, who stars as Elena. "It's interesting because a few years back I played her husband in a Lifetime Movie called Too Young to Marry," he said. "So, now I've married Nina and tried to kill her. But that's normal." Casey said landing the role was a surprise as he wasn't in top condition for the audition. "I think I was really hungover before the audition because it was the morning after my birthday, which meant I didn't care and wasn't very nervous," he said. "That's always when you get parts. But I basically went in confident, nailed the audition and was flown to Atlanta that same day." He said he isn't sure how long Noah will be on the hit show. "I have no clue," he said when asked how many episodes he'll appear in. "Nobody ever does on that show. You can have your head chopped off and be burned alive, and you'll show up the next day with a line of dialogue like `I was wearing the magic bracelet that makes your head grow back and absorbs the power of fire.'" Casey's roots are in the United States. He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he spent his childhood years. His family eventually moved to Oakville, which he called home until age 17. He headed to Tisch School of the Arts in New York City after graduation, moving back to Toronto at age 21 to start his acting career. Casey's biggest claim to fame prior to landing The Vampire Diaries role was starring as Trevor Lemonade, a lead character in CBC's short-lived 2008 series, MVP. Casey also did a five-show guest stint in another CBC series, Being Erica, which aired in 2009. He moved to Los Angeles in January 2009 to try his luck in the golden land of Hollywood. "My amazing Uncle John and Aunt Diana were kind enough to let me stay with them and leave my dishes in their sink for a couple months while I looked for an apartment," he said. "I've since moved out." The gamble seems to have paid off. Besides landing a guest spot on The Vampire Diaries, he has also become a regular on an MTV pilot called Valemont, which Casey said he is optimistic about being picked up as a regular television series. Casey is also active with brothers Conor and Lyndon in their production company, Taryn Leigh Films, which is based in Toronto. "My brothers and I have our television show Captain Coulier in development at CTV and a movie in preproduction with DILLON CASEY See Actor page 28