Nina Dobrev on Adult Friendships, Keeping It Real, and Her Style Evolution

Serious question: Is there anything Nina Dobrev can’t do? I’m sure there’s something, but you’d be hard-pressed to find it among her ever-expanding list of recreational activities (think snowboarding, surfing, and swimming with tiger sharks), fashion and beauty risks (she’ll cut bangs on a whim and loves a daring sheer moment), and professional pursuits. Her many hats include actor, producer, writer, director, and co-founder of Fresh Vine Wine. Dobrev is the ultimate adventure-seeking chameleon, which makes following her life, career, and fashion choices perpetually interesting—you never know what she might do next. 

"I like to have variety in my life,” confirms Dobrev from her Los Angeles home. For the better part of 18 years, the 35-year-old has been moving seamlessly from one genre to the next on-screen, mixing it up between cult-favorite TV projects like Degrassi and Vampire Diaries, thrilling dramas, laugh-out-loud romantic comedies, and big-budget action films like this month’s The Bricklayer. And then there are her producer credits, which range from the shark conservation documentary Fin to the indie flick Sick Girl. For Dobrev, there is no tried-and-true formula for picking the right project to be a part of. Yes, she’s gotten more selective with time, a good and natural progression she’d argue, but for a script to be right and for her to want to invest her time, three things must always align. "It either has to be a good director or a director who I want to work with and/or give a chance to if it’s a first-time director,” Dobrev says. "The character has to be a good character that has an arc that changes and that grows from beginning to end. And then the writing has to be good.” Bonus points if it’s something she’s never done before. 

The trifecta of a great director, script, and character plus the bonus were all there for one of her latest projects—Sick Girl, in which Dobrev served as lead actor and executive producer. The film is the little engine that could. With only a $500,000 budget and an 11-day shooting schedule, the project by first-time director Jennifer Cram was a full-on labor of love for everyone involved. "I’m pretty sure everyone took a loss to be a part of it, which is so amazing, and we’re so grateful to everyone who did that because we really wanted to support Jennifer Cram,” Dobrev shares. The film suffered some post-production delays from COVID but was released in theaters and on digital platforms last October. 

To this day, Sick Girl remains a project close to Dobrev’s heart. The film follows Wren Pepper, a 30-something woman who feels her closest friends drifting away, and in an attempt to keep them together, she tells a white lie that quickly spirals out of control. "I’ve been a part of really amazing projects, but this one stuck out to me because the character is a more complicated person,” says Dobrev. "She does unlikable things and is flawed in a lot of ways and makes some poor decisions that lead her down an unhealthy path, so I really was intrigued and interested and excited to sink my teeth into something a little bit meatier and a lot different than anything I’ve ever done before.” 

Dobrev wanted to get involved and meet Cram as soon as she read the script. The two sat down at a restaurant and connected immediately. Instead of your standard power lunch intro, they spent a solid three hours talking. "She’s just a straight shooter. She’s a girl’s girl. She’s very direct and knows what she wants. She’s a hustler. So in a lot of ways, she reminded me of myself,” Dobrev says.

In Wren, Cram sheds light on something we all experience as part of #adulting: Our friends come and go as we reach different life stages. While Wren’s intentions for wanting to keep things as they once were are righteous, her way of going about it—lying about having cancer—is undoubtedly flawed. Wren’s actions are cringeworthy at best, but at the root of her questionable decision-making is a relatable character. "When you’re playing a character, you can’t judge them,” says Dobrev of her feelings toward Wren. "At the end of the day, everything leads to love, whether it’s self-love or love you’re looking for in a partnership or friendship, and all we want as humans and humanity is to be loved.” 

Dobrev continues, "I think the biggest issue and what Wren runs into in this movie is that she starts to notice that they don’t have as much in common in terms of interest, in terms of lifestyles and activities. Their lives are just wildly different. She needs to either let the friendships go, or what she’s faced with is growing up and restructuring her life in a more healthy way.”

Juggling the ebbs and flows of adult friendships is something Dobrev knows well. "People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime,” she says. For Dobrev, whose life and schedule are as busy and unpredictable as it gets, planning has always been key to cultivating deeper relationships. She’s great with a schedule and makes a point to pencil in time with friends when she’s in their area. FaceTime and social media have been a big help too. "I’m very lucky I have incredible friendships,” Dobrev says. "They are also very understanding of the fact that we’re not going to be the kind of friends who talk every single day about every single thing.”

Dobrev is nothing if not a realist, and she’s definitely not one to beat around the bush. It’s that directness that makes her such a great friend, actor, and producer and what also attracts her to like-minded creative folks such as Cram and stylist Kate Young. "I say how I feel, and I don’t sugarcoat too much, and that’s both my Achilles heel and one of my greatest assets,” she says. 

Young, like Dobrev, is straightforward and direct, and that kind of personality can come in handy when the right red carpet look is on the line. The A-list stylist, who also works with Dakota Johnson, Michelle Williams, and Julianne Moore, has been an ideal match for the actor, both in personality and fashion tastes. Dobrev can confidently say that her style has evolved dramatically since the two started working together. She cringes thinking back on some of her earlier red carpet looks. "I don’t know why nobody had an intervention with me,” she laughs. These days, the two have fun playing with a variety of styles and silhouettes, whether it’s a stunning gold sequin gown for the CFDA Fashion Awards, a leggy skirt-and-blazer combo by Nensi Dojaka, or an unexpected Chanel denim-on-denim look. Again, is there anything Dobrev can’t do? Young has been instrumental in creating a more elevated and chic vibe for Dobrev. "She’s the ultimate cool girl,” she says of Young. We can say the same about Dobrev.

Don't miss Nina Dobrev in Sick Girl, now available via VOD. 

Photographer: Andrew Arthur

Stylist: Casimere Jollette

Hairstylist and Makeup Artist: Andreas Schönagel