Although Nina Dobrev lives most of the year in Atlanta, where she’s shooting the fifth season of the CW drama “The Vampire Diaries,” the Bulgarian-born, Toronto-raised actress has worked with Canadian organization Free the Children since 2007.
“I love their whole concept of kids helping kids,” she says. “It empowered me and opened up my eyes to the fact that you can affect people all over the world. The program really encourages young people to travel to different countries and actually physically do something and meet the kids, as opposed to just donating money and hoping it gets to the source. That’s what I found so appealing.”
For her first mission in 2007, Dobrev flew to Africa for three weeks.
“I helped build a school and a well and taught kids in Kenya. As much as I was able to help their lives, that trip forever changed and a ected my life,” she says. “When I talked to friends and people about it, that in turn created a domino effect which hopefully inspires other people who can impact children’s lives in very big ways.”
So far, the charity has built over 650 schools and classrooms in countries around the world, Dobrev reports. “But there’s still so much to do. We’re all so lucky in America, and often don’t even realize it.”
Category: Events
Nina Dobrev often finds herself in dire situations on The Vampire Diaries, but on Sunday, Feb. 24, the actress faced a non-scripted dilemma: “I got locked out of the house for 30 minutes!”
“I was at a meeting and I left the house without my purse. I walked there and walked back and everyone had gone for brunch and I couldn’t get back into the house,” Dobrev told Us Weekly at Elton John’s annual AIDS Foundation viewing party for the Oscars. “I had to sit there and wait until everyone came back home.”
Fortunately, the 24-year-old Atlanta-based actress still had plenty of time to slip into her black and white Naeem Khan dress. “The plunging back is my favorite part, and I actually feel really comfortable in it,” Dobrev said. “This was the first dress I tried on. I tried a few on afterwards, but this is the one I ended up choosing. The print is really beautiful and I felt like it elongated everything.”
Dobrev was joined by her Armani-clad boyfriend and Vampire Diaries costar, Ian Somerhadler. “Nina had her arm wrapped between Ian’s as they slowly walked into the party,” a partygoer reveals. “It was a subtle but sweet gesture.”
Though the actress told Us she wasn’t sure if they would be attending any afterparties (“We’ll see where the night takes us!”), the pair hit up the Vanity Fair soiree and host Seth MacFarlane’s party at The Lot. Deciding to party hop was a smart move, according to Somerhalder, 34. “My life is fricking complete,” he tweeted. “I just had a five-minute conversation with Daniel Day-Lewis, my hero. Wow. Life is amazing.”
via usmagazine
