The Vampire Diaries Casts Elena's Parents

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The Vampire Diaries is preparing another flashback-filled episode, but we won't be traveling to past centuries this time.

The May 10 season finale will take us back only few years, introducing us to Elena Gilbert's never-before-seen parents.

"One of the things we want to do in the finale is explore a time for Elena when life was simpler," executive producer Julie Plec tells TV Guide, which first reported the casting news and posted the image below.

"Elena had parents and no vampires in her life."

As reported earlier, Sara Canning reprises her role as Elena's aunt Jenna in the episode, which includes some happy scenes, but also the accident in which the family car veered off a bridge, killing Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert.

Elena's parents will be played by Jason MacDonald and Erin Beute:

Elena Gilbert, Parents

Nina Dobrev, who attained scuba diving certification in Bora Bora before shooting scenes 12 feet underwater in Atlanta for this episode, states the obvious when she says it was "quite intense and a little scary."

"I'm used to being underwater with a tank, but having to act without the tank is completely different. We were in the water two days for eight hours a day. By the end, I was exhausted and slept like a baby. That's something I hopefully will never have to experience in real life ... trying to survive underwater while trying to save other people."

Of course, as we know, someone was there to save Elena from the fate of her parents - or at least the people she thought were her parents before the secrets of John and Isobel were revealed.

Reminds Plec, "Elena almost died with them but Stefan saved her."

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.

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