I remember the first time I saw Matthew Davis walk into Mystic Falls High in season one of The Vampire Diaries. He had that slightly rumpled, earnest energy — like a grad student who accidentally wandered into a vampire warzone but decided to stay anyway. You trusted him immediately. That's Alaric Saltzman. And for eight seasons (2009–2017), Davis made him unforgettable.
Now we learn — via Samantha Highfill's new oral history, I Was Feeling Epic — that Jason Momoa auditioned for the role. Yes. That Jason Momoa. The man who'd go on to swing swords in Game of Thrones (2011), flex pecs in Conan the Barbarian (2011), and eventually rule the seas as Aquaman (2018). The same guy who radiates raw, elemental charisma — the kind that doesn't whisper “history teacher with a flask,” but rather “warlord who bathes in dragon blood.”
Also in the mix? Joe Manganiello — fresh off True Blood, where he played a werewolf-vampire hybrid with more abs than dialogue. Imagine that casting meeting: two future action titans vying to play a tweed-wearing, bourbon-sipping vampire hunter who quotes Nietzsche and dies (twice).
Let's be honest — it wouldn't have worked.
Not because Momoa can't act (he can — see Dune, see See, hell, see Frontier). But because Alaric Saltzman doesn't need to be imposing. He needs to be human. Flawed. Relatable. The guy who shows up with bad coffee and worse advice, but always — always — has your back. Davis brought a quiet gravitas, a bruised idealism. He made you believe a man could lose everything — his wife, his morality, his life — and still choose to do the right thing. Again and again.
Momoa? He's magnetic, no question. But his presence shifts the gravity of a scene. Put him in Mystic Falls, and suddenly Elena's love triangle feels trivial. Damon and Stefan become supporting players in The Jason Momoa Hour. The show's delicate balance — teen angst meets Southern Gothic meets CW melodrama — would've tipped into something louder, broader, less intimate.
And let's talk career trajectories. The Vampire Diaries ran from 2009 to 2017. Momoa's Game of Thrones debut was 2011. His Conan reboot dropped the same year. Had he locked into a CW lead, those roles — and the global superstardom that followed — likely vanish. No Aquaman. No DCEU. No Oscar Isaac-level leading man status in sci-fi epics. The industry would've typecast him as “hot CW guy who occasionally kills vampires.” A tragedy, frankly.
Davis, meanwhile, owned Alaric. He turned a potential one-season casualty into a fan favorite, then a resurrected antihero, then a father figure, then — somehow — a literal headmaster. His performance anchored the show's emotional core. You rooted for him not because he was powerful, but because he kept trying — even when broken.
Casting isn't just about who's good. It's about who's right. And sometimes, the right choice is the one that doesn't make immediate sense on paper. Davis wasn't the obvious pick. Neither was Momoa. But history — and Highfill's book — confirms it: Davis was Alaric. Full stop.
Would a Momoa-led Vampire Diaries have been watchable? Probably. Entertaining? Almost certainly. But it wouldn't have been the Vampire Diaries. And Momoa wouldn't have become the Momoa.
Some roads not taken are blessings in disguise.
What ‘The Vampire Diaries' Avoided by Casting Matthew Davis
The Wrong Kind of Star Power
Momoa's charisma would've overshadowed the show's ensemble dynamic — turning a delicate supernatural soap into a one-man action showcase.
A Career Diverted
Had Momoa taken the role, his path to Game of Thrones, Conan, and Aquaman likely vanishes — robbing cinema of one of its most distinctive physical presences.
Alaric's Soul
Davis brought vulnerability, dry wit, and moral ambiguity — qualities that made Alaric feel human in a world of monsters. Momoa's strengths lie elsewhere.
The CW's Secret Sauce
The network thrives on relatable, flawed leads — not mythic warriors. Davis fit the mold; Momoa would've shattered it.
What do you think — could Momoa have pulled off Alaric? Or is this one of those rare cases where Hollywood got it perfectly right the first time?
Drop your take below — and if you've read I Was Feeling Epic, tell us what other bombshells Highfill dropped.
