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Nina Kamenova Dobreva (Bulgarian: Нина Каменова Добрева, pronounced ; born January 9, 1989), credited professionally as Nina Dobrev (/ˈdoʊbrɛv/ DOH-brev), is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW's supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2015).

Born in Sofia and raised in Toronto, Dobrev made her screen debut playing minor roles in various films, before landing her breakout role as Mia Jones in the drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2006–2009). She later rose to prominence with her role in The Vampire Diaries, and appeared in several feature films, including the 2012 coming-of-age drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the comedies Let's Be Cops and The Final Girls (2014), and the 2017 science-fiction drama Flatliners. Her biggest commercial success came with XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017). She also starred in the romantic comedies Dog Days (2018), Then Came You (2018) and Love Hard (2021), and had a leading role in the sitcom Fam (2019).

Early life
Nina Kamenova Dobreva was born on January 9, 1989, in Sofia, Bulgaria, to Kamen Dobrev, a computer specialist, and Michaela Dobreva (née Radeva), an artist. She has an older brother. When she was two, her family relocated to Canada, where she was raised in Scarborough, Toronto. At age 10, she moved back to Bulgaria with her mother for two years.

Dobrev attended Vradenburg Junior Public School and J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes and competed in rhythmic gymnastics. She took acting classes at Armstrong Acting Studios in Toronto. Dobrev subsequently attended the arts program at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough until her graduating year.

Dobrev entered post-secondary studies at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in Toronto, majoring in sociology, though her pursuit of an acting career prevented her from graduating.