"The Vampire Diaries" Season 7 will introduce a new character that has a resemblance to Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) who will be the new villain of the show. The character named Rayna will be played by Leslie-Anne Huff.
Fans are no doubt missing Elena when she departed and would most likely want her back to the show. While that isn't happening, fans will be seemingly reminded of Elena's involvement in the "Vampire Diaries" through Rayna who is rumored to be related to her.
Huff's look is indeed similar to Dobrev with her long brown hair and brown eyes but it was clarified by the show's co-executive producer Caroline Dries that they didn't cast her because of her resemblance to Dobrev.
"That's definitely just a coincidence. We looked at a lot of actors, and I was like, 'I think she looks exactly like Nina.' I was convinced otherwise. I actually haven't met her yet in person, though, and everyone says she doesn't look like her in person," Dries said in an interview with TV Line.
"She's a great actress, and she's perfect for the role…We'll get to see her present-day story and then everything will click when you see her in the future," Dries added.
It could be possible that Rayna is tied to Elena or she couldn't be related to Elena at all. In the past, Elena already had a doppelganger named Katherine whose storyline was so played out. But Rayna's character is different.
Rayna is a dangerous villain since she is a vampire hunter who could possibly be hunting Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Apparently, she is a huge threat for the two boys. But some fans are wondering if Rayna could be romantically linked to either Stefan or Damon since she looks like Elena, Seventeen reported.
But in another report, it is said that Rayna could be linked to the Salvatore brothers and Julian (Todd Lasance). In the past, back on 1800s, Julian chased Rayna but couldn't get her. Because he can't get Rayna, he killed her father instead which made Rayna seek for revenge, Melty reported.
Rayna allowed Julian to suffer by trapping him inside the Phoenix Stone but with the Heretics' recent plan, Julian was released from the mysterious stone. Since Julian is once again free, Rayna will make sure that she will get to Julian first before Stefan and Damon could do it. She wanted to take Julian's life as revenge to what he did to her father.
The new Elena doppelganger villain will be introduced in the show on episode 12 of this season.
