Things You Might Not Know About Your Favorite CW Stars

The CW has been home to quite a few epic television series throughout the years. From One Tree Hill to Smallville and everything in between, these shows stole our hearts with relatable characters who quickly became our on-screen favorites. Follow along as we recap 25 things you didn’t know about all your favorite CW stars:

25. One Tree Hill: Chad Michael Murray loves animals

While Chad Michael Murray may not have the most positive Hollywood reputation, especially concerning his relationships, he does have a great relationship with animals! The One Tree Hill star’s Instagram is packed full of adorable pictures of him with his pets. He also posts pictures supporting organizations against animal cruelty, which is clearly an area of passion for him.

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24. The Vampire Diaries: Nina Dobrev is Bulgarian

Many may know that Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev lived and was discovered in Canada, but they might not realize that she was actually born abroad in Sofia, Bulgaria. She moved to Canada with her family at the age of two, but she is still able to speak fluent Bulgarian.

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23. Supernatural: Jared Padalecki is 6’4

One of Jared Padalecki’s standout trademarks in the industry is his height. At 6’4″ he is definitely above the average height of men, and definitely above average for actors as many find it hard to fit tall actors into shots on film. Since many actors lie about their height by up to two inches, Padalecki’s height has often been questioned, but he really is that tall and in fact, his Supernatural co-stars Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins are 6’1″ and 5’11” respectively; Padalecki just makes them seem shorter.

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22. Smallville: Tom Welling was discovered through modeling

While still working construction, Tom Welling was discovered in 1998 by a catalog camera scout who spotted him at a party in Nantucket and told him to try modeling. He eventually moved to L.A. where he landed modeling gigs for brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Calvin Klein. During this time he modeled alongside Ashton Kutcher who he ended up becoming great friends with.

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21. Riverdale: Lili Reinhart loves using makeup as an art form

While acting has ended up working out quite well for Riverdale star Lili Reinhart, it seems she most definitely could have been a makeup artist if she wanted a different career path. “I love to do special effects makeup just for fun, for Halloween. I definitely love October because it gives me a good excuse to do face beat and use my special effects makeup. A few years ago I watched some tutorials and I was like, ‘This looks fun, and interesting,’ so I took it upon myself to buy a bunch of random special effects makeup and experiment and that’s how I got into it. Then, special effects slowly turned into more face paint and cosplay makeup. I definitely have a little makeup artist in me,” she admitted.

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20. One Tree Hill: Sophia Bush was named after Sophia Loren

Sophia Bush’s parents, Charles and Maureen, named her after the extremely famous Italian movie star Sophia Loren. Bush’s father is a well-known celebrity photographer and got to know Sophia Loren after he worked with her several times for ads and photoshoots. Sophia Bush even ended up posing in some advertising shots with Sophia Loren when she was younger.

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19. The Vampire Diaries: Paul Wesley was expelled from his first school

Growing up, Paul Wesley, who played Stefan on Vampire Diaries, was definitely known for his bad-boy reputation. He got in numerous physical fights and was eventually expelled from his first school, The Christian Brothers Academy in New Jersey. Luckily, Wesley was able to turn around his troubled younger years once he got involved with the school theatre productions.

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18. Supernatural: Jensen Ackles’ most treasured possession is a necklace

Supernatural star Jensen Ackles has a necklace he cherishes for one very important reason. When Ackles was younger, he lost his best friend who was hit by a drunk driver in a car accident. Jensen made a necklace in honor of his friend and has shared that the necklace is his most treasured possession.

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17. Smallville: Allison Mack was the ringleader of a cult

Smallville actor Allison Mack has made a disturbing reputation for herself the past few years outside of her acting career on Smallville. The actress pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison as a ringleader for the NXIVM cult.

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16. Riverdale: Cole Sprouse’s celebrity crush was Jennifer Aniston

Since he has worked in the industry since he was a child, Cole Sprouse has met his fair share of celebrities, but like so many others he couldn’t help but crush on Jennifer Aniston when he was working on the set of Friends. “I had a really, really hard time working with Aniston because I was so in love with her. I was infatuated. I was speechless — I’d get all bubbly and forget my lines and completely blank. It was so difficult,” he said of his crush.

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15. One Tree Hill: James Lafferty loves sunflower seeds

James Lafferty doesn’t have a lot of vices, but he admits his one and only addiction is sunflower seeds. “I’ll never get over it. My brother’s into the flavored ones, he’s into ranch and all that. But I’m a purest. I just go straight for the Frito Lay sunflower seeds. The original.”

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14. The Vampire Diaries: Ian Somerhalder has an interest in philosophy

Ian Somerhalder has held a longtime interest in philosophy and even has a dog named after his favorite philosopher, Nietzsche! He’s followed Nietzsche’s work since he was sixteen. He also loves Masaru Emoto, a Japanese thinker whose theory surrounds the power of the mind.

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13. Supernatural: Misha Collins was an intern at the White House

Before Misha Collins was certain that acting was the path he wanted to take with his life, he had the chance to intern at the White House. He did his internship at the time that Bill Clinton was in office. He originally wanted his career to be politics-focused, but the internship had a big enough effect to actually change his mind.

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12. Smallville: Kristin Kreuk didn’t plan on becoming an actress

Kristin Kreuk played Lana Lang who was Clark Kent’s love interest on Smallville. An interesting fact about her is that she actually did not originally plan on being an actor. She had intended on studying forensic science or psychology in college until a casting director for the CBC contacted her in high school about working on the show Edgemont. 

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11. Riverdale: Camila Mendes attended NYU

Riverdale star Camila Mendes, who plays Veronica on the show, actually attended NYU’s Tisch School Of The Arts where she perfected her theatre and acting skills. Her class was definitely star-studded with up-and-coming actors and is actually the place she became close with both the Sprouse brothers and singer Maggie Rogers!

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10. One Tree Hill: Hilarie Burton owns a candy shop

A little-known fact about Hilarie Burton and her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is that they co-own a candy store with Paul Rudd and his wife! Samuel’s Sweet Shop is located in Rhinebeck, NY. “A friend of ours, who owned it for 20-plus years passed away tragically… We own a candy store in upstate New York and we have great coffee and great chocolates,” the couple shared.

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9. The Vampire Diaries: Candice King was a backup singer for Miley Cyrus

Candice King, who played Caroline on The Vampire Diaries, is a woman of many talents! Aside from acting, King has also dabbled in the music industry. She released her debut album, It’s Always the Innocent Ones, independently in the United States in 2006. She also toured alongside Miley Cyrus as a backing singer for her Best of Both Worlds Tour. She even appeared in the 2008 3D concert film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.

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8. Supernatural: Jeffrey Dean Morgan loves motorcycles

Supernatural actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan came to Los Angeles without much in his bank account, as many actors initially do! This is where his love of motorcycles initially began because he wasn’t able to afford a car. His love for motorcycles still remained despite his growing bank account and he now has five motorcycles to his name. His favorite? His Harley Davidson, of course!

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7. Smallville: Michael Rosenbaum sang at Tom Welling’s wedding

Aside from acting and theatre, Michael Rosenbaum also has a musical side. He had the chance to show off his musical talents at Smallville costar Tom Welling’s wedding where he played on the guitar and sang “Brown Eyed Girl.”

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6. Riverdale: KJ Apa

You may be surprised to learn that KJ Apa’s natural hair color is dark brown, so he needs to have it bleached and dyed every couple of weeks for his role as Archie Andrews on Riverdale. According to Apa, the first couple of times they dyed his hair, they also dyed his eyebrows! And it wasn’t pretty because they ended up burning his skin as a result.

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5. One Tree Hill: Bethany Joy Lenz has a blog

While having a blog as a celebrity isn’t uncommon, it’s likely many of these blogs are run by a team and that much of the writing isn’t actually done by the star. This isn’t the case, however, for One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz! She’s the sole writer of her blog, Modern Vintage Life, and all the topics and articles are created by her. The content varies from books to fashion to travel to prayer.

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4. The Vampire Diaries: Kat Graham was born in Switzerland

While Kat Graham was raised in Los Angeles, she actually was born in Geneva, Switzerland. She lived in Switzerland for 5 years until her parents decided to relocate to the United States.

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3. Supernatural: Mark Sheppard was in a punk band

Before taking on the role of Crowley on Supernatural, Mark Sheppard was actually part of an English post-punk band called Television Personalities. He played the drums for the band for a few years.

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2. Smallville: Justin Hartley’s favorite show is Friends

Despite starring in some major hit TV shows and soap operas of his own throughout his career, Justin Hartley’s favorite show isn’t actually one that he has starred in! He’s admitted in interviews that his absolute favorite series is Friends, which ran on NBC from 1994-2004. He shared, “I’ve seen every one probably 37,000 times but I can watch Friends all night. You just forget how amazing it was! Those guys were just so good together. Just a great ensemble.”

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1. Riverdale: Madelaine Petsch has a YouTube channel

Aside from acting, Madelaine Petsch has started a successful YouTube following that she uses to show a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her busy life outside of being on the set of Riverdale! Her About Me page reads, “Hey there, I’m Madelaine Petsch! You may recognize me from The CWs ‘Riverdale’ as Cheryl Blossom. I made a channel just so I could show you guys who I am when I’m not being Cheryl 🙂 Subscribe for all things ‘Madelaine’ & for videos all about my adventures, bts footage and more!”