'The Vampire Diaries' --- Nina Dobrev, Joseph Morgan love their characters

PHOENIX -- Now in its third season, the hit CW show "The Vampire Diaries," is giving viewers some history with story lines involving Klaus and The Original Family of vampires.

Nina Dobrev plays Elena, a high-school senior and the (seemingly) lone human at the center of the drama. Elena's best friends are a witch, a vampire and a werewolf-turned-hybrid-vampire. And her brother sees dead people.

Needless to say, she has a lot going on in her life, and we haven't even mentioned her vampire boyfriend who is more bad guy than good guy this season and her burgeoning relationship with said boyfriend's brother, also a vampire.

"Elena is just struggling to get through the day without getting killed or attacked, and here I am sitting next to the villain of the show," Dobrev said.

"You're perfectly safe," baddie vampire Joseph Morgan replied.

Morgan's Klaus, one of the original (nearly unkillable) vampires and the most powerful vampire in existence, is working to build an army of vampire-werewolf hybrids like himself. Elena's blood is the key to making that a reality.

'[Elena] takes care of everyone and she can't catch a break no matter where she goes or what she does," Dobrev continued. "It always creeps up on her."

The show is intense, even scary at times, which is the goal, according to Dobrev.

"We want it to be like a mini horror movie every week," Dobrev explained. "We want it to be very suspenseful, dark and scary. that's what makes it cool and different from all the other shows."

"It's the greatest job in the world ...," Morgan said, who joined the already successful show this season. "It's sort of a dream job, really. Plus I get to play a vampire and a werewolf. Yeah, I've ticked all those boxes so I don't really know what I'm going to do after this."

Paul Wesley of "Fallen" also stars as Stephan, Elena's vampire boyfriend, while Ian Somerhalder of "Lost" is Damon, Stephan's vampire brother, who also is vying for Elena's affections. It's an interesting little love triangle, rectangle if you include Katherine (also play by Dobrev), the vampire who turned Stephan and Damon.

"The Vampire Diaries" airs Thursdays at  7 p.m. Arizona time, followed by "the Secret Circle" on CW6.