Candice René King ( Accola; born May 13, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as

Caroline Forbes ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American fantasy-drama television series which was first broadcast on The CW from 2009 to 2017, airing 171 episodes over 8 seasons. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec adapted the TV series from L.J. Smith's no ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

supernatural drama series ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 1 ...

'' and her recurring role as the same character on the

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

series '' The Originals'' and '' Legacies''

Early life

Candice René Accola was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the daughter of Carolyn (née Clark), who was an environmental engineer before becoming a homemaker, and Kevin Accola, a

cardiothoracic surgeon Cardiothoracic surgery is the medical speciality, field of medicine involved in surgery, surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (pulmonology, lung disease) ...

. She grew up in Edgewood, Florida and attended Lake Highland Preparatory School. Both her parents are active members of the local Republican political party. She has one younger brother, Kree Thomas Accola.

Career

Music

In December 2006, King released her debut album, ''It's Always the Innocent Ones'', independently in the United States. She co-wrote 12 of the 14 tracks on the record. The remaining tracks were a cover of 'Til Tuesday's hit " Voices Carry (song)" and

American Hi-Fi American Hi-Fi is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1998. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Stacy Jones, lead guitarist Jamie Arentzen, bassist and backing vocalist Drew Parsons, and drummer Brian Nolan. Prior to ...

's "The Breakup Song" rewritten in a female version as "Our Breakup Song". In 2008, the album was re-released in Japan and achieved greater success. King toured as a backing singer for

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

's Best of Both Worlds Tour. She appeared as herself in the 2008 3D concert film '' Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert''. In February 2011, King performed a cover of "

Eternal Flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which c ...

" by

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including " Manic Monday" (1986), " Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shad ...

on ''

''.

Acting

King had guest appearances in a number of television series such as ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and ...

'', ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'', and '' Drop Dead Diva''. In July 2009, she starred in the horror film ''

Deadgirl ''Deadgirl'' is a 2008 American horror film written by Trent Haaga and directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel. It stars Shiloh Fernandez and Noah Segan as teenage boys who discover a naked, female zombie, played by Jenny Spain. When one of ...

'' which centers on two high-school boys who discover an immortal woman in an abandoned asylum. That same year King had a bit-role in '' The Hannah Montana Movie''. In 2009, she was cast in the CW television series ''

'' as Caroline Forbes, one of the main characters of the show. In June 2012, she joined the second season of the web series ''Dating Rules From My Future Self,'' as Chloe Cunningham, a 26-year-old woman who believes love does not exist. The series centers on a girl receiving romance advice from herself ten years in the future by text message. She played Kimberly in the 2020 romance sequel '' After We Collided''.

Personal life

King began dating musician Joe King of

The Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut album, '' How to Save a Life'' released in 2005, was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australi ...

after they met at a Super Bowl event in February 2012. Her costar Nina Dobrev introduced them. They became engaged in May 2013, and married on October 18, 2014, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers Actresses from Florida Actresses from Houston American women singer-songwriters American people of Romansh descent American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Orange County, Florida Singer-songwriters from Florida 21st-century American women singers 1987 births