TV Article The Vampire Diaries: Ian Somerhalder says show will end after season 8 However, according to The CW, 'no decision has been made' By Jessica Derschowitz Jessica Derschowitz Jessica Derschowitz is EW's Digital Features Director. She's based in New York City and you can follow her on Twitter @jessicasara for lots of thoughts on movies, TV, Broadway, running, and other things she likes. EW's editorial guidelines Published on April 10, 2016 08:49PM EDT Photo: Carin Baer/The CW The end could soon be near for The Vampire Diaries, according to series star Ian Somerhalder. The actor told fans at Walker Stalker Con in Nashville on Sunday that the show will conclude after season 8. “We have decided to do one last season to really do the story justice,” Somerhalder said, according to the event’s official Twitter account. In comments caught on video, he added, “My role is shifting in the show and we have a lot to do, basically.” https://twitter.com/WalkrStalkrCon/status/719210409606135808 A spokesperson for The CW told EW that “no decision has been made” regarding the future of the series. WANT MORE EW? Subscribe now to keep up with the latest in movies, television and music. The Vampire Diaries is about to wrap up its seventh season with a finale scheduled to air May 13. The show was renewed for an eighth season last month along with The Originals and nine other CW series. Somerhalder directed his second episode of the series this season with “Days of Future Past,” which aired April 1. He also directed an episode back in season 6. “This episode was really a pivotal setting up the rest of the season, so it was a very different animal to begin with,” he told EW recently. “There was a lot of stuff to tell that was setting up for what was to come.” He added, “We lost some amazing characters. And rather than what I attempted to do the last time I directed, which was shock the hell out of you, this one was about, let’s really tug on the heartstrings of the audience and really let them feel what these characters are feeling. And that is a very, very different dynamic.” Somerhalder’s comments come after Kat Graham said season 8 of The Vampire Diaries would mark her final turn as Bonnie Bennett. Last year’s finale also saw the departure of Nina Dobrev, who played titular diarist Elena Gilbert. “Nina has always said that if there’s something for her to do in the series finale that she will be there to do it,” executive producer Julie Plec said at the time. “When she left, she said, ‘I want to see this character to its end at the end of the show, so I can’t wait to come back and put her to bed again.’”