Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski July 23, 1982 known professionally as Paul Wesley, is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for starring as Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) and James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present). Paul Wesley was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey to Polish parents Tomasz and Agnieszka Wasilewski. He grew up in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. He has one elder sister, Monika Emara, and two younger sisters, Leah and Julia in addition to English, he also speaks Polish, having spent four months of every year in Poland until the age of 16. Wesley attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and Marlboro High School for a period during his high school years. He started his theater studies in New York City and transferred from Marlboro High School to Lakewood Prep School in Howell, New Jersey, because the school was able to better accommodate his acting schedule. During his junior year in high school, he was cast in the soap opera Guiding Light as character Max Nickerson.