Nina Dobrev Received Medical Training For ‘Flatliners’ Movie

Nina Dobrev is no longer a vampire, but she’s still playing characters who defy death. The “Vampire Diaries” alum stars in the new movie “Flatliners,” and while it’s a sci-fi movie, she was able to do some research on her medical student character. She revealed that she trained with real medical technicians before filming the movie.

“I thought it was really fun to work on this film,” Dobrev told Fandango. “We went through three weeks of medical training with real medical technicians, and learned about defibrillators, and how to resuscitate people. What those steps are. It was really informative.”

Don’t expect the Canadian actress to ditch Hollywood sets for hospitals, but she says it gave her a useful skill set. “I don't want to sound cocky and say that I could bring someone back to life in real life, but I could definitely now keep them alive long enough until the real professionals came to save the day,” she added.

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The psychological thriller “Flatliners,” a reboot of the 1990 flick, follows a group of medical students who decide that they want to know what happens when someone dies. They decide to stop each other’s hearts for short periods of time. The wonders they experience while dead gives them a thrill, but the high doesn’t last for long. They start to discover that there is a reason no one does this.

Dobrev is a bit of a daredevil, so she understands why her competitive character Marlo wants to do this. “I mean, I test the limits of death all the time—I go skydiving, rock climbing and bungee jumping,” the actress told the movie website. “I do very dangerous and silly things all the time—I feel like I might be tempted to try doing this out of curiosity to see what happens next.”

This will be Dobrev’s second movie released this year. January’s “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” was the actress’ first big movie after playing Elena on “The Vampire Diaries.” The actress left the CW drama in 2015, but she returned for the series finale in March.

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“Flatliners” filmed in Canada last year, and Dobrev kept fans updated with photos from the set. She showed off behind-the-scenes photos with her co-stars. Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Kiersey Clemons, James Norton and Kiefer Sutherland are in the cast as well. The “Designated Survivor” actor also appeared in the original, but he will not be reprising the same character. This time, he’ll be a mentor to the aspiring doctors.

“I hadn’t seen the original before I auditioned for it, and then I did. It’s such a great film. Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon, and it’s just exciting to be part of the reboot. And the script is really good,” Dobrev told ET Canada last year.

It seems Luna will play Dobrev’s love interest in the film. The Daily Mail captured photos of the two kissing while filming a scene for the upcoming flick, which will be produced by Michael Douglas.

Columbia Pictures’ “Flatliners,” directed by Niels Arden Oplev, will hit theaters Sept. 29.