Kat Graham From 'The Vampire Diaries' Changed Her Name For A Major Reason
Kat Graham, who? I don't know her.
You probably know Kat Graham as Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries, the Tupac biopic All Eyes On Me, and the Netflix original film How It Ends. Graham’s experience as a successful actress who speaks her mind has gained her popularity, with an Instagram following of almost 7 million. Now, The Vampire Diaries Kat Graham changed her name to Toro Gato, and is fully embracing her new identity.
Toro Gato opened up to E! on Aug. 31 about her decision to dive head-first into her new alter ego. "I think that we as entertainers have this identity that we have to give to the public and be presentable, and I think sometimes we forget our core and our truth," Toro Gato said. "As our artist, I want to explore that with this Toro Gato project and this entire NFT collection. I wanted to kind of dismantle my former identity."
The actress continued, "I actually bury myself in one of these films. So this is a new version. They say it's the alter ego but I actually think the more and more time I spend in this space, I think Kat is the alter ego and I am becoming the West African, the ruler, the monster, that's not scared of anything that can show up without shoes on. I think that's really fun, and a terrifying place to be."
Representing who she is as a woman along with where her ancestors came from, Toro Gato wore different tribal garments and embraced the culture of her ancestors. "In this Western, very American-ized world, I think that sometimes it can look like a spectacle, but you will see that it's not actually a costume," she opened up. "What we're wearing is a costume," she noted.
This new change accompanies Toro Gato’s new music. According to E!, Gato’s single, "SWIM," is available to stream now.
Gato’s upcoming visual EP TORO GATO: PART I will drop Sept. 10 as an NFT exclusively through YellowHeart. Whether Toro Gato’s new identity is a forever thing or not (she still hasn’t changed her name on Instagram), her commitment to learning about her culture and embracing her true self is something to aspire to.
