Ian Somerhalder

“	To the fans, thank you for it all we would have never been on this journey without you. To all who made this show possible- we did it. 8 years, wow. Thank you all. Love, Ian	”
	— Ian Somerhalder on Instagram ^[1]

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born 8 December 1978) is an American actor, fashion model, director and producer who plays Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries.

He directed The Downward Spiral, Days of Future Past and We Have History Together and produced the eight season of The Vampire Diaries.

Biography[]

Ian Somerhalder was born in Covington, Louisiana on December 8, 1978. His father, Robert Somerhalder was a building contractor of French and English descent, and his mother, Edna, who is of Irish and Choctaw descent, was a massage therapist. He has a brother, Robert, a wood worker, and a sister, Robyn, a broadcast journalist. Boating, swimming, fishing and training horses filled much of his recreational time growing up, as did the school drama club and performing with the local theater group.

With his mother's encouragement, at age 10 he began a modeling career that took him to New York each summer. By the time he was in junior high, he opted to put modeling on the back burner and focus more on sports and school. A few years later, when the opportunity to model in Europe arose, Somerhalder grabbed it, embarking on an enriching path of work, travel and study that took him to cities including Paris, Milan and London.

At 17, he began studying acting in New York, and by 19 had committed himself to the craft, working with preeminent acting coach William Esper. His fate was sealed while working as an extra in a club scene in the feature film Black & White (1999). A talent manager visiting a client on the set spotted Somerhalder in a crowd scene of 400 and immediately signed him for representation. Happy to be anchored in New York, Somerhalder spends much of his time studying acting, writing and practicing yoga. His recreational interests include water and snow skiing and horseback riding. Recently, he has helped raise funds for Disaster in the Gulf, to help the people affected by an oil spill on the coast.

Early life[]

Somerhalder was born and raised up in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. He was raised as a Catholic, he attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modelling career from the age of 10. By the age of 17, he began to give acting a try.

Personal life[]

While working on the Vampire Diaries, Ian dated his co-star Nina Dobrev from mid-2010 to May 2013. He enjoys reading, music, yoga and traveling. He has 3 cats with Nina Dobrev; Jama-Lynx, Dennis and Moke. He likes the colors red, black, blue and white. He is currently in a relationship with Twilight star, Nikki Reed. On January 2015, it was announced that Ian and Nikki are engaged.^[2] Nikki Reed also confirmed their engagement.^[3] The couple married on April 26, 2015, in Santa Monica, California.^[4] On May 5, 2017 Ian Somerhalder announced the pregnancy of Nikki Reed on his Instagram account.^[5] They welcomed their daughter, Bodhi Soleli, on July 25, 2017.^[6]

Career[]

In the summer of 2000 Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series, Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school, who falls in love with a fellow student. The series was filmed in Havre de Grace, Maryland. In 2002, Somerhalder played Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel. In May 2006, Somerhalder was named one of DNA Models' Top 10 Male Models. He played the role of Boone Carlyle on the hit TV-series Lost. Somerhalder guest starred as Nick in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me, appearing fully nude in a sex scene with actress Michelle Borth. In September 2009, Somerhalder appeared in the movie The Tournament where he played the role of an assassin participating in a lethal competition with other assassins. On 10 October 2009, it was announced that he will star in the Gothic movie Cradlewood, which is to be directed by Harry Weinmann. The movie doesn't have a schedule yet. Somerhalder also appears in the limited-edition coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo and Pixie Press Worldwide publishers. Somerhalder, formerly stars as the vampire Damon Salvatore in the CW TV drama series The Vampire Diaries, is returning to the vampire genre with the starring role in Netflix's 10-episode, straight to series drama V-Wars.^[7]

IS Foundation[]

For his 32nd birthday he established a foundation.

Rare Birds Productions[]

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed's Rare Birds Productions has signed a pod deal with Warner Bros Television. Under the new pact, the production company will produce new series projects for WBTV and be housed on the Warners lot.^[8] The CW has put in development Transience, an hourlong drama from Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed's recently launched Rare Birds Productions.^[9] The CW buys southern soap Prohibited from Ian Somerhalder & Nikki Reed.^[10]

Filmography[]

Year	Title	Type	Role
2019	V-Wars	TV Series	Dr. Luther Swann
2009-2017	The Vampire Diaries	TV Series	Damon Salvatore
2016	Swimming With Wild Dolphins in 360° Virtual Reality: The Dolphin Project	Video short
2014	Nature Is Speaking	TV Series short	Coral Reef
2014	The Anomaly		Harkin Langham
2013	Caught on Tape		Officer Lewis
2010	When Vampires Don't Suck	Video
2010	How to Make Love to a Woman		Daniel Meltzer
2004-2010	Lost	TV Series	Boone Carlyle
2009	Fireball	TV Movie	Lee Cooper
2009	The Tournament		Miles Slade
2009	Wake		Tyler
2008	Lost City Raiders	TV Movie	Jack Kubiak
2008	The Lost Samaritan		William Archer
2007	Tell Me You Love Me	TV Series	Nick
2007	Marco Polo	TV Movie	Marco Polo
2006	The Sensation of Sight		Drifter
2006	Pulse		Dexter
2006	TV: The Movie		Guy
2004	Fearless	TV Movie	Jordan Gracie
2004	Recess	Short	Cooley
2004	The Old Man and the Studio	Short	Matt
2004	Smallville	TV Series	Adam Knight
2004	In Enemy Hands		Danny Miller
2003	CSI: Miami	TV Series	Ricky Murdoch
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	TV Series	Charlie Baker
2002	The Rules of Attraction		Paul Denton
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	TV Series	Tony Del Nagro
2002	Changing Hearts		Jason Kelly
2001	Life as a House		Josh
2001	Anatomy of a Hate Crime	TV Movie	Russell Henderson
2000	Young Americans	TV Series	Hamilton Fleming
1999	Now and Again	TV Series	Brian
1997	The Big Easy	TV Series	I.Q.

Director[]

The Vampire Diaries[]

Season Six

The Downward Spiral

Season Seven

Days of Future Past

Season Eight

We Have History Together

Producer[]

The Vampire Diaries

Season Eight

Awards[]

Year	Award	Category	Nominated	Result
2002	Young Hollywood Awards	Exciting New Face - Male		Won
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Performance - Male	Lost	Nominated
2006	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (with cast)	Lost	Won
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Villain	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie		Nominated
	Young Hollywood Awards	Cast to Watch (with Nina Dobrev & Paul Wesley)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2011	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
		Choice TV Vampire	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
		Choice Male Hottie		Nominated
2012	Do Something Awards	Best TV Star: Male	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Do Something Awards	Twitter		Nominated
	Environmental Media Awards	EMA Futures Award		Won
	Fright Night Awards	Favorite Male TV/ Movie Vampire	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Genesis Awards	Wyler Award	(for his environmental work)	Won
	International Green Awards	Most Responsible Celebrity		Won
	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie		Won
2013	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic Heart		Nominated
	mtvU Fandom Awards	Ship of the Year (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite On Screen Chemistry (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	The Vampire Diaries	Won
		Choice Male Hottie		Nominated
		Choice Twit		Nominated
		Choice Social Media King		Nominated
	Young Hollywood Awards	Best Threesome (with Nina Dobrev & Paul Wesley)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2015	J-14 Teen Icon Awards	Iconic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	mtvU Fandom Awards	Ship of the Year (with Kat Graham)	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Duo (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
		Choice TV: Chemistry (with Kat Graham)	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
		Choice TV: Liplock (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
	Noble Awards	Activism in Film		Won
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Chemistry (with Kat Graham)	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2017	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Changemaker		Nominated

Trivia[]

Ian's nickname is 'Smolderholder'
Ian is best friends with his on-screen brother Paul Wesley, and even refers to him as his real-life brother.
Ian, along with Paul Wesley, appears in all and, thus, more episodes of The Vampire Diaries than any other cast member.
Ian's full name is Ian Joseph Somerhalder.
Ian was born in Covington, Louisiana, USA.
Ian attended St Pauls.
Ian's favorite food is fish.
Ian's favorite colors are blue, yellow and red.
Ian's favorite song is 15 step by Radiohead.
Ian's favorite sport is football. He has also played varsity soccer and baseball.
Ian's favorite actor is Sean Penn.
Ian's favorite movie is The Graduate (1967).
Ian owns a pizza parlor.
Ian owns a charity called Ian Somerhalder Foundation.
Ian was voted "Sexiest Beast" in an Entertainment Weekly poll.
Ian was the first actor to be cast in Lost.
Ian originally auditioned for the role of Jason Stakehouse in the show, True Blood. ^[11]
Ian is the fourth oldest cast member of the Vampire Diaries. Caspar Zafer (Finn) is the oldest then Daniel Gillies (Elijah) is second oldest and Matthew Davis (Alaric) is third oldest; he is exactly seven months older than Ian.
Ian played a recurring role in Smallville as Adam Knight, one of Lionel Luthor's genetic experiments who befriended Lana in order to find information on Clark Kent.
He is well known for his role as Boone Carlyle in Lost.
Ian is the second of the three cast members to appear on Smallville before the Vampire Diaries. The first was Paul Wesley (as Lucas Luthor), the third was Sara Canning (as Kat) and the fourth was Cassidy Freeman (as Tess Mercer).
Ian is a Sagittarius.
Ian is right-handed, as seen in videos.
Ian is of English, French, Choctaw and Irish descent.
Ian was raised a Catholic.
In 2011, he recorded a music video with Dima Bilan ^[12]
He dated his co-star, Nina Dobrev since 2010, but broke-up in May 2013.
Ian is currently in a relationship with Twilight star, Nikki Reed as of July 2014. The couple got married on April 26, 2015. On May 2, 2017, the couple announced they were expecting a child.^[13]
Ian is close friends with his co-stars.
Ian plays the piano well.
He is the newest model for Penshoppe All-Stars.
Ian is 5'9 (177cm)
He is 79 kg.
In December 2005, he played "Matt" in the Off-Broadway play, "Dog see God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead", at the Century Center for the Performing Arts.
Ian, along with Kayla Ewell (Vicki) and Sara Canning (Jenna) are the only cast members among the main cast that haven't played a 2nd role.
Ian's favorite episode of The Vampire Diaries is Lost Girls.
According to Ian, it takes about 8-10 days to shoot an episode of TVD.

Ian somerhalder 616 — TVD Season 6 Episode 16

Ian directed his first episode, The Downward Spiral.
If he hadn't become an actor, he would have chosen a career in marine biology, writing, or advertising.
He enjoys reading, music, yoga and traveling.