Ian Somerhalder

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ian Somerhalder

• Ian Somerhalder grew up in Louisiana, United States.

  

• He used to perform with a local community theatre group when he was a child.

• He started a career in modelling at the age of 10 and moved to New York from Louisiana when he was 16 to work as a full-time model.
  

  

  

• He has often avoided discussing his modelling career in interviews because he did not want to be seen as just “another pretty face.”

• Ian decided to pursue acting at the age of 17 after which he began taking lessons from actor William Esper.

  

• He initially did some jobs in Milan and Paris to pay his bills, which made it difficult for him to focus on studying acting. Ian, in an interview, said,
  

  I was trying very hard to focus on acting, but I had to pay bills. I realized I couldn’t do it halfway. So I had to just work for a while, save up money, and say, ‘Okay, I can sustain myself on this; I can just focus on the work.’ I’m thankful that I had the gall to do that. It was definitely not the easiest thing I’d ever done, but it was the most rewarding.”

• In 1997, he appeared as ‘I.Q.’ in USA Network’s ‘The Big Easy,’ and in 1999, he appeared as ‘Brian’ in CBS’ ‘Now and Again.’

  

• In 1998, he played an uncredited role in the American film ‘Celebrity.’

• In 2002, Ian started dating American actor Kate Bosworth, whom he first met while they worked together for the 2000 television series ‘Young Americans.’ They broke up the same year later.

  

• Ian has worked in many other television series like CBS’ ‘CSI: Miami’ (2003), ABC’s ‘Lost’ (2004-2007; 2010), and HBO’s ‘Tell Me You Love Me’ (2007).

  

• In 2004, he appeared as ‘U.S.S. Swordfish Danny Miller’ in the American submarine film ‘In Enemy Hands.’

  

• He met American actor Maggie Grace on the sets of the television series ‘Lost’ in 2004 and began dating her in 2006. They reportedly adopted a cat together and named it ‘Roo.’ They, however, broke up in 2007 and remained friends.
  

• He had a fluctuating relationship with Megan Auld, an NYU alum, between 2007 and 2010.

• Ian has appeared in many other American films like ‘Pulse’ (2006), ‘Wake’ (2009), and ‘How to Make Love to a Woman’ (2010).

• In 2008, he was romantically linked with Mexican actor Lupita Jones as they were often seen displaying affection at public events. Their relationship, however, was never confirmed officially.

• He has also worked in some British films including ‘The Tournament’ (2009) and ‘The Anomaly’ (2014).

  

• He played the role of ‘Damon Salvatore’ in the television series ‘The Vampire Diaries’ (2009-2017), which is considered his most iconic performance.
  

• He charged about USD 40,000 per episode for The Vampire Diaries.

• Ian started dating actor Nina Dobrev during the making of the show ‘The Vampire Diaries.’ Their onscreen and offscreen chemistry, named ‘Delena’ by fans, added to the show’s popularity.
  

• His dialogue ‘Hello Brother’ from The Vampire Diaries soon became a favourite among viewers and fans.

• He not only acted in The Vampire Diaries but also worked as a director and executive producer.

  

• Ian is a philanthropist who has dedicated his efforts to various causes.

• On 22 April 2010, he participated in the clean-up drive after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, which occurred in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 2010.

• He established the ‘Ian Somerhalder Foundation’ (ISF) on his 32nd birthday, i.e., on 8 December 2010, to promote environmental awareness, eco-friendly innovations, and policies to protect the planet.

• He often promotes ISF by funding and attending Mardi Paws, a Mardi Gras parade which is held in Covington, Louisiana, for animal welfare.

  

• Ian is also a supporter of the ‘It Gets Better Project’ along with actors Candice Accola and Michael Trevino; the project is aligned with ‘The Trevor Project,’ and it focuses on preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth.

• He is an avid animal lover and calls himself a cat person. He cares for a range of pets including cats and dogs.

  

• Ian actively supports many animal welfare societies such as the ‘St. Tammany Humane Society’ aka ‘Northshore Humane Society’ located in Covington, Louisiana.

• He served as the UNEP Global Goodwill Ambassador from 2012 to 2019.

  

• On 21 August 2012, he launched the ‘Let’s Get Dirty’ campaign under ISF as a clean-up drive in Santa Monica, California.

  

• In 2013, he became a member of the advisory board for the media company ‘RYOT’ to support their cause.

  

• Ian was spotted getting cosy with American actor Malese Jow at the 2013 BloodyCon event, which sparked speculation about them being in a relationship; they, however, never confirmed their relationship.

• In July 2014, he began dating actor Nikki Reed. She, however, faced backlash from ‘Delena’ fans who favoured his relationship with Nina Dobrev.

• He launched a t-shirt campaign for charity in collaboration with actor Paul Wesley in 2015. The t-shirts, launched in partnership with the brand ‘Represent,’ featured the logo ‘Blood Brothers since 1864’ and over 10,000 shirts were sold.

  

• He played the role of Dr. Luther Swann in the television series ‘V Wars’ in 2019; the series premiered on Netflix. He also worked as an executive producer for the series.

  

• After appearing in ‘V Wars,’ he retired from acting and relocated to a farm outside of Los Angeles, California, to live life as a “farm manager.” While talking about his decision to quit acting in Hollywood, Ian, in an interview, said,
  

  I loved what I did for a really long time. I don’t miss any of it. I love making films, and I just did it for so long. We had an amazing run.”

  

• On 1 May 2021, Ian and Paul Wesely launched ‘Brother’s Bond Straight Bourbon,’ a whiskey brand.

  

• He often expresses his concerns about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and factory farming while supporting livestock farming and organic methods like allowing cows to graze naturally to benefit the ecosystem.

• Ian supports a livestock farmer named Allan Savory with whom he shot the initial footage for the documentary ‘Kiss the Ground’ in Africa in 2011; the documentary, for which he worked as an executive producer, was released in 2023.

• He also worked as an executive producer for the 2023 film ‘Common Ground,’ which aimed to educate people about the ecosystem.

  

• Ian is an avid traveller and prefers road trips. He often shares his travelling experiences on social media.

  

• He began building muscles at the age of 26 for a lead role in a television show.

• His looks and physical transformation over the years have amazed fans, who believe he never ages and looks even better with time.

• He is very spiritual.

• Ian believes ‘food is medicine and medicine is food’ and avoids fast foods. In an Instagram post, he once shared an incident where a woman at a grocery store found his basket filled with only vegetables “unusual.”

 

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• His secret desire is to visit Mars.

• He often smokes cigars.

  

• He consumes alcohol occasionally.

  

• Ian owns a family pizza parlour in Mandeville, Louisiana, USA. He also co-owns a furniture shop called “Built of Barnwood” (BOB) with his brother, Robert Somerhalder aka Bob Somerhalder.

  

• Ian has a profound love for aircraft and has flown many of them; he developed his love for aircraft when he used to fly with his uncle in a Cessna aircraft as a child.