American actor Ian Somerhalder was one of the characters in the first seasons of “Lost” before playing the leading role in “Vampire Diaries”, but what has become of him since the end of the series?
Vampire Diaries ended in 2017, and even though he loved his character Damon Salvatore, Ian Somerhalder couldn’t wait to move on. But what has happened to the actor, also seen in the series Lost, over the past six years?
Find out what he looked like in his very first role!
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Son of a therapist and a real estate entrepreneur, Ian Somerhalder grew up in Louisiana, where he practiced several sports: skiing, swimming and horseback riding. He made his stage debut at his school’s drama club and at the age of 10, his mother launched him into modeling.
He was just 19 years old when he was spotted among the extras on the feature film Black and White (1999). Which pushed him to take drama and writing classes in New York.
His early career was marked by projects that did not find their audience, such as Young Americans, a Dawson spin-off, canceled after 8 episodes or Fearless, a series that the WB channel decided not to broadcast despite several episodes being filmed. He then accumulated appearances on the big and small screen: CSI and CSI: Miami, but also in Smallville and New York Special Unit.
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In the cinema, he played alongside Kristin Scott Thomas in The House on the Ocean (2001) then with James Van Der Beek for The Laws of Attraction by Roger Avary (2003).
Lost… The missing!
JJ Abrams hired him in 2004 on a new and ambitious project: Lost. His character as Boone Carlyle, protégé of John Locke, allowed him to acquire a certain notoriety.
If he is very present in the first year of the show, his character dies during episode 20, and as a result, only appears quickly in seasons 2 and 3. The public was very attached to the character, whose fate sealed the rivalry between Jack and Locke.
After a few direct-to-Dvds (The Lost Samaritan, Wake, Fireball, Marco Polo…), he played Nick in the series Tell Me You Love Me, canceled after a first season.
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Boone
Eight years of Vampire Diaries
It was then that Kevin Williamson, the creator of Dawson, with whom he was relatively close, offered him the lead role in a new series adapted from the novel by LJ Smith, Vampire’s Diary.
The actor hesitates, seeing yet another remake of the saga Twilight, but nevertheless agrees to read the Vampire Diaries script. He soon finds himself in the shoes of the sulphurous vampire Damon Salvatore, and his performance is rewarded at ceremonies such as the People’s Choice Awards or Teen Choice Awards.
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Vampire Diaries ended in 2017, and even though he loved his character Damon Salvatore, Ian Somerhalder couldn’t wait to move on. A project is coming soon, the horror Netflix series V Wars, a story of a destructive virus triggered by melting ice and transforming its victims… into vampires! It was canceled again after its first season and since then, the actor has not found a project.
But what is the “V Wars” series really worth?
And now ?
On November 9, 2023, Ian Somerhalder told EOnline the reason for his recent absence from the screens: “I stepped away from the sets a little over four years ago to raise my children, start businesses and launch films.”
Interested in climate change, the actor produced in 2020 the environmental documentary Mission Regeneration narrated by Woody Harrelson and three years later Common Ground, which shows the way in which farmers practice regenerative agriculture.