Ian Somerhalder: This is why he no longer works as an actor

Ian Somerhalder (45) played the role of Boone Carlyle in the series “Lost” from 2004 and as Damon Salvatore in the “Vampire Diaries” from 2009. To mark the 20th and 15th anniversaries of the series, the 45-year-old looks back on his roles in the series.

The role of Boone was a difficult experience for Somerhalder, as he died in the first season. In subsequent episodes, his role only appeared in flashbacks. “Losing that, I was the first to be cast and the first to be killed, that was a bitter pill to swallow,” he says. But during the time he was filming in Hawaii, he was also able to pursue his passion for environmental protection.

Family and animal and environmental protection

At the beginning of 2009, he then devoted himself to his new series project, the mystery drama “Vampire Diaries”. “It was a rocket,” says the husband of Nikki Reed (36) today, looking back on the series’ success. “Initially, it was a very, very young audience, but this audience became more mature and bigger and bigger.” The development of streaming has increased the reach of the two series even further and generated a new audience. Somerhalder therefore feels “enormous gratitude” for his series appearances, as they now give him a platform to draw attention to his passion projects. “This path has brought me to where I feel most authentic anyway, namely in a pair of cowboy boots, feeding cows and leading horses.”

The animal and environmental activist continues: “On August 19th it was five years since I was in front of the camera professionally as an actor/producer. After ‘V Wars’ I retired from that to build these companies, films like ‘Common Ground’ [Dokufilm über Auswirkungen der US-amerikanischen Landwirtschaftspolitik, Anm.d. Red.] to start and raise my children.”

On the decision process to move away from the camera, Somerhalder says: “I remember sitting down with my management and talking about it and saying, ‘Hey, this is the only thing I’ve ever known that supported my family and I’m stepping away from it,’ and at that height. I could have done anything, but these projects mean a lot more to me.” He would much rather do this “than spend two months in some city, filming a show, far away from my family, or have my family travel back and forth.”

At some point he thought to himself: “I want to focus on family and the future of agriculture and food and energy and the big things. I don’t need to chase awards and other things that make me feel better. You do all these crazy things, and in the end you realize that it’s the basic things that matter.”