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Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder in 2006
Born	Ian Joseph Somerhalder December 8, 1978 (1978-12-08) (age 31) Covington, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, model, producer
Years active	1988–present

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American fashion model, actor and producer, notable for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost, Paul Denton in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction, Adam Knight in Smallville, Miles Slater in The Tournament and more recently Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.

Early life

Somerhalder was born in Covington, Louisiana, son of Edna and Robert Somerhalder, who worked in building construction. He has a brother, Bob, a former professional cyclist, and a sister, Robin, a broadcast journalist. His father is of French and English descent and his mother, who grew up on a pig farm in Mississippi, is of Irish and Choctaw ancestry. The surname "Somerhalder" originates from his adoptive great-grandfather. Somerhalder's biological great-grandfather was a wealthy English landowner whose surname was Hull; he paid an immigrant worker to marry his pregnant mistress and give their baby a name.^[1]

Somerhalder's parents divorced when he was thirteen. He grew up with his mother, whom he has described as being "very spiritual;" she raised the young Ian on Eastern medicine and organic foods. Says Somerhalder, "She made my baby food and had me on blue-green algae probably since I was in third grade. I never had sugar. I never got to have white bread or any white-flour products." He led a life of soy and homemade root beer (save for German chocolate cake once a year on his birthday). He remembers being in Catholic school^[1] and trading his grilled vegetable sandwich on marble rye for a classmate's peanut butter and jelly on Wonder bread—and getting sick from it. "I can't eat fast food," he says. "I haven't eaten McDonald's in 10 years. I eat fish every day." His family in Louisiana was significantly affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and, as of June 2007, has not been able to recover what it lost from the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.^[2] "I had a great [childhood]. We had horses and motorcycles and boats, but I always wanted more—a bigger horse or a faster bike or whatever," Somerhalder remembers. So when he was in fifth grade, Edna suggested the 10-year-old go out and earn a living by modeling, as she had connections in the business. "So I said, 'Sure, sign me up,' and I got a three-year contract with the Ford agency in New York."

Career

With his mother's encouragement, Somerhalder began his career as a fashion model at the age of 10. He modeled in New York, Paris, Milan, and London. His modeling credits include Calvin Klein, American Eagle Outfitters, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Versace, and Guess?. He was the face of Guess? for two fall seasons. He continues to model with his agency DNA Model Management in New York City, and Priscilla's Model Management in Sydney, Australia. When he was 16 years old, he was involved in a motorcylce accident which caused him to lose the use of three toes on his left foot.

His first major acting role was in The Rules of Attraction, Roger Avary's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name.

His television work includes appearances in shows such as Smallville (in which he played Adam Knight, a dead man who is being kept "alive" by a special drug), CSI: Miami, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Now and Again, and The Big Easy, as well as producing Recess, a short film.

He also starred in the short-lived WB series, Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek in which he played Hamilton Fleming. The series was filmed in Havre de Grace, MD.

His biggest role to date was as a main cast member for the first season of the American television series Lost as the character Boone Carlyle. Although his character was killed off in the first season, Somerhalder returned to play Boone Carlyle in flashbacks and dream sequences in the second and third season of Lost. In the sixth season he appeared in a Flash-Sideways. In the second season he guest starred in the flashbacks of Boone's stepsister, Shannon Rutherford, in the episode "Abandoned." In the third season, he guest starred in the episodes "Further Instructions" (appearing in John Locke's dreams in the episode) and "Expose." During Comic Con 2009, Ian Somerhalder announced that he would be returning to Lost, although it is currently unknown how many episodes he will appear in.^[3]

In 2006, he starred in Pulse, a remake of the Japanese horror movie Kairo with Kristen Bell and Christina Millian. The movie was neither a commercial nor a critical success, but performed relatively well at the box office on its first week of release.

In May 2006, Somerhalder was named one of DNA Models' Top 10 Male Models.^[4]

Somerhalder guest starred as Nick in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me,^[5] appearing fully nude in a sex scene with actress Michelle Borth.

In September 2009, Somerhalder is scheduled to appear in the movie The Tournament. In the film, he will play the role of an assassin named Miles Slater participating in a lethal competition with other assassins.^[6] On 10 October, 2009, it was announced that he will star in the Gothic movie Cradlewood, which is slated to be directed by Harry Weinmann.^[7]

Ian Somerhalder also appears in the limited-edition coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo and Pixie Press Worldwide publishers.^[8][9]

Somerhalder currently stars as the vampire Damon Salvatore in the TV teen drama series The Vampire Diaries based on the book series by Ljane Smith.^[10]

Filmography

Awards

References

2006 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Cast "Lost" (2004) Winner

External links

• Ian Somerhalder at the Internet Movie Database
• Ian Somerhalder on Twitter
• Ian Somerhalder at TV.com
• Somerhalder interview discussing his family history, career and new tele-film "Marco Polo", 2/28/08