Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978), is
a fashion model, actor and
producer,
probably most 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 and 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
, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert
Somerhalder, a building contractor. 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 and he paid an immigrant worker to
marry his pregnant mistress and give their baby a name, which was
Somerhalder.
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 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
."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
.
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 person 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.
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 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 in which
he will appear.
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.
Somerhalder guest starred as Nick in
HBO's
Tell Me You Love Me,
appearing fully nude in a sex scene with actress
Michelle Borth.Somerhalder has been cast as
the character of Damon for the upcoming drama pilot
The Vampire Diaries based on
the book series by
Ljane Smith.
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. 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.
Ian Somerhalder also appears in the limited-edition coffee table
book ("About Face") by celebrity photographer John Russo and Pixie
Press Worldwide publishers.
Filmography
References
- Bray, Tony. (June 2007) TV-now.com. Tony Bray Interviews Ian Somerhalder for June 2007.
Obtained June 9,
2007.
-
http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/entertainment/2009/07/comic-con-2009-blast-exclusive-ian-somerhalder-says-hes-back-on-lost/
- modellaunch.com |
- http://www.hbo.com/tellme/cast/character/nick.html
-
http://tvdramas.about.com/b/2009/03/27/the-cw-casts-vampire-diaries.htm
- http://www.hollywood.com/movie/The_Tournament/4374431 Retrieved
08-16-2009
- Ian Somerhalder Ready to Rock Cradlewood
- www.pixiepressworldwide.com
- Metro Source LA magazine
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