Interview: Ian Somerhalder and His VAMPIRE DIARIES

With the vampire craze currently at a fever pitch, the CW is joining the fray by bringing The Vampire Diaries to its network, starting September 10th.

Based on the best-selling books by L.J. Smith and brought to the small screen by executive producer/writer Kevin Williamson, best known for the popular teen series Dawson's Creek and the Scream horror franchise, the series tells the story of 17-year-old Elena Gilbert (Degrassi's Nina Dobrev), who is still adjusting to her new life reality, four months after the tragic car accident that killed her parents. As the school year begins, Elena and her friends are fascinated by a handsome and mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore (Fallen's Paul Wesley), who is immediately drawn to her as well. What she doesn't realize is that Stefan is hiding the dark, deadly secret that he's a vampire.

Disrupting the unassuming, quiet lifestyle that Stefan is trying to lead is his older brother Damon (Lost's Ian Somerhalder), also a vampire, whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. The brothers' long, bitter history quickly puts them at odds, when Damon sees a resemblance in Elena to a woman that his brother loved more than a century ago. While good and evil fight for Elena's soul, she is just trying to finish high school.

During a cocktail reception thrown by Warner Bros. Television for the Television Critics Association Press Tour, Ian Somerhalder spoke to press about what make his vampire different from all the others already out there.

Q: How would you describe Damon?

Ian: He's angry. He feels like he's been wronged, very badly, and he wants vengeance and redemption. However, he is lonely. He's the most lonely person I've ever known. Imagine being 170 years old. However old you are, at this point in time, imagine thinking about how much you know about life and quadrupling that, and seeing all the people you've ever known die around you. That probably makes you very cynical and lonely.

Q: How can Damon stay in town and not be discovered, when he actually does attack and kill humans? Do you think it will be too long before they figure out what's going on?

Ian: I think it's not going to be that long. They're coming in pretty quickly and pretty hard, with not trying to hold back too much to keep the audience stringing along. They're coming in fast, with a lot of information and a lot of storylines twisting and turning, and you see very quickly what Damon's thirst for vengeance is. You understand it quickly. And, there's a whole mythology to it, which makes it a lot of fun.

Q: Did you do a backstory for your character? Did they tell you a lot about him?

Ian: Oh, yeah. And, it's intense. Even people who are bad, it all stems from a place. It's coming from a place. When we're good to people, it's coming from a good place. When we're bad to people, it's coming from a bad place. But, we all have a reason for what we're doing, and Damon's is pretty justified. He feels as though he was hurt very badly in the past, and wronged very deeply, so he's ticked off and he's ready for some vengeance. It's going to be interesting. He has reasons for everything he does, so there will be shifts. The whole idea is that Damon has lost all humanity, but we will see different sides of him, as the season starts to play out.

Q: So, in your mind, he's not all bad?

Ian: No. He's a very dynamic, very complicated character. The relationship between Stefan, Damon and Elena is getting away from just this teen soap show. They're very complicated relationships.

Q: Are you really enjoying yourself?

Ian: It's so much fun. That's why he's so fun. Violence and brutality, for me, is never okay. I'm not a violent or brutal person, in the least bit. I'm actually really passive. But, his violence and brutality stems from someplace. Even people who are bad, do it for reasons. The reason why people like the bad boy in a film, a show, a book or a play is because they have so much fun doing what they're doing, while they're doing it. And, there's something that's interesting and enticing about watching someone like that. Even if he's being mean, he's having fun doing it. So, as humans, we're sickly drawn to that, and we're all guilty of it.

Q: Is it the dream job then, to be the kick-ass bad guy?

Ian: It's such a great role. I'm so lucky that I slipped those pills in Kevin Williamson's and everyone's drinks, to make them give me this job. They don't know that. What's great about this show is that Kevin Williamson reinvented television for teens, with Dawson's Creek. He flipped it around. And, this show says that it's okay to be confused, it's okay to be in love, it's okay to be sad, it's okay to feel lost, it's okay to be drawn to something that's dangerous and it's okay to feel all of these things. I'm 30, but looking back when you were in your teens, what a complicated, confusing time. I think this is going to hit on a lot of those elements, with a lot of layers and complicated ways of explaining how to deal with being young.

Q: What is the best part about this character?

Ian: It's just that he's so powerful and he has fun. We, as humans, are drawn to someone, even if he is a complete bastard, because he has fun doing what he's doing. People who have fun doing what they're doing, whether it's good or bad, are still fun to watch. We are weird, when it comes to that. The girls like the bad boy, and the boys like the bad girl.

Q: What is it about vampires, in particular? Why are vampires so hot right now?

Ian: That I don't know. A very big element of it is that Twilight did so well at the box office. But, and this is just completely subjective conjecture, in the last five years, the movie industry, especially with strikes and all these things, has started to fall off the map. It's these big, huge movies, like Iron Man and Batman, that are big comic book series films, that are making these studios all this cash, and the other movies have just fallen to the wayside, which is kind of crazy. The mythology behind vampires was always there, and it's never really gone away, but now you have this market for it. They're fun. There's an element of power. They're sexy, they're dangerous, they're beautiful and there is something that draws you to them. I don't know who can explain it, but it's here, and it's here for awhile. There is something about the non-human of it all, which allows these characters to do things that we can't do, and there's a lot of escapism in that.

Q: How does the relationship between Damon and Stefan change, throughout the series?

Ian: That is definitely to be seen. There are so many elements that are going to dictate that because of the mythology of it all. These two brothers have very different views on life. Damon has decided to not dismiss his heritage, which is, unfortunately, feeding on people. That's what vampires do. It's like if a human being decided to stop eating, essentially. And, Stefan, because of his love for people or just his desire to not have to brutally kill them, has decided not to, which makes it invariably difficult to hang out. And so, there are going to be a lot of twists and turns that are going to illustrate how different they are, and the bouncing back and forth of good to bad and bad to good. There are so many places that they can go.

Q: What's the deal with Elena? Is she a reincarnation of Stefan's true love, or is she a distant relative?

Ian: I've been twist their arms to find that out, but they won't tell us. It's probably better because we'll be married to the ideas of what they give us. And, they're smart enough not to tell actors ‘cause they know that we'll talk to you guys.

Q: Are you going to go back in time to show how Damon became a vampire in the 1800's?

Ian: I think we're going to see bits and pieces of that.

Q: Will there be a lot of action with this role?

Ian: Yeah. I'll be flying on wires and stuff. It's just fun. We'd been working on the top of this building, five stories up. It was high. But, I was on a wire, where I could lean over the edge. I was harnessing my chi and trying not to be afraid, but I was in character and I wasn't even thinking about the fact that I could fall off of that thing. You can't because the wire stops you, but having your body leaning over the edge of something like that is a very strange feeling. We had to shoot an effects shot, where I was jumping off of what looked like that building, but I only had to jump six feet backwards. And, I sat there for 20 minutes, trying to tell my body to jump backwards onto a bunch of pads. It's so counter-intuitive because your body says, "No." They were patient, but it's one of those things where jumping around and doing things that are physically very odd to your body, takes a little bit of time to do.

Q: Are you spending more time in the gym?

Ian: I'm doing lots of gym time. I'm there often. It takes a lot of stamina. Damon feeds off of nothing, but human blood. That's it. He's strong, but there's this element of purity to him. I've changed my diet. Everything is just clean and pure. It's so boring.

Q: Have you noticed a change in your body?

Ian: Oh, yeah. My shape has changed. There's a certain element of being physically very powerful. It's more menacing. And, there's something about a person's physical solidarity. Damon is very much that guy.

Q: Do you and Paul work out together?

Ian: Unfortunately, we only see each other on set. When we're not on set, we're sleeping or in the gym. It's just a matter of feeling good and having stamina.

Q: How is the move to Atlanta, Georgia?

Ian: It's great. I'm from the deep South, so it's great to be there. It's the same air. It's that great Southern air.

Q: When you were a kid growing up, were you into vampires?

Ian: I was. I grew up with Anne Rice. I knew all that stuff. And, there's also this mystique in New Orleans. There's a mystical, vampirial thing about it. It was always there, and it's very underlying there. There's something about it that's really interesting, enticing, dangerous and sexy.

Q: Do you watch True Blood?

Ian: I'm just starting to. I couldn't until I booked this show because I so badly wanted to do that show, and I had a really bad meeting with Alan Ball and I blew it in the room. And, I was so pissed at myself that I just couldn't bring myself to watch that show. Now, I have a really great role on a killer show, no pun intended, and I want to be able to watch it and get into it. I've met all those guys and dig them. Marcos Siega, our supervising producer who's directing a bunch of our episodes and running our show in Atlanta, has worked on True Blood quite a bit, and he's bringing us all these really cool things.

Q: Which role were you up for?

Ian: Sookie's brother, Jason. Ryan Kwanten got the role.

Q: Maybe it's a lucky escape because he is naked in pretty much every episode.

Ian: Oh, really? I already did that for HBO, so maybe I skipped a good one.

Q: Have you seen Twilight?

Ian: I have to be honest with you, I have not seen it, just because I don't want it to influence any ideals of my own performance, by virtue of the fact that there are a lot of similarities. Neither Paul Wesley or myself has seen the film. Not for nothing. It was a very specific reason, just ‘cause I don't want to compare myself to them. I don't even want that in my head.

Q: How do you feel about the comparisons to Twilight?

Ian: I haven't seen the movie because I don't want to subconsciously compare them, but those comparisons are absolutely fine. Their success paved the way for our existence, so I'm not going to complain.

Q: What do you think of people talking about who has the hotter vampires?

Ian: Robert Pattinson is a handsome sucker. He's got every woman wrapped around his finger. Apparently, this guy has the quintessential male role. Every girl in the world wants that guy. So, good for him.

Q: How is Damon going to be different from other vampires?

Ian: Damon does whatever he wants. He goes in the sun. I really want Kevin to write an episode where Damon goes down to the Caribbean for awhile, for some reason. He wears a lapis stone ring that allows vampires to go out into the sun, so he can go chill in the Virgin Islands for awhile and maybe bite some people down there.

Q: Do you think of Damon as being a guy with these powers, or do you ever forget that he's a vampire?

Ian: Oh, yeah. You're not going to see that for awhile, but you'll start to see it when he's around Elena.

Q: How are the make-up and fangs to wear?

Ian: The new fangs that we have just go on our teeth. There's no bridge, so they don't affect your speech patterns at all. I could recite the Gettysburg address, like it was nothing. It's unbelievable how cool it is to do scenes with it.

Q: Would you want to have the immortality of a vampire?

Ian: No way! Life is about the relationships that we have. It's not about just us. It's about our family, our friends, our children. We have a certain amount of time to do things. If you were immortal, it never ends. It just seems like it would be such a lonely existence.
Q: As an actor, what attracted you to playing a vampire?

Ian: Because it's so fun. It's dynamic, in the sense that it's a lot of fun. You have powers that you wouldn't have, as a mortal human being, and that gives you a lot of good things to play with. As an actor, you dream of stuff like that. That's what you want.

Q: Did you read the books that this show is based on, for your character's backstory?

Ian: Well, I started to. I have the books and I'm reading them, but Kevin, (executive producer) Bob Levy and (executive producer) Julie Pec have said that the books are a foundation for the basis of the show. They gave it to Julie and Kevin and said, "What is your vision? Take this to your level." It's not that literal, and I'm sure that will upset a lot of people. But, it's one of those things where this is their vision of this foundation, which is great.

Q: Was there ever anything you were into as seriously as some of the fans of the vampire genre?

Ian: To be honest with you, I did a lot of theater when I was young and I was obsessed with that. But, I grew up on a horse, out in the middle of the woods, so I was really obsessed with understanding the land, tracking animals, fishing and building things. I read a lot and I watched a lot of films, but I was always more into what we were doing as kids, with our horses and our equestrian life and fishing. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, in Louisiana.

Q: Do you still ride?

Ian: I do. Not as much as I'd like to, though. I would like to spend about six years on this show and do a couple of movies, and then cash out and spend the rest of my life on a horse. That would be a good idea.

Q: Are you going to be returning to Lost?

Ian: That's the idea.

Q: Are you going to go back to the plane, before it crashed?

Ian: I don't know any of that stuff, but that's the idea. We're working it out and making it happen.

Q: Do you have any idea what the storyline would be?

Ian: I have no clue. And, I probably won't know until the day I get there. That is the one thing that I am really curious about. Over the years, those guys have gotten so smart to not tell actors anything because we talk to you guys.

Q: Were you surprised when you got the call about returning to the show?

Ian: We had spoken about it for awhile, and then I hung out with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse at Comic-Con and we came to the conclusion that this will happen. So, we're just working out the details. The problem is just the dates. Honolulu is really far from Atlanta, and I'm on the schedule every day with The Vampire Diaries. Usually, when I would go back to do an episode of Lost, it was a seven-day vacation with a great hotel suite on the beach, lots of per diem, a convertible to drive around in and massages. This is going to be a red eye from Atlanta to Hawaii, getting off the plane, shooting, crashing and then going back.

Q: Are you excited to revisit Boone?

Ian: One last time, yeah. It will be fun. I just can't wait.

Q: Is it nice to know that you'll be able to play a part in closing out this show that you helped get started?

Ian: Yeah. Hopefully, it will be different and Boone can get his power back. There was always some element of solidarity in him. It was just never able to be played out. But, I could be completely wrong. He could just be the same push-over he was.

Q: Have you kept up with the show at all, as the seasons have progressed?

Ian: I haven't been able to, as much as I'd like to. But, I'm going to do some major catching up, before I go down there.

Q: What is The Tournament, and who do you play in that?

Ian: I wish it would come out. It's a lot of fun. It's a very shoot-em-up movie that's a battle royale. It's a contemporary assassin movie, but it's a lot of fun. Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Hu are also in it. There are a lot of bullets and stuff. My character is equally, if not worse than Damon. And, I had never played that guy before, so it was fun.

Q: What is How to Make Love to a Woman?

Ian: I haven't seen the film. It was a great script and a lot of fun. That guy was the complete opposite. He's a really sweet advertising executive who was a childhood friend of Krysten Ritter's character. He's this really sweet guy. He had no bad intentions at all.

Q: When you're back at home, where do you like to go in L.A.?

Ian: My house is right off the beach, on the border of Venice and Santa Monica. It is just the most beautiful neighborhood in the world. I love both the dark and the light of it. I spend every morning and every evening on the beach, and in my favorite local neighborhood spots. Everyone knows each other, and you never drive. The only time I drive is to go to Whole Foods or the dry cleaners, or to go into the city.

Q: Do you like the Boardwalk?

Ian: I am on the Boardwalk every day of my life. It never ceases to be more fun than just getting on your beach cruiser and cruising down the Venice Boardwalk.

Q: Are you really missing it while you're in Atlanta?

Ian: I've only been in Atlanta for a couple of weeks now, and there's a very definite difference. It was 98 degrees when I left, with 75% humidity.

Q: Do you get recognized from Lost, when you're there?

Ian: Yeah. I was just talking to Matthew Fox a couple weeks ago, and he was in the most northern tip of Scotland and was amazed that he was recognized. With something like Lost, you could be hiding in the desert in Egypt and someone would go, "Hey, are you that guy?"