Early life

Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. He is the second of three children, with an older brother, Robert, and younger sister, Robyn. He attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13, and by the age of 17 he decided to go into acting.

Career

In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.

In 2004, Somerhalder scored his breakthrough role when he played Boone Carlyle in the hit TV show Lost. Despite his character's death in the twentieth episode of the first season, Somerhalder returned to the role of Boone for seven more episodes between 2005 and 2010, including the series finale. Somerhalder was one of the first actors to be cast in a role for the series and the first major character to die.

In 2009, Somerhalder appeared in the movie The Tournament where he played the role of an assassin participating in a lethal competition with other assassins. He appears in the coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo.

In June 2009, Somerhalder was cast in the role of Vampire Damon Salvatore as a series regular in The CW television drama series The Vampire Diaries. The series premiere attracted The CW's highest premiere ratings of any season premiere since the network began in 2006. The series has continued to be the highest rated series on its channel with both Somerhalder's performance and the show receiving a positive response from critics. Somerhalder has received several Teen Choice Award's and a People's Choice Award for his participation on the series.

In October 2012 it was reported that Somerhalder had been cast in the film Time Framed, which had begun filming in Los Angeles.

Foundations and causes

Somerhalder was involved in the cleanup after the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling disaster on April 22, 2010. His efforts included cleaning of oiled wildlife and taping public service announcements to let the public know how they could help. Somerhalder also supports the St. Tammany Humane Society, an organization for animal shelter and welfare. On November 13, 2010, he hosted a Bash on the Bayou charity fundraiser for the Society. During the event, Somerhalder was presented with a donation of $11,100 by The Vampire Diaries fandom for his birthday project.

Together with his The Vampire Diaries co-stars Candice Accola and Michael Trevino, Somerhalder supports the It Gets Better Project, which makes it a goal to prevent suicide among LGBT youth associated with The Trevor Project. For his second campaign, Somerhalder teamed up with The Vampire Diaries co-star Paul Wesley to release a limited edition shirt designed by a fan, with the words "Blood Brothers Since 1864." This campaign sold almost 10,000 shirts.

Somerhalder announced, via Twitter and in various interviews that he was setting up "Ian Somerhalder Foundation" (launched on December 8, 2010, Somerhalder's 32nd birthday), which he hopes will educate people on the importance of protecting the environment and animals: "Instead of gifts this year, my birthday wish is that we come together and raise funds to support projects that protect our habitat and nurture our furry friends. He opposes GMO foods and factory farming, and supports visionary ecologist Allan Savory in his crusade to let cows graze in sync with nature to enrich soil, enhance biodiversity, and reverse climate change. In 2011 Somerhalder visited Savory in Africa and announced he was making a documentary about him with the goal of winning him a Nobel Prize.

Somerhalder is also a celebrity campaigner for RYOT, a Los Angeles-based media company known for RYOT.org, its cause-based, take action online news source.

Personal life

In mid-2010, Somerhalder began dating his co-star from The Vampire Diaries Nina Dobrev. The couple split in May 2013. In mid-2014, Somerhalder began dating actress Nikki Reed. They confirmed their engagement in February 2015, and married on April 26, 2015, in Malibu, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Celebrity	Unconfirmed	Uncredited
2001	Life as a House	Josh
2002	Changing Hearts	Jason Kelly
2002	The Rules of Attraction	Paul Denton
2004	In Enemy Hands	U.S.S. Swordfish Danny Miller
2004	The Old Man and the Studio	Matt	Short film
2006	National Lampoon's TV: The Movie	Unconfirmed	Uncredited
2006	Pulse	Dexter
2006	The Sensation of Sight	Drifter
2008	The Lost Samaritan	William Archer
2009	Wake	Tyler
2009	The Tournament	Miles Slade
2010	How to Make Love to a Woman	Daniel Meltzer
2013	Caught On Tape	Officer Lewis
2013	Time Framed	Agent Black	Short film
2014	The Anomaly	Harkin Langham

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	The Big Easy	I.Q.	Episode: "The Black Bag"
1999	Now and Again	Brian	Episode: "A Girl's Life"
2000	Young Americans	Hamilton Fleming	Main cast; all 8 episodes
2001	Anatomy of a Hate Crime	Russell Henderson	TV film
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Tony Del Nagro	Episode: "Revenge Is Best Served Cold"
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Charlie Baker	Episode: "Dominance"
2003	CSI: Miami	Ricky Murdoch	Episode: "The Best Defense"
2004	Fearless	Jordan Gracie	Unsold TV pilot
2004	Smallville	Adam Knight	6 episodes
2007	Marco Polo	Marco Polo	TV film
2007	Tell Me You Love Me	Nick	6 episodes
2008	Lost City Raiders	Jack Kubiak	TV film
2009	Fireball	Lee Cooper	TV film
2004-07; 2010	Lost	Boone Carlyle	Main Cast (Season 1) Special Guest Star (Season 2-3, 6): 28 episodes
2009-present	The Vampire Diaries	Damon Salvatore	Main cast
2014	Years of Living Dangerously	Himself	Documentary series; Episode: "Ice & Brimstone"

As director

Television

Year	Title	Notes
2015	The Vampire Diaries	Episode: "The Downward Spiral"
2016	The Vampire Diaries	Episode: "Days of Future Past"

Awards and nominations

As January 2016, Ian Somerhalder has been nominated for 35 awards, winning 20.

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2002	Young Hollywood Awards	Exciting New Face - Male	N/A	Won
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Performance - Male	Lost	Nominated
2006	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Lost (with cast)	Won
2010	Young Hollywood Awards	Cast to Watch (with Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Villain	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Vampire	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2012	Genesis Awards	Humane Society		Won
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2012	Do Something Awards	Best TV Star	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2012	Do Something Awards	Twitter		Nominated
2012	Environmental Media Awards	EMA Futures Award		Won
2012	Fright Night Awards	Favorite Male TV/Movie Vampire	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2012	International Green Awards	Most Responsible Celebrity		Won
2013	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Dramatic TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite On-Screen Chemistry (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	mtvU Fandom Awards	Ship of the Year (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Male Hottie	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Twit		Nominated
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Social Media King		Nominated
2014	Young Hollywood Awards	Best Threesome (with Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Duo (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Chemistry (with Kat Graham)	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Liplock (with Nina Dobrev)	The Vampire Diaries	Won
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor	The Vampire Diaries	Nominated

Charities

Ian Somerhalder supports the following charitable causes: Animals, Environment.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]