Ian Somerhalder

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. He was raised a Catholic and 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. 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. In an ironic twist, Somerhalder was the first actor to be cast in a role for the series, but he was also the first character to die. He has stated that he was going to buy a house in Hawaii, where filming took place, until he learned his character was being killed off. In May 2006, Somerhalder was named one of DNA Models' Top 10 Male Models. In September 2009, Somerhalder appeared in the movie The Tournament where he played the role of an assassin 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 to be directed by Harry Weinmann. The movie is set to be released in 2013. Somerhalder appears in the limited-edition coffee table book About Face by celebrity photographer John Russo and Press Worldwidpublishers.Somerhalder currently stars in the CW television drama The Vampire Diaries as Damon Salvatore, portraying a dangerous, maniacal, witty, whole-hearted vampire in love with his brother's human girlfriend, Elena Gilbert, who is the doppleganger of the Salvatore brothers past love.

Somerhalder was the first actor/celebrity to become actively 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. Numerous Youtube videos are of him speaking of the horrific environmental impacts the oil has done and how others can 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 St. Tammany Humane 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-star Candice Accola, Somerhalder is also one of many supporters of the It Gets Better Project, a project that has made it a goal to prevent suicide among LGBT youth, associated with The Trevor Project. He hopes that donations will be used to provide proper medical services to stray animals and he established the foundation on December 8, 2010, his 32nd birthday.