Ian Somerhalder

About

Ian Joseph Somerhalder ( SUM-ər-hawl-dər; born December 8, 1978) is an American retired actor. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in ABC’s science fiction adventure drama television series Lost (2004–2010) and Damon Salvatore in the CW supernatural teen drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017).

Somerhalder was born on December 8, 1978, in Covington, Louisiana. His mother, Edna (née Israel), is a massage therapist of Choctaw and Irish descent originally from Mississippi, while his father, Robert Somerhalder Sr., is an independent building contractor of Cajun descent. Somerhalder is the second of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister.
Somerhalder graduated from Saint Paul’s School, a private school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13. Somerhalder’s parents divorced when he was 14, and he subsequently lived with his mother. At age 17, Somerhalder decided to refocus on acting and began studying with acting teacher William Esper.

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…