E! Online sat down with both Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder at The CW Upfronts to talk about the big season finale and redemption;
Attention Emmy voters, it’s time for you to recognize the brilliance that Nina Dobrev has been serving up on The Vampire Diaries this season!
Seriously, the girl acted her face off in the episode where Elena’s brother Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) died on the CW hit, and we couldn’t help but gush all over her tear-inducing performance when we caught up with Dobrev on the red carpet at the CW’s upfront presentation in New York City. And guess what? We weren’t the only ones sobbing!“The experience of reading that script for the first time in our read-through, I’ve never gone through that in my entire life,” she tells us. “I literally started sobbing uncontrollably as I was reading it.”
While Dobrev wouldn’t spill on which brother Elena chooses (duh!), she does reveal it’s not an easy decision.
“It’s like any relationship. There’s a different connection you have with different people, and I think that Elena had a certain connection with Stefan that was very profound and with Damon it was more excitable,” she says. “Between the two of them, unfortunately, they’re the perfect man, so it’s hard. Maybe she needs to go out and explore other things and discover herself.
“Damon’s grown a lot. It’s about the push and the pull of him really wanting her to be this creature, because her feelings ultimately changed for Stefan, which was very good for Damon, but in all actuality even Damon knows it’s not right; what happened to this young, beautiful woman and watching her deteriorate and fall apart, it’s heartbreaking to see,” Somerhalder previews what fans can expect from Elena’s choice between the two brothers in the finale. “By virtue of that, there’s redemption in some ways.”
Read more + don’t forget the VIDEOS: E! Online
Ology sat down with Ian Somerhalder to talk about The Ian Somerhalder Foundation;
When was that initial moment when you knew you wanted to start the IS Foundation?
IAN SOMERHALDER: I mean honestly, I’m going to turn a negative into a positive. It was ultimately the BP oil spill. I just felt so hopeless and so awfully helpless. I just realized I never want anyone to feel that helpless. I never want myself, my family or you or anyone, and that’s how it was born. Having that helpless feelings and wanting to educate and empower and ultimately activate people so that they never have to feel that way again. It’s been an amazing experience in watching this thing grow and in two and a half years we’ve basically spread to well over 100 countries and put some phenomenal amounts of energy out there.Did any childhood experiences back in Louisiana help you shape that focus?
Well, yeah, actually a great deal of it. There’s a really delicate eco-system there that you realize there’s a really specific balance of life and nature and an impact will ultimately change that and affect it in such a way that it can be destroyed. And so that really gave me the desire to let people know that if you want change it has to be generational.What’s been the most rewarding so far?
We did a fundraiser that was all about women’s empowerment. Which is, what is sexy and redefining it. It’s about your passion for animals and the environment and other people and that’s what’s sexy. It’s not what the hell you look like or wear, its just what you have in your heart really and your mind. And so we decided to do a burlesque show and it was called Empoweresque. It was this really awesome—it was our fundraiser. We did this huge beach cleanup with thousands of people in Santa Monica. The really cool thing is right now we’re buying a farm down in Louisiana and we’re turning it into an animal sanctuary. It ties into youth education and it’s a youth education camp. We’re going to be doing things like bully programs. Bringing bullies from all over the country and ultimately all over the world to work with the animals, the bully and the victim and the victim and the bully.
Read more: Ology
What does The Vampire Diaries’ Damon Salvatore think of the new, emotionless Elena? He’s a bit conflicted.
“I really want her to be my hot sexy vampire girlfriend, but I really don’t want her killing everybody,” Ian Somerhalder says in this week’s Vampire Diaries Bite.
After a two-week hiatus, the CW show returns on Thurs (8/7c) and from the looks of it, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) — whose emotions were shut off by Damon when she was overly distraught by her brother’s death — is going to be one reckless and carefree woman.
“She’s going to be kicking the boys’ asses a lot, I mean I literally get my ass kicked by Elena every episode now,” Somerhalder says. “But it’s super cool to see this super empowered woman where the boys aren’t scared she’s going to walk out the door and get killed because she’s a badass chick who can hold her own.”
But how might Damon end up pushing Elena back into the arms of his brother, Stefan (Paul Wesley)? And what does Somerhalder say about filming the prom episode?
Source: TV Guide
Ian appeared at both PIX II Morning News and VH1′s Big Morning on March, 14th. Watch the embeds below
The Vampire Diaries is back tonight to begin a new chapter, with an Elena who’s turned off her emotions to survive the pain of Jeremy’s death. How will it affect her relationship with Damon?
“I think the loyalty part definitely went out the window,” Ian Somerhalder says. “I think the sire bond was more emotionally based, and now she doesn’t care about anything. He’s kinda screwed. She’s not havin’ it. And she doesn’t want the cure. She’s thinking You know what, I’m just so tired of being so vulnerable. This way, she walks out of the house, and she’s not worried about getting killed every five minutes. She’s now an empowered badass chick. So having said that, I think that Damon’s gonna have to abdicate that throne of being Sire Man.”
Damon, of course, doesn’t want the cure either, but asked to contemplate what Damon’s life would be like if he were somehow forced to take it, Somerhalder offers this vision: “Hypothetically, if he did, I think the second it kicked in and he realized he was human, there would be an overwhelming sense of… [sighs]. But then, ‘Well, I’ve lived quite a while, I’m gonna grow old naturally and die. I could take the Salvatore fortune and donate half of it to the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, and then just go buy a really great loft in New York and a place in the Caribbean and just chill. Maybe a vineyard in the south of France. That could be cool.’”
Another of the show’s remaining mysteries is what the new big bad Silas looks like. Does he have his own form? Does he take over other people’s bodies? If it’s the former, we asked Somerhalder for his casting choice: “I mean it’s The Vampire Diaries, so he’s probably young. But we could flip it a little bit,” he says. “So, I’m thinking… Didn’t Regis [Philbin] retire? He could come back. He’s not crotchety, he’s awesome. I’m gonna talk to [CW president] Mark Pedowitz and [Warner Bros. TV president] Peter Roth about that.”
Source: InsideTV
ETonline: You were on Live with Kelly and Michael this morning, talking about how you’ve recently realized TVD is basically a soap opera. Can you expand upon that?
Ian Somerhalder: My grandmother was this unbelievably smart, phenomenally cool woman and [soap operas] were just always on in her house. My foundation is building this animal sanctuary and youth education facility where she lived so I was there two weeks ago and those feelings are just so deeply embedded in me that I instantly had those memories being there. So this morning, that all came to me after watching the clip they showed. I just realized that I live in a soap opera, and it’s awesome.ETonline: I think the show has really gotten it right this season with Damon and Elena’s romantic journey. What’s been your take on it all?
Somerhalder: It’s been kind of tragic. I mean, Damon finally got the girl he loves and it’s totally tragic that he has this moment of happiness and clarity only to learn that it’s fake. I did a show recently where they were talking about Catfish. It’s something I never realized is going on, but there’s this entire world out there about people falling in love with one another digitally only to find out it’s not real. I could have sympathized with that before, but through this storyline, I can also empathize with that. When you go through that emotion on screen you take a piece of it with you. I have such great respect for the people coming out to tell their story because it’s an awful feeling.ETonline: It’s also got to be exciting as an actor that TVD allows you to play your character at various points in their life. We’ve seen Damon throughout the decades, and next week shows him circa 1970.
Somerhalder: Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Our artisans and production design team went in and not only re-built CBGB’s but recreated the feeling of the ’70s [in Because the Night, airing March 21]. It’s so cool because you get to experience so many times in [Damon's] life. Now mind you, because there were so many decades, I think he evolved slower than most. I also love that because we get to go back and romanticize the social happenings of that time, we’re really reminded of The United States’ deep history and what Damon lived through is just a drop in the bucket compared to the other characters, who can go back thousands of years.
Read more @: ET Online
Click here to view the awesome photos, and/or continue reading for an interview;
Ian Somerhalder is not just another a pretty face. He also might just save the world.
As he’s demonstrated with his award-winning plans to help the environment and care for its inhabitants, this Southern boy-cum-actor has just as much brain as brawn—and with the heart to match. From his role as teen heartthrob in CW’s The Vampire Diaries to his efforts running a foundation, the 34-year-old leading man found a way to use his seductive powers for good.
It all started on the day of his 32nd birthday, December 8, 2010, when Somerhalder announced via Twitter the launch of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF)—an organization dedicated to raising awareness about issues surrounding habitat, energy, and animals, seeking to empower people in their own environments to act globally and make the world a better place. “The global problems and challenges we’re facing are infinitely interconnected and co-dependent,” reads the ISF statement.
For this Louisiana-born-and-bred boy, the Gulf oil spill in April 2010 was a wake-up call and the catalyst for the foundation. He helped rehabilitate his birthplace after the devastation, and with the support of mentors Peter Seligmann, the CEO of Conservation International, and Deepak Chopra, the renowned founder of the Chopra Foundation, Somerhalder was inspired to start his own organization. “What really shifted it to a reality was connecting with people who equally care about the future of our planet,” he says. “We wanted to create a platform for people spanning the globe to unite and create worldwide change.”
In its first year, ISF grew to 845 groups in over 100 countries worldwide. And it has continued to mature into a major international volunteer organization that promotes habitat protection, animal welfare, and clean energy initiatives, successfully engaging youth in volunteerism and activism.
“We’ve literally built a multinational foundation out of social media,” he says of Twitter, a platform he once completely ignored. “I never wanted to tweet ever.” But after years of fighting not to be a part of it, he finally broke down and has been hooked ever since. “It’s the most powerful force on the planet right now,” he says. “And I am utterly grateful for it.”
These days, he tweets several times a day, as much about important bills he hopes to pass in Congress as well as his day-to-day musings, always ending with his signature sign off, “good night beautiful world.”
Nearly 3.5 million people follow him, hanging on his every tweet. And while the foundation’s members span from ages 6 to 86, it’s the adolescent set that has a particularly strong presence in Somerhalder’s project, both as users and his primary—and totally obsessed—TV audience.
Somerhalder’s Southern childhood included outdoorsy activities like boating, swimming, fishing and training horses, as well as artistic ones like joining his school drama club and local theater group. At 10, he started modeling, which would eventually take him from his bucolic lifestyle—“Total Louisiana stereotype, with the crawfish boiling in the pot, you know?” he tells Mr Porter—to the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.
By 16, his modeling career sent him traveling to New York, Milan, and Paris, as legends like Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, and Bruce Weber photographed him for major publications (L’Uomo Vogue) and advertising campaigns (Versace). A year later, he abandoned modeling for acting in New York, eventually forgoing college to study with distinguished acting coach William Esper.
Somerhalder got his first big break when a talent manager spotted him on set in the 1999 film Black & White with Robert Downey, Jr. Amidst a crowd of 400 people, the agent set his eyes on Somerhalder and signed him instantly. From there, his repertoire of roles grew as he portrayed the sexy, often-tortured type in films including Life as a House (2001) and Rules of Attraction (2002), and popular TV series like Smallville (2004) and Lost (2004-10).
But it wasn’t until he joined The Vampire Diaries that he became a household face—if not name. While Smolder Holder—as he’s affectionately called by his fans—has received several Teen Choice Awards for his portrayal, the show itself earned the highest premiere ratings of any season premiere since the network’s founding in 2006. (This fact leaves little question about why he’s been a popular choice to play Christian Grey in the upcoming movie version of hit novel 50 Shades of Grey.)
“I never realized how important humor is in life and work,” Somerhalder says of his snarky, devious character, Damon Salvatore. “Humor is a medicine for pain basically. I found that when you have fun in whatever you’re doing, life is just better.”
Now he’s found a way to combine both his passions for acting and saving the planet in the upcoming project Time Framed, a collection of eco-friendly short films that plants our hero as Agent Black, trying to steal an energy device to deliver clean power to the world.
“The director, Sinisha Nisevic, is a very dear friend of mine and an incredible artist,” he says. “It’s rare to be part of a film where you can kick serious ass, drive some of the world’s most incredible eco-friendly sports cars, and don a beautiful suit.”
Your fans are waiting, Mr. Smolder Holder. —Sasha Levine (@sashalevine)
Source: Lifestyle Mirror.com
Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder Arrive to Elton John’s Oscar Viewing Party 2013, they arrive with executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, and we can also spot Matt Davis very, very quick. Click here to watch it on Youtube or watch the embed below