Ian Somerhalder stars as Damon Salvatore, the elder and far more dangerous of two vampire brothers who share a long and bitter history, in The CW’s hit drama The Vampire Diaries. Somerhalder is well known for his role as Boone on J.J. Abrams’ critically acclaimed and award-winning drama Lost. He won the 2005 SAG Award as part of “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series” and Lost won the 2005 Emmy Award for “Best Television Series - Drama.” His film credits include Roger Avary’s The Rules of Attraction, Irwin Winkler’s Life as a House, and Tony Giglio’s In Enemy Hands. Somerhalder’s other television credits include HBO’s Tell Me You Love Me, and a leading role in The WB series Young Americans.
In 2010, Somerhalder launched The Ian Somerhalder Foundation, which aims to educate, empower and collaborate with people and projects who positively impact our planet and its creatures. Somerhalder strives to create awareness for environmental and animal rights related issues, focusing specifically on the environment, creatures and clean energy initiatives. In 2011, ISF co-partnered with the Alliance for Global Conservation to create Planet Green’s “Blue August,” a week-long series that explored the wonders of the ocean and aquatic life. Ian served as an online and on-camera guide for the documentary and traveled to Trinidad and Tobago to film the life cycle of sea turtles. Currently, ISF is working on developing its own Animal Sanctuary dedicated to misfit and outcast pets, as well as other animals. Earlier this year, Somerhalder was awarded with the Humane Society of America’s prestigious Wyler Award for his work with animals. In October, The Environmental Media Association (EMA) honored Ian with the EMA Futures Award, which recognizes young environmentally active role-models committed to the environment and using their voice to make a difference.
Ian Somerhalder, whose hit CW series The Vampire Diaries returns Thursday night, says progressive energy policies are in danger of being rolled back this November unless American voters choose candidates who will protect the environment.
