ian somerhalder - joy germany interview

 THE TRANSLATION OF THE INTERVIEW

If you’d really be a vampire, which woman would you like to bite?

Oh, there are so many! For example the young Michelle Pfeiffer in “Scarface”. That would’ve been fun.

What’s with your girlfriend Nina Dobrev - in which situation is she very sexy?

When I see her in underwear. Nina just has an amazing body! She’s probably going to kick my ass after the interview because I said that. But I’m not speaking about our private life, but about certain scenes on the show. As Damon, I sometimes sneak in her room while she’s sleeping in tight tops or is getting changed. No wonder Damon’s crazy about her!

Meanwhile, Nina’s character Elena is also a vampire. Would you like to live forever?

No, certainly not! My family and friends would all die while I still exist. Then you’d be really lonely as a vampire. Undead people are always doing the same and I want more from life!

Don’t you like your role?

I do! I think it’s very fascinating. Damon has a big lust for life. Especially since he’s very lonely and over 170 years old, he’s looking for substitute satisfaction in good food, alcohol, sex, music and traveling. He’s embodying the bad boy, where from time to time, he’s nice sides look through, very much so when it’s about his beloved one.

Could this description also be about you?

There were phases when I wanted to try everything, particularly about girls. I had to grow up very fast, because I was already modeling at age ten and lived from my sixteenth year of life alone. My time as a teenager was very turbulent and really shaped me. I got a tattoo on my right underarm, saying “Hic et Nunc”. That’s latin and is translated into “here and now”. It’s my motto and means for me living in the present, not in the past or future. That’s the only thing that matters.

Was it hard making the final leap from modeling to acting?

I had luck when I was 17 and was accepted at a very good acting school in New York, the “Anthony Abeson Acting School”. 18 months later, I got my first role in a TV series called “Big Easy”.

In 2007 you starred in a very sexually explicit TV show, “Tell Me You Love Me”. Didn’t you have any problems with the explicit sex scenes?

The series was finally really a bit too sexually explicit for me! In the beginning I thought it was cool, but after some time I had enough of going to work in the morning and having to get completely undressed. 

Stars are often role models. How do you handle this responsibility? 

This conscientiousness is automatically topic when you’re filming something that has millions of viewers worldwide. For example I’m always wearing a seat belt when we’re filming scenes in a car. It’s actually nonsense! Damon can’t even die and it’s so unlike him. In the beginning, I was against it, but now I’m doing it so our viewers do it, too.

“Vampire Diaries” is on TV in 50 countries. How do you get along with the fact that you’re know worldwide?

When I’m at events and I suddenly see 5000 fans, I’m completely baffled. I almost feel like a beatle! But it flatters me, but I also know: Too much confirmation isn’t good for my ego.

What do you do to stay down to earth?

I’m living a pretty down-to-earth-life and I’m happy when I get to spend time at the beach. And I’m focussing on things that are really important. When the gulf of Mexico was infested with an oil spill, I was participating in the donation marathon and other supporting actions. I’ve also founded my aid organization, the “Ian Somerhalder Foundation”. For example, our team is cleaning polluted beaches and recently, we opened our first animal shelter. Just yesterday I got a necklace from a fan-couple, with the engraving: “For Ian with love. Try to be a good boy.” Really cute! I hope I’ll follow their advice.

What’s your biggest wish for the future?

To be together forever with my girlfriend. I’m extremely romantic and don’t doubt a second that Nina is the only true woman for me!