Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder shares ‘controversial’ reason he left Hollywood
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film
Greg Harris
Featured Image Credit: Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film
Almost seven years after walking away from Hollywood, Ian Somerhalder has finally revealed the real reason he left acting behind.
The 47-year-old became a household name through roles in the Dawnson’s Creek spin-off Young Americans, Lost and Smallville, but it was his portrayal of Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries that made him a global star.
Yet after starring in Netflix's V Wars, Somerhalder made the unexpected decision to step away from the spotlight in 2019, relocating with his wife, Nikki Reed, to a farm and swapping film sets for business ventures.
While many assumed he simply wanted a quieter life, the actor has now revealed there was far more behind his career change. Speaking on a recent episode of the Haley on the Go podcast, Somerhalder described the ‘really honest, kind of controversial’ reason he walked away from Hollywood, reflecting on how the cancellation of V Wars became a turning point.
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“I wanted to do V Wars because it was me, not as a vampire, it was me as a scientist,” he said of the series. “[We] shot the show, moved my whole family to Northern Ontario. Worked really hard on this thing for almost a year, and the show that got turned in wasn’t even watchable.”
He continued: “I said to the studio, I don’t want to put my name on this. I’ll give you the money back — I’ll give you millions of dollars. And they were like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ ”
Somerhalder revealed that he and his producing partner, James Gibb, had pushed for greater creative control in a bid to save the series, claiming they told Netflix they needed “creative control of the show” to fix it. He recalled the response: “Netflix said, ‘Sure. We’re not giving you a dollar more.’ ”
According to Somerhalder, he and Gibb then raised more than $6 million to transform the show, filming “10 or 12 hours of footage in about six days” — an intense schedule that ultimately pushed his body to the limit and left him “in the hospital” from overworking.
When V Wars debuted in December 2019, Somerhalder said it was a ‘hit’ but the show was cancelled regardless.
Reflecting on the decision, he claimed: “The execs were fighting, and someone quietly canceled the show. And the powers that be at Netflix were like, ‘It’s unfortunate. Yes, it shouldn’t have happened. We can’t go back, because it would set a precedent that would be terrible, so the show is done.’ ”
“I looked at myself in the mirror, and I said to my wife, I was like, man, I’m 40 years old. I don’t want to spend two years of my life doing something, working this hard — one year fully unpaid — for this executive who had issues in high school, so they want to exert power now, [to cancel it],” Somerhalder said. “I am not here for my career and livelihood to be dictated by someone who has mommy or daddy issues, or they weren’t popular in school.”
“So I pulled the plug. That was it. I walked away,” he said. “These executives are bitching at each other, and I’m like, are you kidding me? Done. I’m out.”
The series had mixed reviews, holding s a critic approval rating of 56% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tyla has contacted Netflix for comment.