Ian Somerhalder

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Ian Somerhalder

Born Ian Joseph Somerhalder
December 8, 1978 (1978-12-08) (age 30)
Covington, Louisiana

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor, male fashion model and producer, probably most notable for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and as Paul Denton in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction.

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[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Somerhalder was born in Covington, Louisiana. He has a brother, Bob, a former professional cyclist, and a sister, Robin, a broadcast journalist. His father, Robert Somerhalder, was a building contractor of French and English descent, and his mother, Edna, who is of Irish and Choctaw descent, grew up on a pig farm in Mississippi.[1] The surname "Somerhalder" originates from his adoptive great-grandfather. His biological great-grandfather, a wealthy English landowner, got one of his mistresses pregnant and paid an immigrant worker of his to marry this woman and give the baby a name, which was Somerhalder. The biological great-grandfather's name was Hull.

Somerhalder's parents divorced when he was thirteen. He grew up with his mother, whom he has described as being "very spiritual"; she raised the young Ian on Eastern medicine and organic foods. Says Somerhalder, "She made my baby food and had me on blue-green alga probably since I was in third grade. I never had sugar. I never got to have white bread or any white-flour products." He led a life of soy and homemade root beer (save for German chocolate cake once a year on his birthday). He remembers being in Catholic school and trading his grilled vegetable sandwich on marble rye for a classmate's peanut butter and jelly on Wonder bread--and getting sick from it. He has kept to a healthful diet since then. "I can't eat fast food," he says. "I haven't eaten McDonald's in 10 years. I eat fish every day." He attended Catholic school.[1] His family in Louisiana was significantly affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and, as of June 2007, has not been able to recover what it lost from the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.[2] "I had a great [childhood]. We had horses and motorcycles and boats, but I always wanted more - a bigger horse or a faster bike or whatever," Somerhalder remembers. So when he was in fifth grade, Edna suggested the 10-year-old go out and earn a living by modeling, as she had connections in the business. "So I said, "Sure, sign me up,' and I got a three-year contract with the Ford agency in New York."

[edit] Career

With his mother's encouragement, Somerhalder began his career as a fashion model at the age of 10. He modeled in New York, Paris, Milan, and London. His modeling credits include Calvin Klein, American Eagle Outfitters, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Versace, and Guess?. He was the face of Guess? for two fall seasons. He continues to model with his agency DNA Model Management in New York City, and Priscilla's Model Management in Sydney, Australia.

His first major acting role was in The Rules of Attraction, Roger Avary's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name.

His television work includes appearances in shows such as Smallville (in which he played Adam Knight, a dead person who is being kept alive by a special drug), CSI: Miami, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Now and Again, and The Big Easy, as well as producing Recess.

His biggest role to date was as a main cast member for the first season of the American television series Lost as the character Boone Carlyle. Although his character was killed off in the first season, Somerhalder returned to play Boone Carlyle in flashbacks and dream sequences in the second and third season of Lost. In the second season he guest starred in the flashbacks of Boone's stepsister, Shannon Rutherford, in the episode "Abandoned". In the third season, he guest starred in the episodes "Further Instructions" (appearing in John Locke's dreams in the episode) and "Expose".

In 2006 he starred in Pulse, a remake of the Japanese horror movie Kairo, with Kristen Bell and Christina Millian. The movie was neither a commercial nor a critical success, performing relatively well at the box office on its first week of release.

In May 2006, DNA Models named their Top 10 Male Models. Somerhalder was among those in the list.[3]

Most recently, Somerhalder guest starred as Nick in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me [1]. He appeared fully nude in a sex scene with actress Michelle Borth.

[edit] The Rules of Attraction commentary

In the film The Rules of Attraction, Somerhalder plays bisexual student Paul Denton who falls in love with the character Sean, played by James Van Der Beek. In one scene, Paul fantasizes, while masturbating behind a pillow, of seducing Sean. On one of the DVD's commentary tracks, Somerhalder discusses the scene while it is shown:

Oh yeah, doing a press junket of 62 intervays[sic]--interviews a day, and everyone asking about this one scene, which will probably haunt me and James--not haunt us, what am I talking about... It's actually quite funny. But I gotta say, [referring to the beer he is holding in the scene] that's real beer in there, buddy. It's gotta be one of the most uncomfortable things on the face of the planet that you could possibly do, is kiss a guy. I have the most profound respect for women now. --[Referring to a pimple-like bump on Van Der Beek's forehead] What is that thing in the middle of James's head?-- So, I gotta say, I never understood how painful it could possibly be. And I remember in the winter, seeing my girlfriend's face, it was a little red and scratchy... And I thought, ah, that must suck. Put two guys together? It's disgusting. It's like, fucking velcro, ok? There's something inherently wrong, with that. But it was really funny. It was quite funny. *laughs* And it's in all seriousness. But I-I have to say, that, after doing this, you feel... a bunch of liberties--not sexually, but just a lot of liberties where you sort of push... everything you could possibly push... and you just finish your day of work and you have a beer and you laugh about it... But what's really funny is, no one knows whose fantasy this is? I kiss James and he stops me, and then once it [sic] more, how funny is that? It's--I, I, I just, yeah. Mmm. It's just, uh... I-eh-I've seen this--No, there was no tongue! There was NO tongue. That was the one thing, that James and I talked about, --It was the first thing, we said it simultaneously: "Don't stick your fucking tongue in my mouth." But it looks like it... Eh, what did someone say? Someone said in an interview, "So it was like, ki"--So they said "What do you do?" And I said "well you open your mouth, [voice changes to re-enact the experience] like this, and you don't stick your tongue in their mouth." And they said, "So it's like, sucking on a pipe." *laughs* I said, "...I guess so. I haven't really sucked on a pipe but I guess it would sort of be like a pipe." 'Cause if you've ever kissed a girl, with your mouth open, and her tongue didn't come outta her mouth? It was kind of annoying. And it was sorta like kissing a pipe.

Referring to the backlash against his comments and allegations of homophobia, Somerhalder stated:

It's not me who can't handle it, it's the audience. Seann William Scott didn't get all of the backlash that I received when he did just the same in American Pie 2. It was completely unjustified - fans and outraged men saying that I was making anti-gay remarks. I wasn't and those very close to me who are gay were visibly upset. I'd never make a disrespectful remark about anyone, especially in public, about one's sexual preference.[2]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television

Italic text

[edit] Cinema

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "IanSomerhalder.net". Ocean Drive. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
  2. ^ Bray, Tony. (June 2007) TV-now.com. Tony Bray Interviews Ian Somerhalder for June 2007. Obtained June 9, 2007.
  3. ^ modellaunch.com |
  1. Ian Somerhalder interview discussing his family history, career and new tele-film "Marco

Polo", 2/28/08 [4]

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Somerhalder"
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