Ian Somerhalder is feeling very reflective lately.
In September, the actor celebrated not solely the fifteenth anniversary of his hit sequence The Vampire Diaries but in addition the twentieth anniversary of Lost.
Talking with PEOPLE solely about his newest partnership with Nutro for the corporate’s first-of-its-kind farmers marketplace for canines, the actor, 45, appears to be like again on the hit ABC series that marked certainly one of his first breakout roles. (Warning: Spoilers forward.)
Somerhalder recollects that the job was a “very humbling expertise” particularly as his character Boone skilled the primary main character loss of life in season 1. Although his Boone comes again a number of occasions for visitor appearances all through the sequence, the actor says his preliminary exit was actually onerous on him on the time.
“Dropping that, I used to be the primary one solid and the primary one killed, that was a kind of robust tablet to swallow,” he explains. Nevertheless, there was a vibrant aspect as his temporary time filming in Hawaii additional impressed his ardour for environmental conservation.
“I set to work on lots of reef conservation,” he explains. “I set to work on lots of soil and water conservation even there. That is 2004, I used to be already doing this, my voice simply wasn’t as huge. Lower to 2005, [I] left Misplaced, which was humbling. After which very starting of 2009 got here Vampire Diaries. And that was a rocket ship. Initially, it was a really, very, very younger viewers, however that viewers matured and it received greater and greater.”
He provides that “streaming modified the sport” for each Misplaced and The Vampire Diaries, introducing a complete new viewers of individuals to his work, each on and off display screen.
“[The Vampire Diaries] now has been seen by virtually like 1.2 billion individuals globally,” he notes. “So for those who simply run these numbers, you kind of step again for a second and take into consideration that, there’s 8 billion individuals on the planet, so it is roughly about one-eighth of the individuals strolling the face of the planet have by some means interfaced with this IP, the story. They have been affected by it, possibly they’ve seen it, heard about it. That is an unparalleled platform. So for those who can chain hyperlink some information and fervour collectively for me, animals and soil well being regeneration at a really massive scale, that is going to be fairly substantial.”
Somerhalder provides that he feels “huge gratitude” for exhibits like Misplaced and The Vampire Diaries as they gave him a platform to discuss initiatives near his coronary heart. “That path has gotten me to the place I really feel most genuine anyway, which is in a pair of cowboy boots, feeding the cows and operating horses.”
Whereas Somerhalder is tremendous grateful for his previous roles, he notes his principal precedence these days is off display screen. “August nineteenth makes 5 years since I used to be professionally on digicam as an actor/producer,” he explains. “I stepped away from that after V Wars to construct these firms, launch movies like Kiss the Floor, Frequent Floor and Floor Swell and raise my kids. I keep in mind sitting with my administration speaking about this, saying, ‘Hey, that is the one factor I’ve ever recognized that is ever sustained my household, and I am strolling away from it,’ at this kind of peak, might have gone and achieved something, however these partnerships imply far more to me.”
“I say this in all humility, in all respect, however I’d a lot relatively do that than go spend two months in some metropolis, capturing a TV present away from my household or transporting my household backwards and forwards,” he continues.
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“When you attain a sure stage, you’re like, ‘Okay, I wish to deal with household and the way forward for farming and meals and vitality and the massive issues.’ I need not chase awards and something that might make me really feel higher about myself,” he says.
“The actual fact now’s I get to companion with individuals which are launching issues just like the Larger Floor initiative the place they’re actually holding the arms and investing in these teams of individuals, these farmers which are really creating this meals that our pets and us eat. That is large,” he provides. “So that you go and also you do all these fancy issues and also you notice on the finish of it, it is the grounding stuff that issues.”