Former Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder has opened up about his decision to leave his acting career behind for a farm.
The 45-year-old is best known for playing Damon Salvatore in The CW's supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries, however he also starred in TV drama Lost and played Dr. Luther Swann in V Wars - a sci-fi horror series by Netflix.
So, how come he decided to give up his successful acting career and trade the rolling hills of Hollywood for the rolling hills of a farm?
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Catch the trailer for a documentary he recently executive produced here:
Somerhalder first stepped into the TV and film industry in 2000 when he starred in a spin-off version of Dawson's Creek called Young Americans.
However, it was when he went on to get cast in Lost in 2004 when his career really took off.
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The role led him to star in several movies and of course, take on one of the main roles in iconic series The Vampire Diaries which he received several Teen Choice and People's Choice Awards for.
But Somerhalder ultimately decided that despite his success as an actor, it wasn't what he wanted out of life, revealing to E! News in an interview on 11 January at the screening of documentary movie Common Ground exactly why.
Somerhalder explained he did 'love' acting 'for a really long time' but ultimately he 'just did it for so long'.
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He notes he had 'an amazing run' and still looks back on the people he worked with on Vampire Diaries as a type of 'family' with a strong sense of 'community,' but living on a farm is his '2.0 version'.
"And about to be 3.0 version," he added.
However, just because Somerhalder has moved to a farm and left his acting career behind, doesn't mean he's turned his back on TV and film completely.
As well as entering the world of agriculture and being more at one with nature in living surrounded by it, Somerhalder and his partner - fellow actor Nikki Reed, best known for her role as Rosalie Hale in The Twilight Saga - are executive producers on Common Ground.
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The 2023 release is a documentary about 'regenerative agriculture'.
Reed said: "When you see the way that nature operates, you find compassion. It's a beautiful thing to see what's happening with children, to watch them participate in the growing of their food and the understanding of what food is and where it comes from."
She resolves her and Somerhalder's decision to uproot from Hollywood and move to a farm is 'a way of living so much simpler'.
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