Ian Joseph Somerhalder was born December 8, 1978 in Covington, Louisiana. He is an American actor, male fashion model and producer.

Boating, swimming, fishing and training horses filled much of his recreational time growing up, as did the school drama club and performing with the local theater group. With his mother's encouragement, at age 10 he began a modeling career that took him to New York each summer. By junior high, he opted to put modeling on the back burner and focus more on sports and school.

A few years later, when the opportunity to model in Europe arose, Somerhalder grabbed it, embarking on an enriching path of work, travel and study that took him to cities including Paris, Milan and London. At 17, he began studying acting in New York, and by 19 had committed himself to the craft, working with preeminent acting coach William Esper. His fate was sealed while working as an extra in a club scene in the feature film Black & White(1999).

A talent manager visiting a client on the set spotted Somerhalder in a crowd scene of 400 and immediately signed him for representation. Happy to be anchored in New York, Somerhalder spends much of his time studying acting, writing and practicing yoga. His recreational interests include water and snow skiing and horseback riding.

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. In 2006 he starred in Pulse, a remake of the Japanese horror movie Kairo, with Kristen Bell and Christina Millian.

Most recently, Somerhalder guest starred as Nick in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me.

Filmography

• The Tournament (2008)
• The Lost Samaritan (2008)
• "Tell Me You Love Me" (6 episodes, 2007)
• "Lost" (28 episodes, 2004-2007)
• Marco Polo (2007)
• The Sensation of Sight (2006)
• Pulse (2006)
• TV: The Movie (2006)
• Recess (2004)
• The Old Man and the Studio (2004)
• "Smallville" (6 episodes, 2004)
• In Enemy Hands (2004)
• Fearless (2004)
• "CSI: Miami" (1 episode, 2003)
• "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1 episode, 2003)
• The Rules of Attraction (2002)
• "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (1 episode, 2002)
• Changing Hearts (2002)
• Life as a House (2001)
• Anatomy of a Hate Crime (2001)
• "Young Americans" (8 episodes, 2000)
• "Now and Again" (1 episode, 1999)
• Celebrity (1998)
• "The Big Easy" (1 episode, 1997)