You may recognize him from the short-lived, yet popular TV series Young Americans. Or maybe as the face of the Guess? ads, in which he was featured for two years. With a modeling career that began at the age of 10, Ian Somerhalder's childhood wasn't exactly run-of-the-mill. Instead of going to camp in the summer like so many of his peers, he and his mother would travel from his hometown of New Orleans to New York so he could model. By the time he was in high school, his modeling career had him traveling through Europe.

Modeling for Somerhalder, however, is now a thing of the past. Currently he is living in Los Angeles, focusing on a promising acting career, which is where his heart really lies. While modeling at the age of 17, Somerhalder started to study with an acting coach. "I knew that modeling just wasn't my thing. It was amazing to be able to travel around and make money and meet a lot of wonderful people, but it just wasn't where I was going to end up." He took two years off to dedicate entirely to study acting (without even auditioning). It wasn't even until after a year and a half of auditions that he got his first role. "Nothing happened to me overnight," he says of acting. "It was a whole process."

Now 22, Somerhalder has been living in Los Angeles for about a year. "It's a really weird time - I'm not 15, I'm not 25. I'm not this young teenage kid, yet I'm not this adult man either. It's a very hard place to be in." Regardless, his next project, Life as a House, certainly sounds promising. Scheduled for release in November, the film is directed by Irwin Winkler (producer of Rocky and Goodfellas) and stars Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Mary Steenburgen.

Apart from acting, Somerhalder is also a screenwriter. "I want to write, direct, and produce," he answers when asked about his future goals, adding that he never wants to stop acting. "I just want to focus on learning. I want to be on as many sets with as many great people as possible, and do really great work, and that's pretty much it," he says with conviction.

from: BRNTWD, August. 2001.