Alternative Press Magazine
January 2003
So it was written
name > Ian Somerhalder age > 23 HQ > Los Angeles, CA
Guess ads and gay-pinup status aside, former model
IAN SOMERHALDER
is more brains than beauty, as Scott Steinberg discovers.
You may know him from >
The Rules of Attraction, where he plays Paul Denton, the lustful lothario hot for James Van Der Beek; Life as a House, as the enigmatic Josh; Changing Hearts' disillusioned Jason Kelly; and MTV's Anatomy of a Hate Crime.
You'll see him soon in >
The World War II thriller U-Boat, making off-color "seaman" puns alongside William H. Macy, Til Schweiger and Lauren Holly. Captured by Germans? Break out ze beer and lederhosen!
Never Judge a book by its cover- or pretty face by the fact that it's had a career posing for rich prima donnas. Former Guess model Ian Somerhalder happily turned his back on high fashion for a promising flirtation with Tinseltown - only now he's having trouble fitting in.
"There are two types of people in Los Angeles: young Hollywood and old. And young Hollywood is freaky," Somerhalder grumbles. "No one really knows themselves yet, but there's this strange set that just wants to go out and be seen. I just don't walk that walk."
Despite the rabblerousing attitude, Somerhalder hasn't been at a loss for work - hence his recent big-screen gig alongside Shannyn Sossamon and the teen idol formerly known as Dawson in The Rules Of Attraction. Working his way up from the WB, where he acted in the short-lived series Young Americans, to critical acclaim in Life As A House, the fresh faced but worldly Somerhalder has also branched out into indie films, appearing in Changing Hearts with Lauren Holly and Faye Dunaway. So far he hasn't regretted a career move - except maybe for locking lips with James Van Der Beek in Rules. Says Somerhalder, "I never want to go through that again."
But with a perpetual need to express himself, he can't avoid the limelight for long: Somerhalder is currently penning up two screenplays and working on the upcoming wartime flick U-Boat. Not bad for a dude from nondescript Covington, Louisiana, who simply wants to see his own scripts - "intellectual thrillers that tap into the human subconscious" - picked up for national distribution.
That doesn't mean a self described "boring" personality who prefers spending time at home with his dogs doesn't know how to rock. "Yeah, I used to party," he says with a chuckle, "but it got to be all I did. I had to give it up - it can be overwhelming, you know." Besides, he has better reasons for avoiding bars these days. "I'm such a music freak that if I go out and can't stand the music that's being played, I practically wig out."
Still, you can't keep a good animal down. Groans Somerhalder, "One time, I'd just come back from Europe and gotten paid for a job in cash. My buddies demanded we go straight to the bar. They had this thing called the Tijuana Special - right then, I should have known something was wrong. I drank until I thought I was going to die."
I'll get a better scan of this when I have time to sit down and play with it more. These 2 pagers are beastly to try to scan and post!