Star Magazine
November 2000
future star
IAN SOMERHALDER
From the creators of Dawson's Creek
comes Young Americans,
an eight-part drama show set in an all-boys prep school. And from this show
comes an array of new cuties to dribble over. None of them come any hotter than
blue-eyed boy, Ian Somerhalder. The 21-year-old plays Hamilton Fleming, son of
the college dean: a brooding outsider in sexual turmoil.
Starting him young, Ian's mother encouraged her son to get involved with
modelling, and so from the tender age of 10, he was yo-yo-ing between his
Louisiana home and New York. By the time he was 17, he had moved to Europe to
pursue a full-time modelling career. And very successful he was too, travelling
the world and scoring major campaigns with fashion giants Versace and Guess.
His first big break came when he worked as an extra in the film,
Black and White. Ian was
spotted (out of a crowd of 400, no less) by a talent scout, who instantly signed
him.
Ian has always been interested in acting, having studied it at school and worked
with respected acting coach, William Esper. For him, acting is about "exploring
different parts of yourself and different emotional lives...not to hide from who
you are, but to explore who you are." There's plenty of exploration goin' on in
Young Americans when
his character gets into a snog-up situation with a girl who's pretending to be a
boy. "Oh my God, I think I'm gay!" exclaims Hamilton. Ian himself is
philosophical about love: "I'm constantly in search of how or when you know
it's right," and he's come to the conclusion that there's no easy answer, but
he'll have some fun while he's figuring it out!
Ian has big plans for the future with his sights set on producing and
directing. At the moment he's also writing a screenplay which he describes as
"a parody on beauty," but for the time being at least, he's concentrating on
Young Americans. If
you don't have access to cable channel, Trouble, don't fret - Channel 5 have
bought the show and will be showing sometime next year. Watch this space!