The CW may no longer be the YA channel that everyone knew and loved, but thanks to streaming, fans are able to relive some of their favorite shows, including The Vampire Diaries. The beloved teen supernatural drama may be among the shows that lost their way towards the end, but it remains a cultural phenomenon even eight years after it ended. The series' fanbase has some famous viewers too, including Kylie Jenner, and Ian Somerhalder couldn’t help but respond when he saw that the reality star was binge-watching the show.

The entrepreneur took to her Instagram Stories (via People) to reveal that she was watching TVD. Like many, Jenner weighed in on the Team Damon and Team Stefan debate, revealing that she was, at least for the moment, leaning towards Paul Wesley’s Stefan Salvatore. She shared just how far into the eight-season series she was, and seeing that, I think it's quite possible her tune could change:

Jenner is one of the many people who are on Team Stefan, and even to this day, that debate still continues. Despite Somerhalder calling Damon one of the best-written characters, even he couldn’t help but agree with The Kardashians star.

He responded to Jenner’s Instagram Story to give his thoughts on that matter and wish her a happy birthday. He also promoted the documentary film Common Ground, which is streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription and features Somerhalder:

I love that Somerhalder didn’t need to respond to the Instagram Story, but he wanted to, further proving that no matter how much time has passed, The Vampire Diaries will always be close to his heart. And the responses didn’t stop there. Jenner reposted the actor’s reply and was as excited as ever, and I can’t blame her:

I also wouldn’t blame Kylie Jenner if this ended up pushing her to Team Damon, but she is only in Season 3, so she still has plenty of time to switch sides if that ever comes up. I think that could happen too, since Somerhalder responded to Jenner’s post one more time, writing:

While Somerhalder is still on that TVD high, it’s unknown whether the show will ever be revived. Creator Julie Plec has stated before that she has plans to keep the universe going after Legacies was canceled, so it’s possible that even if Vampire Diaries doesn’t get revived, fans could be revisiting that world eventually. Nothing is confirmed, however.

But, at least fans are able to watch the show with an HBO Max subscription, which seems to be working just fine for Jenner and probably a lot of other viewers.

It’s been 15 years since fans were first introduced to The Vampire Diaries, Mystic Falls and all the supernatural beings living there. The series has held up as one of the best supernatural teen dramas, and Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev are still beloved for playing Stefan, Damon and Elena, respectively. However, before all that, Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore nearly went to someone else, and that someone was the man who wound up playing Stefan, Paul Wesley.

Wesley's Stefan and Somerhalder's Damon are arguably two of the best reasons to watch TVD. However, it took a while to find the perfect pair to play the vampire brothers. Creator Julie Plec recently made that very clear as she told The Hollywood Reporter what the casting process was like.

The story begins with her and her team being interested in Somerhalder, because they had liked him in Young Americans. However, she said he "tanked" his audition, so they had to look at other options. That's when the idea of Wesley playing Damon came up, however, that was quickly shot down as she explained:

Wesley is the perfect Stefan. However, I can understand why the network floated the idea of him playing Damon, especially since he was such a standout and Somerhalder's audition didn't go as well as planned. With that said though, the reasoning for not wanting him as Damon also makes sense since he doesn’t fit the look and personality they had in mind for older Salvatore brother.

Plec went on to say that they didn't know if they'd made the right choice at first when they cast Wesley as Stefan and Somerhalder as Damon. However, they quickly realized that those worries weren't necessary, as she explained:

It is interesting to know that Plec and Williamson weren’t really on board with Paul Wesley as Stefan until filming started. It also makes me wonder how he would have done as Damon, but we'll never know, and that might be a good thing.

Ultimately, Wesley beat out other actors for Stefan for a reason, and Ian Somerhalder was given a second chance as Damon, and it worked out perfectly.

However, even if things worked out perfectly, Wesley didn’t always think he’d be able to stick around. Last year, he opened up about how he thought he’d get fired during the first few years of TVD. Since the show didn’t necessarily revolve around just one main character, the young cast knew that they were replaceable. The Stefan actor admitted that while his co-stars, most of whom were in their 20s, were out partying and coming in to work late and hungover, he was serious and stayed home to study his lines to ensure he didn't lose the gig.

Well, that mindset worked, as he led the TVD cast until it ended. And to this day, he's asked about the potential to return as Stefan.

Even if it took a while, all roads led back to Paul Wesley and Stefan, and it’s a darn good thing they did. These days, Wesley may be part of the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and other projects, but he will always be remembered and loved for The Vampire Diaries, which can be streamed with a Max subscription or Peacock subscription.

The cast of The Vampire Diaries apparently has a running joke about how much Justin Bieber resembles one of its stars, Paul Wesley. The conversation — and photos comparing the two — resurfaced recently when Wesley’s former co-star Ian Somerhalder posted pics to celebrate the Biebs’ impending child with wife Hailey. However, it turns out Wesley’s not the only Salvatore brother with a celebrity doppelgänger, because Chace Crawford of The Boys recently admitted that fans have mistaken him for Somerhalder.

Chace Crawford sat down with some of his co-stars from The Boys — which wrapped its fourth season last week in a wild and twisty finale — where they answered some of the most-searched questions about themselves. When The Deep actor was asked who he looks like, Crawford was able to answer pretty quickly, saying on the WIRED video: 

Wow, I can totally see how fans might have gotten Chace Crawford confused for Ian Somerhalder, especially since Crawford sported a longer hairstyle back in his Gossip Girl days. I’m sure it didn’t help that they were both starring on teen dramas on The CW either. Just take a look at the actors side-by-side: 

I actually think these two might resemble each other more than Justin Bieber and Paul Wesley, so I wonder if that’s something that ever came up with Ian Somerhalder on The Vampire Diaries set.

It sounds like Chace Crawford didn’t even correct the fans over the mistaken identity, either, and I have to wonder if there are photos out there of people who thought they were posing with Damon Salvatore but actually got Nate Archibald. (Not that that would be something to complain about!)

The situation Chace Crawford found himself in isn’t actually all that rare. Many other celebrities have spoken out about being mistaken for someone else, including Kelly Clarkson, who doesn’t look like Carrie Underwood but still autographed Underwood’s name for a fan who got their music mixed up. The “Before He Cheats” singer does, however, resemble Reese Witherspoon, causing the two to fangirl over each other when the confusion happened.

Twisters star Glen Powell, meanwhile, says he’s been mixed up with This Is Us’ Justin Hartley, but Powell — unlike Chace Crawford — does make sure to correct any fans who may think they’re taking a pic with someone else.

The Vampire Diaries fans loved seeing Ian Somerhalder call back to Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley saying Justin Bieber was their love child, and now you can throw Somerhalder in there too with having a Hollywood look-alike. You can catch that look-alike on The Boys, which is available to stream with an Amazon Prime subscription. Be sure to take a look at our 2024 TV schedule as well to see all of the upcoming premieres. 

It’s pretty amusing when you find two celebrities who look enough alike that they get confused for each other. Reese Witherspoon and Carrie Underwood, for example, were flattered to find out people think they resemble each other. Hit Man star Glen Powell, meanwhile, has said he gets confused for This Is Us’ Justin Hartley. Some comparisons are just too easy not to make, and that’s been the case for Paul Wesley and Justin Bieber. For years people have noted their similarities, and I love that the running joke continues with Wesley’s former co-stars from The Vampire Diaries. 

Ian Somerhalder Post Reignites Doppelgänger Conversation 

In a recent Instagram post, Ian Somerhalder had everyone drooling over the Salvatore brothers again, when he posted a throwback photo of himself with … Justin Bieber? It was, in fact, the Biebs and not Paul Wesley — who played Damon’s younger brother Stefan on The Vampire Diaries — in the photo, which you can see below: 

By posting that photo, Ian Somerhalder appeared to be referencing Justin Bieber and wife Hailey expecting their first child by referring to them in the caption as “two dads hanging out,” but what makes it so hilarious is how much Bieber resembled a young Paul Wesley back then. In fact, plenty of commenters on the photo actually did think it was Wesley, causing a lot of confusion amongst the fans. 

The Stefan portrayer himself even weighed in, with Paul Wesley writing:

The best part of this to me is that The Vampire Diaries cast is still recalling this running joke that we first became aware of so many years ago. 

The Vampire Diaries Cast Have Joked For Years About Paul Wesley And Justin Bieber 

The resemblance between the actor and the “Love Yourself” singer is nothing new. In fact, it drew a lot of attention when it was pointed out by E! News in 2020, and it wasn’t just the fans who agreed. Paul Wesley jokingly confirmed a genetic connection to Justin Bieber when he commented: 

Nina Dobrev, who co-starred on The Vampire Diaries with Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, took it a step further when she tagged the Stefan actor in her own comment, saying: 

That was already enough to send TVD fans into fits three years after the beloved CW show ended its run, but Paul Wesley had one more response, seemingly reaching out to their son, aka Justin Bieber, to say: 

If these bonding moments between the former co-stars have you missing all the supernatural teen drama, you can stream all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries on two of the best streaming services — Max and Peacock. Also be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what other series are premiering soon. 

Did you know Twilight’s Nikki Reed and The Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder are married? Yep, it’s pretty much the best fictional vampire union to happen! The couple exchanged vows back in 2015 and have two kids together. While the pair have opted to leave Hollywood in recent years to live a much quieter life on a farm, they aren't totally out of touch with the happenings of the world at large. Reed, for her part, just joined TikTok and did so by sharing a video of her and Somerhalder, which included the perfect homage to their days playing bloodsuckers.

Nikki Reed shared her first TikTok by sharing her and Ian Somerhalder’s own take on the “Out of My League” trend that’s been all over the social media platform as of late. Take a look at the delightful video below:

Tons of couples have been using the hit song from Fitz and the Tantrums to stage their partner bumping into them before embracing for a sweet and romantic moment. The Sleepy Hollow alum chose to do the trend with her husband of almost nine years, but with a twist their fans will appreciate. Halfway through the video, it cuts to a clip of both Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale in Twilight and Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries before he dips her for a kiss. She followed up the video with this second part: 

Of course, both videos have already gone viral and, honestly, what a great video of the couple as she joins TikTok! Ian Somerhalder, who has been on the platform for some time now, commented on the first video by saying, “You are my Roman Empire!!!!!” They are honestly so cute, and you gotta love how they're willing to play into their vampire personas. The actress cleverly captioned the first video with “Cc Emmett Cullen” and called her husband a “wannabe vampire” in the second part of the video, where she pretends to be creeped out by him. 

Nikki Reed was the first of the pair to don those proverbial vampire teeth when she played the salty sister to Edward Cullen in 2008’s Twilight, which is based on Stephanie Meyer’s phenom of a book franchise. Just one year later, The Vampire Diaries premiered on The CW, with Ian Somerhalder starring alongside Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley. Somerhalder has previously talked about how he wouldn’t have been a vampire on TV if it wasn’t for Twilight’s success, saying the series “rode on the coattails of that theatrical success.” 

Since both actors had some pretty wild journeys playing fanged individuals for many years and within properties with massive fanbases, they probably had plenty of shared experiences they could discuss when they reportedly met in 2014. Nowadays, Nikki Reed remains in contact with her Twilight cast and both of them juggle multiple businesses, including Ian Somerhalder’s liquor brand with Paul Wesley. 

Now, I can’t wait to see if the couple get on more TikTok trends now that the both of them are on the social media app. I imagine that if they could probably come up with some other creative posts if they put their heads together.

There have been a slew of celebrities who have exited Hollywood in recent years in search of different lifestyles. For Mark Wahlberg’s family, Las Vegas offered a slew of activities outside of the limelight. For Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves, the Malibu paparazzi led them to seek refuge in Texas. Chris Hemsworth wanted projects to come to him in Australia rather than the other way around. And Ian Somerhalder and his fellow former vampire wife Nikki Reed just left Los Angeles for a bit of land of their own. The question is: Does The Vampire Diaries see a return to the TV schedule in his future? 

Both Somerhalder and Reed appeared on the red carpet recently for Common Ground, a documentary about agriculture processes and improving our world that also features other stars like Jason Momoa, Donald Glover, Laura Dern and even Woody Harrelson. The two are able to speak confidently in the documentary after moving miles away from Los Angeles to farmland where they grow some of their own food and crops, including cucumbers, rosemary and lavender. But does the former CW star miss any of the trappings of Hollywood? He told E!:   

I’m not sure if that “3.0 version” comment had to do with the life they are building or another sort of  plan for the future. The parents of two declined to elaborate further on what the comment meant–-though it’s clear acting won’t be involved. 

He and wife Nikki Reed spent the majority of the interview talking about sustainability and the things they enjoy getting to watch their children grow up in the natural world. Reed’s been pretty open about cutting Somerhalder’s hair for him and being more homebodies in the past, as well. They are living off the land more and more as time passes, and it seems they don't really miss their Hollywood past.

Reed went on to say she wishes they had “more time,” however, given they are currently running multiple businesses, including a bourbon brand Somerhalder runs with TVD co-star Paul Wesley. So, it sounds like even if there was a desire to act again, they might not have the bandwidth. Both actors stopped acting a little over four years ago, after appearing in V-Wars together. 

Along with occasionally having his name bandied about to play certain Marvel characters, recently, there have been rumblings from the A Court of Thorns And Roses franchise that Ian Somerhalder would make the perfect Rhysand – or at least he would have during his TVD era. Now that he’s 45, he doesn’t really fit the twenties-ish description the High Fae are supposed to resemble (despite being hundreds of years old). 

Not that Somerhalder has aged out of Hollywood in general. I’m sure there are plenty of roles out there for the seemingly retired actor should he ever want to get back in the game. But given he doesn't "miss" any of it, that doesn't sound like it will be the path for the TVD star's future.

What do actors and models have in common? Well, for the most part, having “the look” will get you in the door in either profession rather quickly. However, for the purposes of the list you’re about to peruse, it just so happens that these Hollywood stars managed to work both sides of that scenario. And as expected, these models-turned-actors have done so with style. 

Mark Wahlberg

Before starring in movies ranging from Boogie Nights to The Family Plan, Mark Wahlberg was known as a rapper and a Calvin Klein model. Showing off his buff body in underwear ads helped give the aspiring star his start in the entertainment industry, with Mark shifting into acting just as his boy-band brother Donnie eventually did. 

Rebecca Romijn

In a career that saw her on Vogue magazine covers and in Victoria’s Secret campaigns, Rebecca Romijn put the “super” in “supermodel.” And then, in a move that only further strengthened that statement, she took her first acting gig as Mystique in X-Men, kickstarting a career that’s led to such fantastic parts as that of Number One on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. 

Tyrese Gibson

Ads for Coca-Cola, Guess, and Tommy Hilfiger had Tyrese Gibson primed for stardom, and gigs on TV shows like Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper and Martin soon followed. But depending on who you ask, it was either Baby Boy or 2 Fast 2 Furious that caused Gibson’s star to rise to the heights it’s at today. 

Halle Berry

It’s no surprise that Halle Berry did some modeling in her entertainment career, as her beauty has always been well renowned. But rather than going for traditional ad campaign work, the future star of X-Men and James Bond movies was a contestant in both the Miss USA and Miss World pageants. 

Jamie Dornan

Prepare for a rollercoaster ride, folks. Jamie Dornan, actor known for everything from Fifty Shades of Grey to A Haunting in Venice, was not only a model…he was part of a reality show that helped get him the gig. Channel 4’s Model Behaviour led to some gigs with Abercrombie & Fitch and Tommy Hilfiger, which eventually made way for Dornan to be discovered by Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. 

Cara Delevingne

We’ve seen Cara Delevingne do everything from John Green adaptations like Paper Towns to DCEU juggernauts such as Suicide Squad. And with a foundation of modeling for Vogue Italia, Tory Burch, and Donna Karan under her belt, the American Horror Story: Delicate star never really gave up her day job, as her modeling continued along with her acting efforts.

Channing Tatum

There was probably a time when people staring at random Armani ads featuring Channing Tatum thought, “I wonder if he can act?” With a resume that has titles like Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street, and Foxcatcher  to boast about, it’s probably safe to say that the answer is a confident “Yes!”

Jaime King

As a young model, Jaime King saw herself making a splash with Vogue, Seventeen, and pretty much any other fashion publication of note you could think of. 2001’s Happy Campers was all it took to help her jump into the acting world, which saw her play some impressive parts in Sin City’s screen adaptation, Fox’s The O.C., and even the voice of Solus Prime in the series Transformers: Power of the Primes.

Shemar Moore

S.W.A.T. star and all around heartthrob Shemar Moore actually had his own moment in the spotlight of modeling. Through catalog jobs with Macy’s and magazine shoots for GQ, among other opportunities, this man of action continues to engage in some modeling here and there; which only brings his fans that much more joy. 

Devon Aoki

Movie fans might recognize Devon Aoki from her standout roles in both Sin City and 2 Fast 2 Furious, but believe it or not her modeling career is the stronger of the two streams she’s dipped her toes into. Brands and magazines alike have showcased her talents in the industry, with Balenciaga and Harper’s Bazaar calling themselves a part of her storied body of work.

James Marsden

Jury Duty and Sonic the Hedgehog star James Marsden feels like the type of guy that’d be a model, right? How couldn’t he, with a smile like that? Well, if the world didn’t know it before his 2011 interview on Ellen, Ms. DeGeneres helped bring that aspect of his career to light; along with the pictures to prove it.

Gal Gadot

Jaguar, Maxim, and Gucci are only some of the brands and publications that Fast Saga star Gal Gadot has modeled for. This Heart of Stone lead eventually saw herself courted by Hollywood in the early-Aughts, thanks to auditions for Quantum of Solace that saw Gal compete with Olga Kurylenko for the role of Bond woman Camille. 

Antonio Sabàto Jr.

Calvin Klein was the name of the brand that gave actor Antonio Sabàto Jr. his start in the public eye, as underwear modeling was his first claim to fame. Eventually, projects like General Hospital, Earth 2, and even a Janet Jackson music video would see Antonio becoming an acting talent that continued to capitalize on their dreamy good looks. 

Charlize Theron

Even after winning her first Academy Award for Monster, and landing big ticket franchise like the Fast Saga, Charlize Theron still managed to fit in some modeling for Dior into her busy schedule. Which is absolutely fitting, considering that Theron got a jump start on her entertainment resume as a teen model throughout Europe in the ‘90s.

Mehcad Brooks

Fans of Law & Order and Supergirl’s Mehcad Brooks may want to brace themselves for what we’re about to tell them. Before Mr. Brooks was a part of worlds where superheroes and top cops reign supreme, he made a killing as a Calvin Klein underwear model; much like Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Sabàto Jr, and Djimon Hounsou.

Milla Jovovich

Before becoming an ace action star/zombie destroyer in the Resident Evil movies, Milla Jovovich found herself in another profession: muse. As an inspiration to designer Miuccia Prada, in addition to the star of shoots with acclaimed photographers such as Herb Ritts, Jovovich built a prolific career as a model; long before she would eventually be deemed a “Supreme Being” once again in 1995’s The Fifth Element.

Tyson Beckford

Before movies such as Biker Boyz and appearances on The Celebrity Dating Game and Match Game saw Tyson Beckford become an actor and personality, he saw himself engaged in another profession cut from similar cloth. Namely, Beckford was a model for magazines like The Source, as well as designer Ralph Lauren’s Polo brand.

Brooklyn Decker

The career of Brooklyn Decker started off with a huge splash, as both Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret employed the future actor as a star model. Eventually, playing a lead in the Adam Sandler film Just Go with It put Decker on the map; which led to a pretty sweet long term gig as one of the stars of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. 

Ian Somerhalder

Lost star and vampire extraordinaire Ian Somerhalder practiced looking ridiculously good looking in the modeling world, before parlaying it into roles that headed up projects like The CW’s The Vampire Diaries. Among the various brands that saw Somerhalder posing for greatness high end names like Nautica and Versace. 

Iman

In the modeling world, brands and magazines like Vogue, Calvin Klein, and Halston all called upon the mythic talents of the great Iman. Yves Saint-Laurent’s “dream woman” would eventually find the acting profession calling, and would heed its siren song through opportunities like the Kevin Costner thriller No Way Out, as well as a memorable spot in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Tom Welling

Even handsome men from Smallville manage to find themselves gracing campaigns for the usual glizy subjects. Former Clark Kent Tom Welling knows that first hand, as working with Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein would put him on the map to become a Superman for another generation. 

Tyra Banks

Long before Tyra Banks was trying to help find America’s Next Top Model, she was practically living her life under that very title. Through Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, Victoria’s Secret campaigns, and cover shoots for Elle and Vogue, Banks’ reputation as an in demand beauty eventually saw her jumping into acting gigs like a recurring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

Kellan Lutz

Vampires seem to make for good fashion models. Or should we reverse that statement? In either case, Kellan Lutz would be covered big time. Known as one of the Cullen family in The Twilight Saga, Lutz had also done some modeling before becoming one of the sparkling undead.

Kate Upton

Roles in The Three Stooges, The Disaster Artist and Robot Chicken have seen model Kate Upton active in the sphere of acting entertainment. However, her big start came from popularity stemming from cover shoots for Vanity fair, as well as modeling for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. 

Djimon Hounsou

Actor Djimon Hounsou has been known to battle it out heroically throughout various universes and time periods, making huge appearances in Gladiator, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Rebel Moon. But in addition to racking up such heavy hitting acts on his resume, the Academy Award nominee has also done some modeling for Calvin Klein underwear in the midst of his busy run.

Famke Janssen

Both the world of the X-Men movies, as well the James Bond legacy have called upon Famke Janssen’s skills as a performer. That run of good fortune actually came after she retired from modeling, which saw her lending her talents to campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent and Victoria’s Secret throughout the ‘80s.

Kofi Siriboe

Girls Trip and Queen Sugar star Kofi Siriboe is known as both an actor and an all around smokeshow in entertainment. And part of the reason the young actor has come so far so fast is thanks to childhood experience in the world of modeling campaigns!

Elle Macpherson

Everything from brands like Tab to magazines such as Elle and ads for Christian Dior have seen model Elle Macpherson gracing their campaigns for glory. And that was a perfect launching pad for Elle’s acting ambitions, which saw her hosting Saturday Night Live as well as appearing in movies such as Batman & Robin and The Edge throughout the ‘90s.

Robert Pattinson

While the world mostly knows Robert Pattinson for his acting gigs in the Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Batman franchises, you may be surprised to know that he actually did some modeling in his youth. Though he left that world behind a while back, that hasn’t stopped Pattinson from picking up some campaigns for brands like Dior Men from the Batcave.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Levi’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Teen Vogue were crucial starts to the career of model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and those pillars suited her well when continuing to be a world class icon. However, Rosie dipped her toes in the world of acting, through roles in both Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Ashton Kutcher

How’s this for a start to a promising career? The late ‘90s saw Ashton Kutcher landing key gigs in both modeling and acting, with the former getting him started through Calvin Klein campaigns. It’s not hard to see how acting won out, as That ‘70s Show was the acting job that happened to land in his lap around the same time.

Elizabeth Hurley

The world has come to know and love Elizabeth Hurley in her capacity as an actor, throughout a career that’s seen her star in the Austin Powers franchise, as well as the remake of Bedazzled. But before she was selling Brendan Fraser’s soul, or fighting for peace with Mike Myers, Hurley was a model for the Estée Lauder brand. 

There you have it, lovers of modeling and acting talent! Keep these people in mind the next time you see a hot new star in either realm burning bright, for they could be the next exciting example of playing both sides, and looking exceptionally good in the process.

The late 2000’s were definitely dominated by vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures in the forms of Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. With the former taking over in both books and films, The Vampire Diaries found much success on The CW, running for eight seasons. Star Ian Somerhalder, who just so happens to be married to Twilight star Nikki Reed, is reflecting on how the major franchise impacted the drama series.

The Vampire Diaries made its debut on The CW just a year after Twilight initially hit theaters, so vampires were all the rage at the time. Ian Somerhalder, who portrayed bad boy vampire Damon Salvatore on TVD, spoke to E! News about Twilight’s success and how it kickstarted The Vampire Diaries:

It’s not surprising that Ian Somerhalder would think this because it’s very likely true. Twilight was THE franchise of the late 2000s/early 2010s. And while at the time, Supernatural was staying strong on The CW, TVD’s success was partly due to the Twilight craze. Having a vampire series come out at the time of a successful vampire movie franchise, the network was doing something right.

While Twilight possibly played a part in TVD’s success, the series became a staple on The CW, churning out not one but two successful spin-offs with The Originals and Legacies. Although Legacies was cancelled by the network this year as part of the “Red Wedding” of cancellations, creator Julie Plec has made sure to mention that this is not the end of the franchise as there are still many more stories to be told.

Meanwhile, the success of Twilight was not always a good thing, at least for Kristen Stewart. The actress, who portrayed Bella Swan in the book-to-movie adaptations, recently opened up about her first paparazzi experience at the peak of her Twilight fame. However, Stewart has mentioned she looks back at the movies and reminisces about how cool they were, though Ashley Greene brought up the drama that happened on the set of the Twilight films earlier this year. So not everything was sparkly behind-the-scenes, but at least the franchise is still successful to this day.

If it wasn’t for the successes of Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder, who both played vampires in their respective projects, likely would have never found each other. The two actors began dating in 2014 and have been married since 2015. They are still going strong to this day, and last year, Reed even admitted to doing at-home haircuts for herself and her hubby. So it turns out vampires do have souls.  

The Twilight franchise is available to stream on Amazon Prime with a subscription, while The Vampire Diaries is available to stream on Netflix with a subscription up until September 3.

When The Vampire Diaries premiered on The CW over ten years ago, plenty of fans fell in love with bad boy vampire Damon Salvatore, played by Ian Somerhalder. While the character’s quick wit and brooding and sarcastic personality won over fans, it started to cause some issues for the show’s creators early on in the series.

In a new interview for EW's podcast “EW Binge,” TVD co-creators Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson discussed all things The Vampire Diaries Season 1, and the two shared what it was like having Damon as such a fan-favorite character when the series first started. While it was great that he was so loved, both Plec and Williamson admitted that they ran into some issues with the storyline, saying:

Damon Salvatore's villainous introduction didn't stop him from quickly becoming a fan-favorite, despite Paul Wesley's Stefan clearly being set up as the tortured but heroic Salvatore brother. The fan reaction surprised Julie Plec, as she thought they had created a villain, when in truth they created someone who Damon fans felt was simply misunderstood.

It's not surprising that fans immediately fell for Damon, as the “bad boy trope” has been used everywhere in shows and movies. However, recently, Julie Plec brought up the whole “bad boy” scenario and how different The Vampire Diaries would be if it were made today because of it. Even though fans fawned over Damon, his personality and relationship with Elena were toxic, and not healthy. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not a good guy deep down, as Elena changed him for the better. But it is pretty hilarious knowing how distraught the creators were when they realized just how popular Damon was when he was supposed to be an unpopular character. It’s always the villains that some fans have a soft spot for!

Damon Salvatore will always be a fan-favorite, and Ian Somerhalder is probably the only guy who can do it, but it does make you wonder just how different Damon would be had he not been a villain. If the roles were reversed for Damon and Stefan and Paul Wesley played Damon, would fans feel the same? Team Damon vs. Team Stefan might still be a thing!

The Vampire Diaries on The CW was often called the “Twilight of television.” But the vampire drama carved out its own diehard fanbase over its eight-season run for digging much deeper into the themes of betrayal, loneliness, regret, and love triangles with brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Ian Somerhalder, who became a fan-favorite playing Damon, revealed just how close another actor came to getting the iconic part over him.

If you watched The Vampire Diaries, you were probably either Team Stefan or Team Damon. (I was the latter for full journalistic transparency.) If we put territorial fan interests aside, hopefully we'd all agree that the idea of someone else playing Damon Salvatore sounds preposterous now. According to actor Ian Somerhalder on a recent Watch What Happens Live segment, however, it was closer to reality than some might imagine. He said,

This is the short and sweet version of how Ian Somerhalder came into the Damon Salvatore role on The Vampire Diaries, but it was actually much more down to the wire than even that. As co-creators Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson told it to EW in an oral history of the pilot, Somerhalder was “blowing it.” And apparently, Somerhalder still blew it in that final test, despite what he's saying now. Another actor was preferred, yet Williamson claimed he threatened to walk away from the show if Somerhalder wasn't Damon Salvatore. Plec and Peter Roth, president at Warner Brothers Television, ultimately decided to support his push for Somerhalder.

The rest is history, as they say. The Vampire Diaries went on to capture the hearts and minds of viewers all over, particularly through a lot of relationship changes and near-death shockers. But who was that actor that almost edged out Ian Somerhalder for the part of Damon Salvatore? Somerhalder himself remains cagey on that front. He said on Watch What Happens Live,

Supposedly, the other actor in question was a much bigger name actor than Ian Somerhalder was at the time. So it's interesting that Somerhalder can't seem to remember his name. We can at least rule out Paul Wesley (who ended up as Stefan), Zach Roerig (as Matt Donovan) and Michael Trevino (as Tyler Lockwood), who all auditioned to play Damon. Julie Plec shared with EW years ago that David Gallagher of 7th Heaven fame “impressed” them but that they were worried he wouldn’t “get past” the notoriety of his previous character. That would've certainly made for a completely different kind of Damon.

Nevertheless, the actor to play Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries can't be changed now. Neither can the storyline overall, no matter how much fans of Team Stefan might wish otherwise.

Say it isn’t so! Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, the actors who played bloodsucking brothers Damon and Stefan on The Vampire Diaries, were once locked in a battle to the death. Well, sort of. The on-screen brothers had one issue that came up between them as the long-running series was wrapping.

In a recent video interview with Mario Lopez on Access Hollywood, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley discussed the contentious issue they butted heads on during the filming of the series finale: which of the two vampire siblings would get the axe. Paul Wesley revealed:

Paul Wesley's Stefan was indeed the one to die, his death heartbreakingly coming shortly after finally marrying Candice King's Caroline. Ian Somerhalder wasn’t having it, though. Somerhalder took issue with Wesley's comment that he was jealous that Damon didn't get to die.

It’s definitely worth pointing out that there’s absolutely zero animosity between our favorite swoon-worthy vamps. When sharing the story of their fight for the finale, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley were promoting their new brand of bourbon, Brother’s Bond (prompting me to imagine what it would be like if Damon and Stefan ever tried to run a business together, and immediately burst out laughing).

Ultimately, as any fan of The Vampire Diaries will know, it was Stefan who perished in the series finale “I Was Feeling Epic” (and for good this time - no more resurrections). Damon, however, had become human (thanks to Bonnie) and lived the rest of his life married to Elena (Nina Dobrev).

While this was a happy ending for the Delena shippers, I can see Ian Somerhalder’s point. Damon and Stefan were such a unit throughout the show’s run that it was difficult to see their destinies lead them down different paths. Personally, I was pleased that Elena and Damon ended up together, but naming one of their children Stefanie isn’t exactly a perfect substitute for Stefan.

Unlike Stefan, however, The Vampire Diaries universe lives on. Legacies, airing on The CW, tells the story of Hope Mikaelson, the daughter of Klaus and Hailey. Her character originated on The Originals (see what I did there?), a previous spinoff of The Vampire Diaries. Legacies follows Hope as a teenager and features several characters that had been introduced on The Vampire Diaries, including Alaric, Lizzie, and Josie.

The third season of Legacies is currently airing on The CW on Thursdays at 8 pm ET, and the full runs of both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals are currently streaming on Netflix.

The Vampire Diaries came to an end on The CW in 2017 after eight seasons. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, who played vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore, teamed up once again, but for a different project. Now the two are revealing why they wanted to reunite for their very own liquor brand.

Nothing says friendship and family for life quite like alcohol. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley are getting ready to release their own liquor brand, Brother’s Bond Bourbon, which is sort of a callback to their time on the supernatural CW series. The two spoke to People about their brand, which they’ve been working on for 10 years:

The two actors began portraying the Brothers Salvatore in 2009 and while Damon and Stefan had their heated moments and the obvious love triangle with Nina Dobrev’s Elena, in the end, they had a bond that could not be broken. When Stefan ended up sacrificing himself so Damon could live a long life in the series finale, that only further proved the relationship, bond and chemistry the two had, not only on screen but off as well. Paul Wesley explained how different he and Ian Somerhalder are and how well opposites attract:

Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley’s Brother’s Bond Bourbon will be available in stores and online starting May 1. There were pre-orders but they sold out pretty quick, which means it’s bound to be delicious. Make sure to get your hands on a bottle when it’s released, if you’re of legal age!

If anyone’s team vampire, it’s Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder. Twilight’s Rosalie Hale and The Vampire Diaries’ Damon Salvatore have been a married couple for the past five years, and they have not shied away from returning to their fanged roots. Nowadays the couple has been remaining comfy at home like many of us to stop the spread of COVID-19, and while doing so Reed has employing some old family-learned skills for her husband and young daughter.

We all know a person or two who has opted for the quarantine haircut or decided to grow it all out instead of going to their hairdresser. Nikki Reed apparently has a homegrown option that’s quite impressive. In her words,

Nikki Reed told People she isn’t afraid to take out the scissors and snip away for herself and the family and the best part is how great it has turned out. She and The Vampire Diaries alum are going for longer and shaggier looks these days, but you would never have known they’ve been skipping the salons this past year. Check out a recent pic of Somerhalder from Instagram:

His hair is looking fab! Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed met one another following their separations from other high profile relationships. Somerhalder was dating Vampire Diaries costar Nina Dobrev and Reed was previously married to American Idol star Paul McDonald. The vampire actors got hitched in 2015 and welcomed their daughter Bodhi back in 2017. Now check out Nikki Reed these days:

She even went with the bangs? She’s seriously gifted in the haircut department; her mom must have taught her well. In addition to maintaining the hair in her household, Nikki Reed has decided to ditch the hot irons on her hair and wear her hair more naturally. Reed is well-known for wearing blonde wigs in Twilight so it's a nice change of pace for the actress. She told the celebrity magazine,

Amen to that. The couple looks like they are doing great despite living different lives these days. Nikki Reed has her own sustainable jewelry company called BaYou with Love and Ian Somerhalder makes his own bourbon with Vampire Diaries’ brother Paul Wesley. The couple got to co-star in a vampire Netflix series last year called V Wars in 2019... which has since been cancelled.

The Twilight fandom has recently seen a resurgence with the release of Midnight Sun. Each member of the cast has gone their separate ways since the franchise ended, but it’s nice to see Nikki Reed living such a happy life in quarantine.

Gaining traction on a series with a title like The Vampire Diaries does not scream “put this one in a superhero flick!” However, with fairly recent promises that Blade (whose own vampiric physiology makes him the ultimate hunter of such nocturnal creatures) will soon be reintroduced to the Marvel movies, now seems like the best time to give Ian Somerhalder a chance at a new comic book role.

The Louisiana-born, 42-year-old actor has been working since the late 1990s and was part of the original cast of the J.J. Abrams-produced hit drama Lost. Yet, his best-known role is, undeniably, Damon Salvatore - the elder of of two ageless, bloodsucking brothers at the center of The Vampire Diaries, which is based on a series of books (that is not Twilight) by author L.J. Smith. After the long-running CW drama ended in 2017, like any actor should, Ian Somerhalder followed that up with a role that went in an entirely different direction: instead of playing a sophisticated vampire, he would play one of the last remaining humans in a world overrun with vicious, inhuman nocturnal beasts in V Wars, before it was cancelled by Netflix after one season.

Well, both of those aforementioned horror-based characters from Ian Somerhalder’s career (among other notable roles) give me ideas for who he could bring to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, there is already a decent chance that some of the characters I have chosen for the list below are already being prepared for a future installment, and Somerhalder has my money as the natural choice. The following five Marvel Comics characters came to mind when envisioning the popular actor in the MCU, starting with one he has clearly already done his homework for.

Baron Blood

When it comes to vampires, you could say that Ian Somerhalder has experienced the best of both of those dark and grim worlds: embodying the elegant, desirable aspect of the undead creature on The Vampire Diaries, as well as the form of a badass destroyer of such monsters at the most bestial level possible on V Wars. Of course, there is a third character type that he did not get to experience with either of those series, and casting him as this Marvel character could help.

His name is John Falsworth, a British nobleman born during the Victorian era who would later go by the name Baron Blood (after Count Dracula made him one of his own) and use his new abilities as an ally to the German Army during both World Wars and beyond. To me, that sounds like the perfect villain for Mahershala Ali’s Blade to cross paths with in the reboot, and a great chance for Ian Somerhalder to play a vampire of pure evil this time around.

Hannibal King

On the other hand, Ian Somerhalder was not really given a substantial amount of time as a vampire fighter before Nefflix’s very quick cancellation of V Wars. Perhaps the MCU could help the actor make up for a lost time by casting him as a good guy in the next Blade movie?

If so, I cannot think of a better choice of character than Hannibal King who, like Baron Blood, also fell prey to a vampire bite, but instead chose to be a force for good and fight against his kind instead of taking advantage of his powers for selfish purposes. The private investigator could also use a rewrite to his cinematic legacy, having previously been portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the ill-fated 2003 threequel, Blade Trinity. And, Ian Somerhalder not only has the charisma but the physicality to match the role.

Wonder Man

Not many may remember, but Ian Somerhalder has, technically, played a DC character. On the third season of the Superman prequel series Smallville, he appeared in six episodes as Adam Knight - a young man who was called Chad Nash before his death, until being brought back from the dead by Lex Luthor’s father, Lionel, to be keep an eye on Clark Kent (Tom Welling) and Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk).

One character who certainly knows a thing or two about coming back from the dead is Wonder Man, who was once a corrupt businessman before a near-death experience made him stronger and more powerful than most characters in the Marvel Comics Universe. His nearly unbeatable nature, his own staunch pacifism, and a name that is slightly similar to a certain female superhero from the DC Universe might have cost the character a big screen debut, but Ian Somerhalder seems capable of pulling off the look and humanity necessary for him to fit right in among the other favorites of the MCU.

Machinesmith

There are a few other Marvel characters who have yet to be given the cinematic treatment for bearing certain resemblances to other comic book characters, including Machinesmith - the metal-bound alter ego of computer science and engineering expert Samuel Saxon. However, what makes him different from Iron Man is that he is a criminal who managed to transfer his own consciousness into various robotic devices after suffering a nearly fatal injury.

I actually have a couple of reasons why I would cast Ian Somerhalder as Machinesmith. First of all, he was one of the main protagonists of the technophobic 2006 horror flick Pulse, and playing a digital copy of an evil soul would be another opportunity for him to see things from the perspective of his past onscreen enemies. Not to mention, part of the secret to his charm as Damon on The Vampire Diaries was his more mischievous ways, which he would, once again, be able to crank up to the next level as this underrated Marvel villain.

Gambit

Of course, there is one Marvel hero whom Ian Somerhalder may have a closer connection to than any of our previously mentioned comic book characters. As a Louisiana native, it is not much of a surprise that the actor is of Cajun descent - just like this bio-kinetic X-Men character.

The New Orleans-based card shark Gambit once graced the silver screen before (as played by Taylor Kitsch), in the critically and commercially reviled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He was meant to return in a solo film with Channing Tatum in the role, but it never made it out of development hell, unfortunately. However, with the X-Men property now in the hands of Marvel Studios, the slick mutant has the chance to finally be brought to justice and played by an actor who not only has the same cultural background as the character, but is nearly a dead-ringer for him, if you ask me.

What do you think? Should Marvel take advantage of this golden opportunity to cast a real-life Cajun as Gambit, or do you just want to see Ian Somerhalder in more vampire action if he does join the MCU? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the former The Vampire Diaries star, as well as even more hypothetical comic book movie casting sessions, here on CinemaBlend.

The stars of The Vampire Diaries are notoriously close, and they have thrilled fans with reunion photos and actual reunions since the show ended. Last fall, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley announced a new way that they would be teaming up. The Vampire Diaries duo is set to release a bourbon. Now we are all well into 2020, and Somerhalder and Wesley have announced the perfect name for it.

Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley know their fans, and The Vampire Diaries has a lot of them, hence the name of Somerhalder and Wesley’s bourbon will not be lost on the show's enthusiasts. Somerhalder took to Twitter to reveal the bourbon’s name, and Damon and Stefan would undoubtedly approve. Am I right? Check it out below:

There you have it. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley have opted to call their bourbon -- Brother’s Bond. This is a definite nod to the Salvatore brothers’ incredibly strong relationship on The Vampire Diaries, which weathered an array of supernatural threats (including the Originals). Plus, they survived the largest threat of all for a pair of brothers.

Stefan and Damon were stuck in two love triangles where they fought for the same woman during their long lives. Despite all of that, though, the brothers managed to remain close, just as the men who portrayed them have. Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley’s bourbon collaboration is just one of the many projects the actors have been involved in since The Vampire Diaries ended.

Besides giving the world a new bourbon to consider consuming, both actors have starred in their own TV shows. Ian Somerhalder kept things vampiric with Netflix’s one-season drama, V-Wars. Paul Wesley had CBS All Access’ fairytale-inspired series, Tell Me a Story, which will eventually air on The Vampire Diaries’ home, The CW.

In naming their bourbon collaboration with an ode to The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley are clearly not shying away from their time on the drama. When you play brothers for as long as Somerhalder and Wesley did, it is bound to have an impact. Eight seasons and nearly a decade is a long time and can really help people bond, even though that experience did not end the way Wesley wanted.

Regardless, The Vampire Diaries stars chose a collaboration near and dear to their on-screen alter egos. Damon loved liquor, but if memory serves, Stefan seemed to drown his sorrows less than his brother. Of course, “The Ripper” often enjoyed drinking other things as well. Meaning, obviously, human blood and not bourbon.

For now, you can stream The Vampire Diaries (in its entirety) on Netflix, alongside Ian Somerhalder’s V-Wars, alongside new 2020 content. You can catch Paul Wesley on Tell Me a Story when it eventually arrives on The CW, but it can already be found on CBS All Access. In the meantime, there are also this summer’s premieres to look forward to.

Netflix still hasn't announced a decision on V Wars Season 2. Season 1 of The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder's much more grounded vampire show released all 10 episodes on December 5, 2019. Since then, Netflix has cancelled a couple of shows that debuted around the same time. But fans are still waiting on word about a V Wars Season 2 renewal, and Somerhalder is making sure the show stays on the radar.

Ian Somerhalder recently shared two clips from the Netflix series -- one pointing out how timely it is amid the coronavirus outbreak, and another from the Season 1 finale showing his shirtless Dr. Luther Swann ready to kick some ass in V Wars Season 2.

Ian Somerhalder's first clip is from first episode of V Wars, introducing his scientist character of Dr. Luther Swann. In the actor's video, we first see him tell the camera "Listen to this..." then the screen cuts to V Wars, with Dr. Swann delivering a speech to an audience:

Here's how Ian Somerhalder captioned the start of that post, tying it to the current coronavirus outbreak infecting thousands around the world -- albeit in a very different way from V Wars turning some people into vampires:

Ian Somerhalder, much like James Marsden with Stephen King's The Stand, is finding timely relevance for his TV show during the current virus outbreak.

V Wars is adapted from the series by Jonathan Maberry, and Ian Somerhalder worked on Season 1 for over a year before it premiered. He directed Episode 9 himself and he's also a producer on the whole series. He worked so hard on V Wars it put him in the hospital. Somerhalder and fellow lead star Adrian Holmes have talked about wanting to come back to explore more from Maberry's series in Season 2. Ian Somerhalder's clip caption ended with another request for fans to keep waching and finishing Season 1 so Netflix can see how many people want more:

Watch that full post:

Ian Somerhalder followed by re-posting IDW Entertainment's clip from the very end of V Wars Season 1. This is spoilery, but it shows Laura Vandervoort as Mila Dubov, along with Somerhalder's Dr. Luther Swann basically transforming into a muscled badass to get ready to take on the bad guys and rescue his son. This is the last shot before V Wars Season 2 ... if we get a V Wars Season 2:

Let's go, indeed! Daaaaamn, Damon still looks good. Ian Somerhalder's wife Nikki Reed -- no stranger to vampires from Twilight -- surprised fans with a strong supporting role in V Wars Season 1. Somerhalder has already said fans can help make Season 2 happen not just by watching all 10 episodes but also by rating the show high on sites like Rotten Tomatoes so Netflix can see the series is popular.

As fans wait to hear the status of V Wars Season 2 -- not the mention the status of the world during this real virus outbreak -- you can always keep up with the vampire world of Legacies, the joint spinoff of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. Legacies Season 2 continues airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

Doppelganger! Remember when The Vampire Diaries used that word so many times, Damon Salvatore said he'd have to learn how to spell it? Actor Ian Somerhalder has something of an A-list doppelganger, he's just about 15 years older.

Ian Somerhalder was recently on The Kelly Clarkson Show to talk about his Netfilx show V Wars and also to talk about his new bourbon line with his Vampire Diaries Salvatore brother Paul Wesley.

But while on Kelly Clarkson's show, Ian Somerhalder's fellow guest Chynna Phillips randomly asked if Ian was ever mistaken for Rob Lowe. Everyone laughed, because the resemblance is definitely there. And it's especially funny because Ian Somerhalder has heard about the resemblance before -- from Rob Lowe himself. But, really, Ian's wife and V Wars co-star Nikki Reed heard about it up close and personal. Here's the story Ian told on the show:

Nice! Not everyone gets a preview of how they'll look in 15 years. Sure, old age makeup can give you a hint, or looking at an older relative. But looking at Rob Lowe? That's one way to see how you'll age.

Rob Lowe is 55-years-old, turning 56 on March 17, and he looks incredible. Ian Somerhalder is 41, so there are indeed 15 years between them. If Ian Somerhalder does end up looking like the 9-1-1: Lone Star actor and Parks and Recreation alum, it would literally be amazing.

Watch that Kelly Clarkson Show clip below. (I feel bad for Ian Somerhalder that he could barely get a word in.)

Here's more of Ian Somerhalder on the show, with Kelly Clarkson fangirling all over him because she loved The Vampire Diaries. And apparently Chynna Phillips loved Twilight. Somerhalder also talks about starting a company with Paul Wesley, with the Salvatore brothers launching their bourbon line. And he also gets into V Wars, which has all 10 episodes of Season 1 now streaming on Netflix.

You might've missed Paul Wesley on Kelly Clarkson's show last month, promoting Tell Me A Story Season 2 on CBS All Access:

I do feel like Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley should be on another TV show together. It doesn't have to be Legacies, and as much as I'd love to see Damon Salvatore again, it probably shouldn't be Legacies since Stefan Salvatore needs to RIP. It could be V Wars Season 2, if Netflix orders a V Wars Season 2. Or Tell Me A Story Season 3 from Vampire Diaries co-creator Kevin Williamson.

But what about a rom-com or some other show? Let's think on this, 'cause Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley really did play well off each other for eight seasons of the Vampire Diaries and I'd love to see them switch roles to show range, but still have fun.

Obviously Rob Lowe would have to be cast as Ian Somerhalder's older brother. I don't think he's quite at dad age yet, but hot older bro or uncle works.

Long before V Wars Season 1 even came out, star/director/producer Ian Somerhalder made it clear on social media that he was eager for Netflix to renew the show for Season 2. The vampire sci-fi show -- very different from Somerhalder's turn as Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries -- premiered on December 5, 2019. One month later, Somerhalder is asking fans for a favor to help convince Netflix to order V Wars Season 2.

Ian Somerhalder wants fans to not only watch the 10 episodes of V Wars Season 1, but also to rate the episodes high across the web, specifically on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Dr. Luther Swann actor took to his Instagram Stories to note the critic vs. fan disparity on Rotten Tomatoes. So far, the show only has seven ratings from critics, and the result is a "rotten" (but barely) 43%. On the other hand, 3,027 users (so far) have rated V Wars at 95%.

Ian Somerhalder posted that he didn't expect critics to get V Wars. "This show is for YOU. And Me." He followed that post with this screenshot of the high audience score, asking fans to help it get even higher:

Netflix keeps its cards close to its chest when it comes to viewership figures. Sometimes the streamer will list its most-watched shows, or reveal actual numbers when a movie or show has gotten a remarkable number of views. But the data isn't verified by third parties. As a producer on V Wars, as well as one of the two main stars, Ian Somerhalder probably has access to a lot of data about the show. He has been sharing when V Wars is the top show around the world.

Without knowing exactly what Netflix is looking for, beyond high viewership, it does seem like it would make a strong argument to go into the executives' office with a 99% (or even 95%, really) audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a list of times the show was trending. It might also help to boost that IMDb score since it's only at 6.1/10 at this point.

If enough viewers make it clear that they want V Wars Season 2 and will protest if they don't get it, maybe that will help. We have seen how upset fans get when Netflix cancels shows, so it's probably smart to be proactive and try to make the case now in a positive way so no one has to do another #CancelNetflix protest after-the-fact.

It took the V Wars team a long time to make Season 1 and there's a lot of story left to tell for Season 2 or beyond. Author Jonathan Maberry provided a lot more material to mine in his books, and both Ian Somerhalder and Michael Fayne actor Adrian Holmes are eager to return for more. Somerhalder has been actively getting Vampire Diaries fans on his side, praising Damon Salvatore as one of TV's best-written characters while also trying to earn more fans for his new V Wars human hero Dr. Luther Swann.

After watching V Wars Season 1, I posted a poll asking fans if they want a Season 2, and the result was an overwhelming yes. So will you go out and contact Netflix on social media and rate the show high to make it clear that you want more?

As we wait for news on a V Wars Season 2 renewal, keep up with all of Netflix's 2020 premiere and return dates with our handy schedule.

Genre shows never get enough respect. The Vampire Diaries ran across eight seasons on The CW and gave a truly impressive arc to actor Ian Somerhalder's character, Damon Salvatore. While promoting his new Netflix TV show, V Wars, Somerhalder has been pointing out the differences between his new human character Dr. Luther Swann and vampire Damon, while also praising the work he got to do on Vampire Diaries:

I love that Ian Somerhalder has so much respect for the writing of Damon Salvatore, as he showed in his interview with TVLine, while also honoring the human hero that is his new V Wars character, Luther Swann. The Vampire Diaries was co-created by Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, but based on the book series by L. J. Smith. While Somerhalder is humble about his own role in shaping Damon Salvatore, there's no question the Lost alum is directly linked to the success of that character as one of the best on TV.

Damon started out selfish and sarcastic -- the bad cop to brother Stefan's good cop -- but developed over time, showing his true heart. Sure, he and Stefan both did a lot of terrible things over their vampire lives, which is why both Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley didn't think Nina Dobrev's main character, Elena Gilbert, should've ended up with either one of them in The Vampire Diaries series finale.

But Damon was no two-dimensional villain or "hot guy." We really got to know him across the 2009-2017 season, and I'll attempt to speak for many fans to say we were glad to see him get a happy ending with Elena. He earned it. He also got to be human again, and apparently he and Elena had children, including a daughter Stefanie named in honor of Stefan. Ian Somerhalder knows about Stefanie so I will not stop going on about her until she shows up on Legacies in Season 4, 5, 6, whatever.

Really, Damon? Legacies' Biggest Midseason Finale Twist Was That Vampire Diaries Update

Ian Somerhalder did express interest in returning to Mystic Falls to direct an episode of Legacies, just like Paul Wesley did last year for Season 1. For now, fans can watch Somerhalder as Dr. Luther Swann, who does indeed have his own transformation across the 10 episodes of V Wars Season 1. Here's hoping we get to see what he does next in V Wars Season 2, since he's definitely ready to roll.

Ian Somerhalder got a chance to work with his wife, Nikki Reed, for Netflix’s V Wars. The new series marks a return to the vampire genre for Somerhalder and Reed. He played fan-favorite, Damon Salvatore, throughout The Vampire Diaries' eight-season run, while she played Rosalie Cullen in the Twilight films.

The two got to team up for V Wars, and Ian Somerhalder’s review of the experience is lavish with praise for Nikki Reed. In the series, Reed plays the ex-wife of Somerhalder’s Luther Swann -- Rachel Swann. It turns out, that is not the part V Wars producers originally had in mind for her. Opening up about working with Reed, Somerhalder told Fox News:

It sounds like someone is definitely a fan! Ian Somerhalder is giving fans another motivation to check out V Wars. CinemaBlend’s Jerrica Tisdale has five reasons for Vampire Diaries fans to give it a watch. While some couples can have issues working together, that does not seem to be the case with Somerhalder and Nikki Reed.

The two of them been married since April 26, 2015, and has a daughter, Bodhi Soleil. She was born on July 25, 2017. Along with marriage and parenthood, Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed have found time to be co-stars.

Along with marriage and parenthood, the couple has found time to be co-stars. V Wars marks Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed’s first co-starring roles. Is it the start of a trend? Their experience on the set of the Netflix series certainly makes it sound feasible. For his part, Somerhalder could not stop gushing about his wife, saying:

It seems safe to speculate that Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed play a dynamic that is a far cry from their one in real life in V Wars. As if you needed any more proof (and a reminder), Reed plays the former wife of Somerhalder’s character. In the series, he has remarried. Hence, the role V Wars producers originally wanted Reed to do.

On V Wars, Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed’s characters also have a son together, Dez. Playing a divorced couple with a relationship that Somerhalder describes as being antagonistic gave them a chance to spread their acting wings. Somerhalder clearly devoted himself to this project.

The actor revealed that making V Wars had put him in the hospital! Yikes! The stars of the Netflix series want to do a second season, so time will tell if they get a chance too. At least, Ian Somerhalder has fond memories of working with his wife from Season 1.

Now fans of the actors will have to wait and see if they team up again. Ian Somerhalder was not worried about doing another vampire show, despite doing one for eight seasons. Since working with Nikki Reed brought him this much joy, I do not see why they would not do it again. Do not mess with success!

The first season of V Wars is currently streaming on Netflix. It will soon be joined by lots of new content in 2020. If you already binged it and need something else to watch, there are also this winter’s premieres.

SPOILERS ahead from Legacies Season 2's December 12, 2019 midseason finale "This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent."

Can we talk about Damon Salvatore's (Ian Somerhalder) car? The Vampire Diaries car made a surprise return during the Legacies Season 2 midseason finale, and we got an unexpected update on its new owner(s). Oh, and Damon's car was also the site of a witch and a vampire having sex while a phoenix's body was in the trunk. Just a normal Thursday in Mystic Falls!

Sure, the Legacies 2019 winter finale also surprised fans by revealing The Necromancer was the main one under the red hood. Remember him from Season 1? Didn't see that coming. It's a big deal. We're going to have to deal with everything it means -- and hopefully learn about other red hood allies -- when Season 2 returns on January 16, 2020.

But, to me, the biggest twist of the Christmas-but-in-October setting of the Legacies fall finale was seeing Lizzie Saltzman and Sebastian in Damon's car. She told Sebastian her dad's friend gave it to her and Josie as Sweet 16 present. (She and Sebastian later had sex in or just outside the car while Phoenix Landon was in the trunk.)

Well, that's Damon Salvatore's car, his 1969 Chevy Camaro convertible from The Vampire Diaries.

We knew Damon Salvatore was still in Mystic Falls in the timeline of Legacies. Lizzie and Josie Saltzman were still very young when The Vampire Diaries ended. Legacies Season 1's "Mombie Dearest" episode covered their Sweet 16 birthday party. So now we know Damon was part of that celebration, even if we didn't see him. And for some reason, he gave the twins his own car. The car that got destroyed when Damon crashed into the Mystic Grill to kill Travelers. Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) had the car rebuilt and gave it to the resurrected Damon as a belated Christmas present. Would Damon really give that car away?

If Damon Salvatore is willing to give the twins gifts that important, he must still be a huge part of their lives. I understand Ian Somerhalder probably isn't going to show up on Legacies as Damon -- although he may show up to direct an episode. It would be cool to at least get a cameo showing Damon and Ric drinking in the bar, though. As I've said before, they could even promote Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley's new bourbon line.

Or, what Legacies could've done is kept the car as an easter egg on the show. Just have two characters walk through Mystic Falls and in the background we see Damon's car. The Powers That Be or eagle-eyed fans could point out "That's Damon's car!" and we could imagine -- but not quite see -- that the driver is Damon or Dr. Elena Salvatore, perhaps leaving her medical practice in town.

At any rate, now we know one of the "Legacies" of the new spinoff is Damon's car. Season 2 previously showed that Landon now has Stefan's old room at the Salvatore home.

Vampire Diaries' Damon and Elena reportedly have kids in Mystic Falls now, including daughter Stefanie Salvatore, named in Stefan's honor. That was revealed during an alternate timeline episode, but later acknowledged by Julie Plec. Ian Somerhalder knows who Stefanie is too, so it would be nice to make one of the other "Legacies" seeing Damon and Elena's daughter.

For now, we know The Necromancer is back. He chopped off Clarke's head. Hope and Landon are back together. Alaric Saltzman is back as headmaster. (Did anyone ever tell Caroline that Vardemus was an impostor? She's the one who hired the real guy.) Apparently Lizzie and Sebastian are an item. Raf just met his dad. Kaleb should produce a Christmas album. Hope upset Pedro. And MG wasn't even around, for some reason.

The Vampire Diaries' Kai is not scheduled to show up until Legacies Season 2, Episode 12, set to air in February 2020. So anyone looking for him in the midseason finale was out of luck. I doubt he's one of the folks under hoods, since he should still be in his Prison World, but we'll find out when Legacies returns.

All The Vampire Diaries And The Originals Characters Who've Been On Legacies So Far

Legacies Season 2, Episode 9, "I Couldn't Have Done This Without You," airs Thursday, January 16, 2020 on The CW. Here's hoping The Necromancer gives us another update on Klaus Mikaelson in the afterlife. Maybe even Hayley this time? And Stefan?

The Originals star Joseph Morgan will always and forever be known as Klaus Mikaelson, who first appeared on The Vampire Diaries with Ian Somerhalder's Damon Salvatore. Now both Morgan and Somerhalder have new shows. Morgan just wrapped the first season of his new TV show Brave New World. At the same time, he caught up on the start of Somerhalder's new Netflix vampire show V Wars and found a cool little tie to his own upcoming show:

Nice. In V Wars, Ian Somerhalder plays human Dr. Luther Swann in a new vampire origin story. As The Vampire Diaries fans pointed out in the comments, the second episode of TVD Season 2 is also titled "Brave New World," so there are little easter egg connections to Joseph Morgan's new show all over the place.

Joseph Morgan is clearly excited for fans to see Brave New World, the sci-fi dystopian series expected in 2020 on the new streaming service Peacock. The adaptation of Aldous Huxley's classic novel is set in a seemingly utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself. Morgan plays CJack60, an Epsilon assigned to tedious physical jobs, who is deeply impacted after witnessing a horrifying incident.

Here's how he responded when a fan asked how he was feeling as Brave New World Season 1 finished filming:

Joseph Morgan also added a great Brave New World tease on what he liked most about the show and his character:

Well, that's intriguing! A couple of months ago, Joseph Morgan tweeted that there had been an exciting development on Brave New World, teasing that fans would see more of him. I wondered if he was teasing an early renewal for Season 2. Maybe his character just got even more to do, or a new storyline twist. We'll see.

While he was answering questions, he also confirmed The Originals' final scene of the show was shot last in Jackson Square "where it all began." He also wrote that Klaus Mikaelson "still lives in my head," despite saying goodbye to the character when he sacrificed himself in the series finale. Of course, that got fans emotional all over again.

It's an exciting time for the Vampire Diaries family. Ian Somerhalder just dropped the 10-episode first season of V Wars -- including one episode he directed -- and fans are crossing their fingers for Netflix to renew the show for Season 2. Meanwhile, Stefan Salvatore actor Paul Wesley just released Tell Me A Story Season 2 on CBS All Access. That season was released on the same day as V Wars.

So as sad as it is to say goodbye to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, it's great to know the stars are all out there still doing great things. Plus, we have Legacies. I am loving the second TVD spinoff so far, which stars Klaus Mikaelson's daughter Hope Mikaelson, as played by the Emmy-worthy Danielle Rose Russell.

Brave New World was originally meant to premiere on the USA Network but it got moved to Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service named after the NBC logo, which will launch in April 2020. There's no exact premiere date yet for Brave New World and also we're waiting to see a trailer. Since the first season just wrapped, all kinds of materials -- first official photos, trailers, etc. -- should be coming out relatively soon.

Yikes, Paul Wesley Wanted The Vampire Diaries To End Like The Originals?

In the meantime, you should catch up on V Wars, which is now on Netflix. As Ian Somerhalder noted, it's more grounded than than typical vampire shows. His new character is very different from Damon Salvatore. Also, he gets to act opposite his real-life wife, Twilight star Nikki Reed. Also, keep watching Legacies Season 2 Thursday nights on The CW to see more Vampire Diaries and Originals characters pop up ... like evil Uncle Kai.

Ian Somerhalder knows his way around a vampire thanks to eight seasons on The Vampire Diaries and now starring in, directing, and executive producing Netflix's new vampire series V Wars. That said, V Wars is certainly no Vampire Diaries 2.0, and Somerhalder shared his thoughts on why V Wars is more grounded than typical vampire TV shows. Here's how he puts it:

Sure, V Wars may feature blood-sucking monsters like every vampire TV show before, but nobody who watches V Wars on Netflix will confuse Ian Somerhalder's new character with Damon Salvatore any time soon, and not just because the odds are pretty good that there won't be a love triangle involving two vampire brothers this time around.

Ian Somerhalder's comparison to TVLine of V Wars making the bubonic plague "look like a chicken pox party" certainly paints a vivid picture for those who haven't checked V Wars out yet! If anything, V Wars sounds more like Fox's cancelled vampire series The Passage than anything that has ever aired on The CW, including The Vampire Diaries' two spinoffs.

The Passage also dealt with vampirism more as a disease to be studied and treated than anything else, although it sounds like V Wars leans a lot more into real-world issues with a vampiric twist than go as full-scale supernatural -- no, not that kind of Supernatural -- as The Passage did. Does that mean V Wars is destined for a longer future than The Passage was, as the Fox series got the axe after only one season?

One V Wars star shared thoughts on the potential future for the series, so the ball may be in Netflix's court to determine whether enough subscribers tuned in to warrant at least one more season. A lot of shows have been cancelled pretty quickly on Netflix, but then Netflix could also use another Stranger Things-esque hit.

V Wars has Ian Somerhalder on board as a vampire TV alum (who may have been able to pull some of the Vampire Diaries fandom on board), and I would argue that The Witcher is the only high-profile show with equal or more potential to become Netflix's next big hit.

Of course, Netflix could use more than just two big hits, so there's no need to start pitting V Wars up against The Witcher or any other show. It should just be interesting to see if this more grounded take on a world with vampires is what genre fans have been looking for.

You can catch the full first season of V Wars streaming on Netflix now, along with plenty of other series that hit the streamer over the past year. If you're already looking ahead to next year, our 2020 Netflix premiere schedule is worth a look, as is our 2020 winter and spring TV premiere guide.

Spoilers ahead for V Wars Season 1.

"Let's go." Those are the final words of Netflix's V Wars Season 1, as spoken by a shirtless Dr. Luther Swann (Ian Somerhalder), who is now ready to kick ass and take names. The V Wars Season 1 finale left fans on quite a cliffhanger, and it would suck -- no vampire pun intended -- to not see what happened next. Somerhalder and Michael Fayne star Adrian Holmes certainly hope fans are rooting for a Netflix renewal. But what do viewers want?

Since we're only two days out from Netflix releasing the 10 episodes of V Wars Season 1 on December 5, it's not shocking that we don't know about a Season 2 yet. Long before the season premiered, Ian Somerhalder -- who produced the series and directed Episode 9 while also playing Luther Swann -- was asking fans to watch Season 1 in the hope that Netflix would give them a V Wars Season 2. Here's what Adrian Holmes had to say when I asked if fans would finish V Wars Season 1 wanting Netflix to give them Season 2:

Adrian Holmes said he'd take any excuse to get back together with the great cast and director Brad Turner, whom he worked with many years ago on his first TV shows before becoming known for 19-2 and Arrow. He's ready to return to continue this story ... even if things didn't end in the best place for Michael Fayne himself:

It does seem to be well-received so far, based on social media reactions. V Wars is based on the books by Jonathan Maberry, so there's plenty of source material to mine going forward. Here's what Adrian Holmes said when I asked if the team had a goal of a certain number of seasons:

Back in October 2018, when V Wars Season 1 wrapped, Ian Somerhalder was already thinking about Season 2 and asking fans to do their part to make it happen:

Now we have to wait and see what fans think and Netflix decides.

How V Wars Season 1 Ended 

V Wars Season 1 showed the rise and fall of Adrian Holmes' character Michael Fayne. Fayne became Patient Zero, the very first vampire, in an origin story that's very different from most vampire shows like The Vampire Diaries -- which is what appealed to Holmes.

Michael Fayne was weakening by the end of the season, and the Bloods got a new leader after the "truce" was sabotaged with poisoned batches of BludSub. Martial law was declared and the Senator Sasha Giroux (Laura de Carteret) was taken into custody.

Michael Fayne was last seen being driven away. To where? New York, where he was said to still have support? He was supposed to be executed, but it's hard to imagine that will happen. Danika Dubov (Kimberly-Sue Murray) was allowed to go free, but then her sister Mila (Laura Vandervoort) showed up and pointed a gun at her and fired it. Did she kill Danika or was that misleading, since we heard the shot off-screen?

Ava O'Malley (Sydney Meyer), #2 in command of Blood Nation, said on TV that Michael Fayne was executed -- and that's what Fayne's best friend, human Dr. Luther Swann (Ian Somerhalder), heard and must've believed. Ava also said the new leader of Blood Nation was Calix Niklos (Peter Outerbridge), who said humans don't deserve to win. He said they would never for any reason deal with humans again, except as food. He held up a substance, the source of the infectious prion. He said the substance was placed in water supplies to expose over 30 million people to the infection.

Also? Luther Swann's own son Desmond Swann (Kyle Breitkopf) was kidnapped as an "insurance policy," since he's the only known human with immunity to the infection. Any medical breakthrough humans have, the Bloods will always be a step ahead, Niklos said. What Des will have to endure is for the greater good. The Bloods are here to stay and to win.

V Wars Season 1 ended with a time jump to four months later. Shirtless Luther Swann was shown working out, getting more badass. Mila, with a new look, showed up with some news. She said she was staking out an old warehouse The Bloods took over about a month ago. She saw Swann's son there. She told Luther she could take him there, but it's heavily guarded.

That's when he grabbed a giant gun and said "Let's go." And "Let's go" is the message of fans who ended V Wars Season 1 ready for more in Season 2. Now we wait and see what Netflix decides to do. If they do go back for Season 2, hopefully it doesn't take as long -- or become so stressful it leads to hospital trips. But hopefully Ian Somerhalder gets to come back and direct more episodes.

Surprise, Netflix's V Wars Reveals Nikki Reed And Ian Somerhalder's First Co-Starring Roles

Keep up with all of Netflix's 2020 premiere and return dates with our handy schedule. Have you seen V Wars Season 1 so far? If so, what did you think? Do you want a Season 2?

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Paul Wesley just shared his preferred ending for The Vampire Diaries' series finale. It's dark, and also somewhat similar to The Originals' controversial ending one year later. But it makes me think: If TVD had for some reason gone with part of Wesley's preferred ending -- killing off both Salvatore brothers -- maybe that would've forced The Originals to go for something different. Maybe instead of killing off two Mikaelson brothers ... Klaus Mikaelson could've lived?

That's the only saving grace I can see in the idea of The Vampire Diaries going Paul Wesley's ending. 'Cause otherwise, ouch.

Paul Wesley is trying to promote Tell Me A Story Season 2, which just premiered on CBS All Access, but while on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, he was asked about The Vampire Diaries. How does he feel about the ending? Here's his response:

Killing off both Stefan Salvatore and Damon Salvatore and also wiping Elena Gilbert's memories? Wiping her memories would be like wiping all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries. That would probably infuriate fans the most.

Granted, Ian Somerhalder has also talked about wanting to change The Vampire Diaries finale -- he doesn't think Damon and Elena should've ended up together. Somerhalder said he's Team Stelena (largely because Delena fans were "problematic" for his personal life) but he didn't think Stefan should live either. The Salvatore brothers did so much damage over the years. So it seems like both Somerhalder and Paul Wesley think Elena deserved better than the Salvatore vampires.

The Vampire Diaries fans weren't all happy with the finale, in part because Stefan sacrificed himself. Some fans wanted Stefan and Elena together, and others wanted Stefan and Caroline to be together. Others wanted Caroline and Klaus to be together and thought The Vampire Diaries' series finale opened the door for that on The Originals. Nope! The Originals series finale ticked off fans all over the place -- killing off Klaus so Klaroline wouldn't be endgame, and killing off Elijah without showing him find peace with Hayley in the afterlife.

I don't like the idea of killing off both Damon and Stefan Salvatore and wiping Elena's memories, especially since that would've denied us the hope of someday seeing Damon and Elena's kids on Legacies. A show called Legacies, as a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries, should include Elena's kids, no? We've heard of Stefanie Salvatore -- and Ian Somerhalder has heard of her too. Paul Wesley's Vampire Diaries ending would've denied us even the glimmer of hope to meet her someday.

What do you think of Paul Wesley's preferred ending -- killing off both brothers and wiping Elena's memories? Would that have been better than killing off two Mikaelson brothers, since The Vampire Diaries Universe probably wouldn't have killed two bros on The Originals one year later? Legacies continues Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW. Paul Wesley's Tell Me A Story Season 2 is now streaming on CBS All Access.

Ian Somerhalder didn’t immediately return to television after The Vampire Diaries ended in 2017. So, it was a bit surprising to learn that his next TV project, Netflix’s V Wars, would have him playing yet another vampire. While playing a bloodsucking creature isn’t a foreign concept to Somerhalder, he explains why he decided to return to the world of vampires for V Wars, and it wasn’t just because his wife co-stars.

Before signing onto Netflix’s latest series, Ian Somerhalder says he was a bit apprehensive about reentering the world of vampires. However, the Netflix show was a far cry from his work on The Vampire Diaries, so Somerhalder felt better about it. Here’s what he had to say about his decision to star in the show:

V Wars, based on the critically-acclaimed novel series by Jonathan Maberry, follows two best friends who are pitted against each other after a virus begins turning people into vampires. When Ian Somerhalder discusses the groundedness of this series, it’s because the plot combines disease with climate change, both of which are very realistic topics. The difference between playing a vampire and a scientist seemingly helps as well.

Speaking with ComicBook.com, Ian Somerhalder explained how meaningful it was for him to play a character who was more connected to the real world and how important it is to showcase a scientist as a kind of superhero, as well.

Playing scientist Dr. Luther Swann definitely offers the actor new material to work with. Bonus points for not having to worry about working in a smoldering vampire stare, which is a great change of pace.

V Wars isn’t the only vampire-related show Ian Somerhalder might have in store, though. The actor has expressed an interest in directing Legacies, The Vampire Diaries spinoff. Though he no longer wants to play Damon Salvatore, it seems vampires continue calling to him regardless.

Netflix’s V Wars will be available to stream on December 5. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our complete TV guide to see what’s premiering through the end of the year and mark your calendars for all the 2020 midseason premieres.

The new Netflix TV show V Wars stars The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder, but it's a very different kind of vampire story. Adrian Holmes stars as Michael Fayne alongside Somerhalder's Dr. Luther Swann in V Wars Season 1, which premieres on Netflix this Thursday, December 5. Holmes plays the very first vampire in the sci-fi series. The origin story angle really appealed to Holmes, the award-winning star of Canada's 19-2 also known for playing Captain Pike on The CW's Arrow.

Adrian Holmes, who also stars in Lifetime's new movie You Light Up My Christmas, told CinemaBlend the surprising way he ended up playing Michael Fayne in V Wars:

As we know now, Ian Somerhalder was cast in the role of Dr. Luther Swann, a research scientist. Adrian Holmes plays Michael Fayne, Swann's best friend, who becomes exposed to a virus that was frozen for thousands of years. Because of global warming and the melting of the glaciers, the virus is released to the world.

Through that, Michael Fayne becomes Patient Zero, the very first vampire. As Adrian Holmes explained, the virus connects with a cofactor gene. Everyone has a different gene and if you don't have the particular one, you won't turn into a vampire. But if you do have that gene, you will turn into a vampire. And V Wars introduces different vampires onto the show.

So there's a sci-fi element to V Wars that's different from more supernatural shows like The Vampire Diaries. That's part of what attracted Adrian Holmes to the role. It also helped that he's a fan of vampire movies like The Lost Boys, Dracula, and Blade:

Adrian Holmes explained more of who Michael Fayne is as a human, before everything happens:

Michael Fayne is at the heart of this very different kind of vampire show. As Patient Zero, the first vampire, he's a natural leader of everyone who follows. It puts him in conflict with his human scientist best friend:

Part of what attracted Ian Somerhalder to V Wars is that he plays a human this time -- a good husband and father -- instead of a snarky vampire like he did for eight seasons as Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries.

V Wars is based on the novels and comics by Jonathan Maberry. Adrian Holmes said he wasn't familiar with the books before he came onto the project and got the role. Then he met Jonathan and the author gave him some books.

V Wars Season 1 will have 10 episodes. One of the episodes was directed by Ian Somerhalder, who is also a producer of the series. Adrian Holmes previously talked about how impressed he was with Somerhalder's directing, since Ian was also heavily involved in acting in that episode. Somerhalder gave more than a year of his life to making V Wars Season 1, and he ended up in the hospital at one point. At least he had backup from wife Nikki Reed who, it turns out, also has a role in V Wars.

Check out the trailer for V Wars Season 1:

Stream V Wars Season 1 on Netflix this Thursday, December 5, 2019. In the meantime, watch Adrian Holmes and Kim Fields in You Light Up My Christmas on Monday, December 1 (aka tonight) at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime. And here are some great Netflix titles that are leaving before 2020 arrives so you should stream them ASAP.

The hit CW series The Vampire Diaries ran from 2009 to 2017, starring Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley as the vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore, who found themselves both in love with the same human girl, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). The romantic drama's cast evolved quite a bit over the series' eight seasons, with supporting characters like Candice King's Caroline Forbes, Matthew Davis' Alaric Saltzman, and Michael Malarkey's Enzo St. John later becoming leads. The Vampire Diaries kept a rotating door of heroes and villains all through its run, accumulating a long list or recurring characters and guest stars.

Years after its final season aired, The Vampire Diaries remains a global hit with diehard fans who bing-watch the series on streaming platforms, attend Vampire Diaries conventions, create fan art, and debate whether they are team Delena or Stelena. The Vampire Diaries reached its 10-year anniversary in September 2019, and as a tribute, let us catch up with some of The Vampire Diaries' cast members to see what they're up to now. This post does contain details and plotlines from The Vampire Diaries Season 1-8, so expect spoilers.

Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore)

Ian Somerhalder played Damon Salvatore, the older and more dangerous Salvatore brother. Reckless, passionate, and a bit mad, Damon would do anything for those he loved, and he loved no one more than Elena and Stefan. The Vampire Diaries ended with Damon and Elena living a long and happy human life together, and upon death, he reunited with Stefan.

An environmental activist, Ian Somerhalder took a slight post-TVD break from the world of acting to enjoy married life with Nikki Reed, who starred in that other vampire franchise on the big screen. In July 2017, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Bodhi Soleil. In April 2018, Netflix announced plans to adapt V-Wars, a thriller based on Jonathan Maberry’s comic about a vampiric disease outbreak that leads to a war amongst humans, with Somerhalder serving as lead and executive producer. He will be fighting the vampires this time, rather than feeding alongside them.

Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore)

Paul Wesley played The Vampire Diaries' tortured soul Stefan, who had a ton of doppelgängers that ended up with Elena’s doppelgängers. In this lifetime, Stefan ended up with Caroline for a short stint of happiness, but then he moved on to the other side.

Around the end of The Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley took the director’s seat for a while, helming a few TVD episodes before directing an episode of Shadowhunters, Rosewell: New Mexico, and the vamp-laden spinoff Legacies. Wesley also acted in a few short films before reuniting with former Vampire Diaries showrunner Kevin Williamson for his CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story. The anthology series twists classic fairytales by giving them dark, modern takes. Paul Wesley stars in Tell Me a Story Season 2, which begins streaming on CBS All Access on December 5.

Nina Dobrev (Elena Gilbert)

Nina Dobrev portrayed Elena Gilbert (and her most infamous doppelganger, Katherine Pierce) from Seasons 1-6 of The Vampire Diaries, having decided not to renew her contract after the sixth season. The Vampire Diaries continued for two more seasons without Elena or Katherine, but she inevitably returned during the series finale, giving Elena and Damon their long-awaited happy ending.

Since leaving the series in 2015, Nina has taken on more film roles in projects such as The Final Girls, Then Came You, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and the Flatliners reboot. In 2019, Nina Dobrev made her return to the small screen on the CBS sitcom Fam, which was unfortunately cancelled after one season. Dobrev also has two movies being released in 2019, Lucky Day and Sick Girl, and she recently signed on to become a beauty partner with Dior.

Candice King (Caroline Forbes)

Candice King was a queen of a sensible vampire until towards the end of The Vampire Diaries. Caroline Forbes concluded her run on the show as a happily married vampire with two witch children. Unfortunately, Caroline’s marriage to Stefan ended when he died, after which she created a school for witches with her ex-fiancé, Alaric. Yeah, Caroline lives a complicated life

Candice King returned to The Vampire Diaries world briefly as a recurring character on The Originals’ final season, which gave Klaroline fans the long awaited reunion of Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Caroline. King also appeared on an episode of The Orville, though fans are desperately hoping for her arrival on Legacies. King has one movie in post-production, After We Collided, based on the 2014 young adult novel by Anna Todd. Besides acting, Candice King has a podcast called Directionally Challenged, a pop culture and lifestyle program geared towards 20- and 30-something women. She co-hosts with former Vampire Diaries co-star Kayla Ewell (Vicki Donovan).

Kat Graham (Bonnie Bennett)

Kat Graham played resident badass witch Bonnie Bennett, who went through many trials and tribulations during her Vampire Diaries run. The final one was watching her boyfriend Enzo dying, though Bonnie got a happy ending by riding off into the sunset to travel the world, with Enzo’s ghost closely watching.

Since leaving The Vampire Diaries, Kat Graham has appeared in several movies, including the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me, and the Netflix original movie The Holiday Calendar. Graham currently has three movies listed for 2019 releases, Cut Throat City, The Poison Rose, and another Netflix holiday original The Knight Before Christmas. She is also currently filming a movie called Emperor about escaped slaves traveling north, based on the life story of Shields Green. On the small screen, Kat Graham lends her voice to April O’Neil in the animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Zach Roerig (Matt Donovan)

Matt Donovan survived eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries as the last human in Mystic Falls, or at least that’s how it felt. Star Zach Roerig managed to keep Matt alive throughout The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies.

Zach Roerig continues to play Matt Donovan on other Vampire Diaries-related series, having appeared on multiple Legacies episodes in Season 1. Roerig also had a short stint as Pulse on the Marvel Fox series The Gifted, and in January, he joined the cast of USA's Dare Me, the television adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Megan Abbott. Dare Me is about the extremes two best friends go through to outwit and outperform each other, and is set to premiere on USA on December 29.

Michael Trevino (Tyler Lockwood)

Michael Trevino played Tyler Lockwood, a werewolf-turned-hybrid on The Vampire Diaries. Tyler found himself burdened by the werewolf curse only to get relieved of it by becoming a hybrid, but was then under Klaus’s control. Tyler died a few times before actually dying (via Damon) during The Vampire Diaries Season 8.

Michael Trevino followed up his Vampire Diaries world with a few short and feature films, and he then joined the cast of The CW's Roswell reboot series, Roswell: New Mexico. The drama is an alien-human love story very loosely based on the Roswell, New Mexico UFO incident of 1947, but this version also has an immigration focus. Trevino is currently filming Roswell: New Mexico Season 2, which is set for a March 2020 release on the CW.

Matt Davis (Alaric Saltzman)

Matt Davis ended his Vampire Diaries run with Alaric and Caroline opening a school for children with powers—mainly so their twin daughters, Josie and Lizzie, could have a place to learn. Not an accomplishment that most fathers can boast, that's for sure.

Matt Davis has stayed close to the Vampire Diaries world with guest appearances on The Originals, and perhaps most importantly by playing the main crossover role in Legacies. Also in 2019, Davis starred in a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie called Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses.

Michael Malarkey (Enzo St. John)

Enzo joined The Vampire Diaries as the big bad of Season 5, but became a main character from Season 6 through the series finale capping Season 8. Michael Malarkey gave Enzo the sincerity that he needed to become a reformed baddie that fans could root for, and also one they could hope would get a fairytale ending with Bonnie. As is The Vampire Diaries way, Enzo passed on but not before ensuring that Bonnie lived a full life without him.

Michael Malarkey recently appeared as a recurring character on the Crackle original series The Oath, which reportedly isn't returning for another season. The actor also has a lead role on the History Channel drama Project Blue Book, which is set to kick off Season 2 in January 2020.

Steven R. McQueen (Jeremy Gilbert)

Steven R. McQueen starred as Elena’s little brother Jeremy for The Vampire Diaries Seasons 1-6, at which point he left Mystic Falls in The Vampire Diaries Season 6 to hunt vampires. The actor made a return not only during the TVD series finale, but also for a guest role on Legacies.

After leaving Vampire Diaries, Steven R. McQueen had a lead role on Chicago Fire, with guest appearances on Chicago P.D. Since leaving the Chicago drama world, McQueen has appeared in a couple of short and made-for-TV movies, including the Hallmark Channel original Home by Spring. Steven R. McQueen will soon star opposite Justified's Neal McDonough in the Civil War western The Warrant, which is set to debut on January 1, 2020.

The end of The Vampire Diaries allowed the youthful cast members to continue to thrive in their respective careers. And if you’re starting to miss The Vampire Diaries world, make sure to tune into the CW spin-off Legacies, which usually has a familiar Vampire Diaries face or two stopping by from time to time.

It’s only been a couple of years since The Vampire Diaries ended. In TV time, though, that feels like far longer, so it’s lucky for fans that the series got its own spinoff with Legacies (and The Originals). Still, as much as they’re invested in the spinoff, fans always wonder whether any of The Vampire Diaries alum could appear on the show. Recently, Ian Somerhalder said he would love to return to Mystic Falls for Legacies, but in unexpected role.

Ian Somerhalder hasn’t strayed very far from the land of vampires. In fact, his new Netflix series V Wars is all about vampires. Does that mean he’s been unintentionally preparing for an appearance on Legacies? Unfortunately, that’s not the case at all. However, Somerhalder would definitely be down to come to Legacies, just not as Damon Salvatore. Here's what he had to say about it:

Directing is a great way for Ian Somerhalder to return to a familiar atmosphere without having to step foot in front of the camera. Even if Damon returned, Legacies creator Julie Plec would have to have a storyline lined up for him and that’s probably unlikely in the show's current season.

Despite not returning to play Damon, who became human at the end of the series, Ian Somerhalder has very fond memories of his time on The Vampire Diaries. To direct an episode of Legacies would be a big deal, he told ET.

However, just because the actor won’t reprise his role as Damon doesn’t mean that Legacies has forgotten about the Salvatores. In fact, back in Season 1, Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Damon’s daughter, Stefanie Salvatore, was briefly mentioned and there are a lot of ways that she could be introduced on the show.

Never say never about returning The Vampire Diaries characters, though, because Chris Wood’s villainous Kai Parker is set to return to Legacies in Season 2. Additionally, Season 2 had a Stefan Salvatore callback, so maybe all Julie Plec really needs is for the OG cast’s schedules to free up for some appearances. Fans should keep the hope alive!

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our complete guide to every new and returning show premiering through the end of the year.

Vampire fans were well-fed with the debut of Netflix's V Wars trailer (you can watch it below). We already knew The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder had a lead role as Dr. Luther Swann, and he's also a producer and directed one of the 10 episodes of V Wars Season 1. But surprise surprise, the official trailer revealed Somerhalder's wife, Twilight alum Nikki Reed, also has a role in V Wars.

Nikki Reed is playing a character named Rachel, and even though that's all we know about her today, she's clearly very close to Ian Somerhalder's Dr. Swann -- and maybe she's his wife as well?

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed became the reigning king and queen of Vampire Nation when they got married, and they now have a daughter together. Since Somerhalder was so heavily involved in making V Wars Season 1 from the start, you have to imagine Reed and their daughter were regulars on set. So it would be a perfect fit to cast Reed in a role on V Wars. Plus, what a thrill for fans!

V Wars could've promoted the husband-and-wife's on-screen pairing right after they finished filming, but The Powers That Be saved it as a surprise cameo appearance for the trailer debut before the December 5 premiere. I'm guessing Nikki Reed only has a very small role, but we'll see. Either way, how fun to get a quick glimpse of her in the otherwise dark and intense trailer.

V Wars marks another vampire show for Ian Somerhalder, right after The Vampire Diaries, but he plays a human this time. His Dr. Luther Swann is battling an outbreak that turns people like his best friend Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes) into vampires.

Ian Somerhalder used to date his Vampire Diaries co-star Nina Dobrev, and Nikki Reed was married to American Idol alum Paul McDonald. But when their respective relationships dissolved, Ian and Nikki started dating and got married in 2015. Their first child was born in July 2017. Somerhalder was recently at a fan convention marking the 10th anniversary of The Vampire Diaries premiere, and he said Delena fans who shipped his character Damon with Dobrev's character Elena were "problematic" to his own personal life. Some Delena fans weren't happy abut Somerhalder dating Reed and weren't quiet about it.

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed are both passionate about activism and have worked together in that sense, but not as co-stars. In 2017, it was announced that The CW had put into development their hour-long soapy drama Prohibited. Somerhalder and Reed were listed as executive producers, per Deadline. We're still waiting for a follow-up on that, and with Somerhalder busy with V Wars -- and openly asking fans to push Netflix for a V Wars Season 2 -- I'm not sure when the team would have time.

Ian Somerhalder recently told Schön! magazine (via JustJared) that he wasn't sure about doing V Wars at first, but Nikki Reed encouraged him to say yes:

Ian Somerhalder has been open about how different V Wars is from The Vampire Diaries, and how Dr. Luther Swann is a very different man than snarky Damon Salvatore. That was a major part of the appeal of taking this role:

V Wars star Adrian Holmes recently talked to CinemaBlend about Ian Somerhalder's impressive balance of directing and acting on the show. They had a lot of fun making it, even with some injuries and stress along the way. V Wars Season 1 will release all 10 episodes on December 5.

The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder doesn't just star in the new Netflix show V Wars, he's also a producer and directed one of the 10 episodes of Season 1. He stars as scientist Dr. Luther Swann, with Arrow alum Adrian Holmes as Swann's best friend Michael Fayne, who becomes a vampire after the outbreak of a mysterious disease.

Netflix is expected to drop the trailer for V Wars tomorrow (Tuesday, November 19) before the premiere of Season 1 on December 5. The first season started filming in June 2018 and finished in October 2018, but Ian Somerhalder spent the next full year in post-production.

Adrian Holmes talked to CinemaBlend about what impressed him about working with Ian Somerhalder, particularly with Somerhalder playing double duty as an actor and director:

Here's the praise Adrian Holmes posted right after wrapping the V Wars episode Ian Somerhalder directed:

And here's a look at Ian Somerhalder directing on set, in a clip he shared earlier this year:

Ian Somerhalder is fresh from The Vampire Diaries, where he played vampire Damon Salvatore for eight seasons, ending in 2017. So he knows his stuff. But not only does he play a human on V Wars -- and one who is very different from snarky Damon -- the show itself is very different from TVD. Plus, this was Somerhalder's first time delivering a show as a producer. It took over a year of his life, balancing time working on V Wars with raising his now 2-year-old daughter with wife Nikki Reed, and at one point he said he wasn't sure if they were going to be able to deliver the show to Netflix on time.

After Netflix recently shared the first photos and premiere date, Ian Somerhalder revealed that making V Wars put him in the hospital. He didn't explain any more about that, and Adrian Holmes didn't want to tell Somerhalder's story for him, but Holmes briefly addressed the stresses on his co-star:

Adrian Holmes admitted he had a bit of an injury himself while they filmed V Wars. He said he went for a run without stretching first and ended up pulling some muscles in his leg. That left him unable to do some V Wars stunts for a spell.

Stress and accidents aside, it sounds like filming V Wars was a blast. Here's what Adrian Holmes told me about the set's light tone:

Sounds like the right approach! Stay tuned for more of Adrian Holmes' thoughts on V Wars ahead of Season 1's debut on December 5. Here's more of what we know so far about V Wars, including more on other characters. Bookmark the TV show's Netflix page now and get ready for the war to begin.

The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder just instantly recognized the name "Stefanie Salvatore" as his own daughter -- or at least Damon Salvatore's daughter -- as introduced via a reference in Legacies Season 1. So since Somerhalder is ready to acknowledge his status as Daddy Damon, can we get to him to accept parental responsibilities on the spinoff show?

I already listed a bunch of ways Legacies Season 2 could introduce Damon and Elena's daughter Stefanie. She was mentioned during a casual conversation between Josie and Lizzie Saltzman during Season 1's alternate timeline episode. Sure, it was an alternate timeline, but there's nothing to suggest Stefanie -- named in honor of Damon's late brother Stefan -- does not actually exist in Mystic Falls in the timeline of Legacies.

Ian Somerhalder came into the conversation during a recent interview with TVLine about his upcoming Netflix show V Wars. The site asked if the name Stefanie Salvatore rang a bell, and Somerhalder knew right away. He also had positive things to say about Legacies, although he hasn't had time to check it out much yet:

Nice. It may not just be his time on V Wars that's keeping him from watching Legacies. The Vampire Diaries only ended two years ago, he may want some distance. Then again, he was just part of a fan convention on the 10-year anniversary of The Vampire Diaries' premiere. He is very much tied to the show -- and still close to Stefan actor Paul Wesley, with whom he's launching a Damon-friendly line of bourbon.

Back to Stefanie, though. The Vampire Diaries ended with Damon newly human, starting a new life with Elena. The Originals showed that Dr. Elena Salvatore had a family practice in Mystic Falls. And Legacies added the note that Damon and Elena had children. Maybe more than just Stefanie.

After the Legacies Season 1 finale, The Vampire Diaries Universe ruler Julie Plec answered a fan question wondering if we'd ever see Damon and Elena's kids on the Vampire Diaries spinoff. Julie said it was on her list of things to think about, why a child of Damon and Elena's would be supernatural and at a boarding school. But, as fans noted, Stefanie & siblings wouldn't have to be supernatural or at the Salvatore School. Stefanie could not have any magical or supernatural abilities, and either be aware of that world or not. Or something could happen to her, as it often does in Mystic Falls, and she could become supernatural and attend the school.

Since Josie and Lizzie Saltzman were already young kids by the time The Vampire Diaries ended, and Damon and Elena were just starting their new lives, Stefanie Salvatore would be several years younger than the Saltzman twins. That's why I was speculating that maybe the twins referred to Damon as "Stefanie Salvatore's dad" on Legacies because they babysat Stefanie or something.

Ian Somerhalder is now busy promoting V Wars, but once the 10 episode are on Netflix as of December 5, then he begins the fingers-crossed wait for V Wars Season 2. Maybe some bargaining is in order? Since Chris Wood's Kai is coming to Legacies Season 2, maybe we can twist Ian Somerhalder's arm for a cameo as Damon?

Maybe Nina Dobrev could also be convinced to cameo as Elena, since more than two years have gone by now and it may be time to start getting a wee bit nostalgic? We may never actually get Candice King's Caroline on Legacies, but dagnabbit can we try for everyone else who would make sense for the current timeline?

At least we know The Originals' Freya Mikaelson will be coming to Legacies, and in fact she'll show up next week on November 21. Legacies Season 2 continues Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

Someone may need to remind Ian Somerhalder he's not immortal anymore! The Vampire Diaries fans knew Somerhalder was putting his heart into his new TV series V-Wars for Netflix. But it sounds like his follow-up to Vampire Diaries also put him in the hospital.

Last week, Netflix finally gave fans a premiere date and new photos for V-Wars. Ian Somerhalder has the lead role of Dr. Luther Swann. He's playing a human now -- and a good one, not quite a bad boy like Damon Salvatore. But the show is about a mysterious disease transforming people into vampires. His Dr. Swann is pitted against his best friend, Michael Fayne (Arrow's Adrian Holmes), who is now a powerful vampire.

Ian Somerhalder isn't just a main star of V-Wars, he's also a producer and he directed one of the 10 episodes of V-Wars Season 1. While sharing the news of V-Wars' December 5, 2019 premiere date, Somerhalder told fans how big this experience has been for him, and how much it has taken out of him:

Oh my! He didn't reveal more about what exactly put him in the hospital, but it's no surprise to hear this has been an intense experience for him. Ian Somerhalder gave fans a first look at his Dr. Luther Swann back in August 2018. Since then, the Lost alum has shared tidbits from filming -- including a snippet of him directing on set. Check out Somerhalder's brief new video, mentioning the hospital trip:

During a summer appearance at Wizard World Philadelphia 2019, he told the audience he had been up editing V-Wars until 3 a.m. that morning before traveling for the panel discussion:

Yep, he married Nikki Reed of Twilight. Also during that panel back in June, Ian Somerhalder said V-Wars was slated for December but he wasn't sure he would be able to deliver the show on time. But it happened! Took a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and at least one hospital trip, but it's done.

Whenever he gives an update on V-Wars, Ian Somerhalder always mentions wanting to come back for more. He hopes people watch Season 1 enough for Netflix to give them a Season 2. So I'm expecting Season 1 to end on some kind of cliffhanger, leading fans to post to Netflix that they want more.

Ian Somerhalder recently posted the new photos from V-Wars, saying he started working on the show in June 2018 and he hasn't stopped working on it since. He also noted that Season 1 is coming out just three days before his birthday -- he'll be 41 -- so he asked fans to watch it for him as a birthday present:

Paul Wesley may wish he could move his birthday to that week too. Ian Somerhalder's Vampire Diaries brother is premiering Tell Me a Story Season 2 on the same day, December 5. It'll be quite a day for TVD fans!

Here's more of what we know so far about V-Wars, including the rest of the cast and their roles. Now go text Ian Somerhalder to stay safe out there!

Finally! The Vampire Diaries fans have been waiting and waiting for Ian Somerhalder's new Netflix series V-Wars to share a premiere date and any new photos or info. Now we have everything but a trailer (which must be coming soon). Somerhalder's big follow-up to Vampire Diaries is another vampire show, but a very different one, and this time he's playing a good guy human -- not exactly another Damon Salvatore.

We knew V-Wars was supposed to debut in 2019 and it looks like Netflix is saving it for the final month of the year. According to the streamer's new post, revealing a ton of cool new photos, V-Wars will premiere December 5th.

After that news came out on October 30, Ian Somerhalder posted to his loyal fans -- and texted them, since he does that now. He said he hoped fans liked V-Wars since he put his whole heart and soul into it.

In V-Wars, Ian Somerhalder plays Dr. Luther Swann, and our first look at his character was actually posted by the actor back in August 2018. Somerhalder is a producer on the show, and directed one of the 10 episodes in Season 1. He's already talked about hoping fans watch and like V-Wars Season 1 enough for Netflix to greenlight a Season 2, since he wants a chance to go back and tell more stories based on Jonathan Maberry works.

In Netflix's V-Wars, a mysterious disease begins transforming people into vampires, and Ian Somerhalder's Dr. Luther Swann is pitted against his best friend, now a powerful vampire. Adrian Holmes (Arrow) plays Swann's best friend, Michael Fayne. As the disease spreads and more people are transformed, society fractures into opposing camps of normal people vs. vampires. Swann races to understand what’s happening, while Fayne rises to become the powerful underground leader of the vampires.

Interestingly enough, Ian Somerhalder and his Vampire Diaries brother Paul Wesley are debuting their new shows on the same day on different streaming services. Wesley, aka Stefan Salvatore, premieres Tell Me A Story Season 2 on December 5.

You never know! Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley also just teased a new bourbon line, which is perfect for the Salvatore brothers. Here's another question, though: Will we ever see either Somerhalder or Wesley on Legacies? Wesley directed an episode in Season 1, and we know he wouldn't return as Stefan, but maybe as a monster-of-the-week? Damon Salvatore is still alive and human in the Legacies Season 2 timeline, and he and Elena Gilbert Salvatore are said to have a daughter named in honor of Stefan.

Here's everything we know so far about V-Wars. Are you excited to finally see it this December? Here are more Netflix originals still to come in 2019.

The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder is trying a new way to connect with fans -- group texting. He's finishing up post-production work on V-Wars for its debut anytime now on Netflix. As he noted to fans, he stepped away a bit from social media but now he's ready to engage more with fans and use his platform to promote new projects -- on the TV/film front, but also for his foundation and activism. Oh, and that bourbon brand he's starting with Vampire Diaries brother Paul Wesley.

Here's what Ian Somerhalder posted to fans Friday evening via his Instagram Story:

He noted he had dropped out of social media but he found this "incredible, amazing way" for to communicate with fans, by setting up a community number to talk to everyone and give them first dibs on all information.

Here's a screenshot of his post:

So I texted and I was texted back with a link to a community site where I could share my info -- name, town, and birth date. I also got an autotext from Ian on his new "batphone."

The Vampire Diaries has been off the air for two years now, but Ian Somerhalder is still a hugely popular actor and it sounds like he's ready to maximize that connection to help promote his causes. Somerhalder has been working on V-Wars for a long time, teasing out details on the vampire series that is very different from Vampire Diaries. He plays Dr. Luther Swann in the Netflix Original Series, which is based on stories by Jonathan Maberry. In addition to being the main star, Somerhalder also directed an episode and is a force behind-the-scenes -- hence his note about finishing a looping or dialogue replacement session for the upcoming series.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting more updates on V-Wars, which will have 10 episodes for Season 1. Ian Somerhalder has already said he hopes Netflix lets them come back for V-Wars Season 2, encouraging fans to watch the series when it premieres even if they don't love it, so the team has a chance to return to continue the story.

Ian Somerhalder recently joined Paul Wesley for a convention celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Vampire Diaries. Somerhalder talked about Delena fans making his personal life more difficult, and one of the show's creators also talked about how fans' love for Damon Salvatore made it challenging to write certain storylines. Fans just have strong feelings about Damon!

The Vampire Diaries led to The Originals -- which Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley were "so bitter" about, per Somerhalder -- and now they have a joint spinoff called Legacies. Legacies Season 2 just started and a new vampire arriving has been compared to Damon 2.0 -- so we may have a new smoldering fan favorite.

What do you think about this community text idea? Will you be joining? Are you excited for V-Wars? Watching Legacies? Following Paul Wesley to Tell Me A Story? Checking out Nina Dobrev's new movie? Here are the Netflix originals we already know about for 2019. Keep up with everything still airing on TV this year with our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.

Legacies is already a pretty buzzy CW property heading into its second season on the network. Now, with the new episodes looming, it looks like the show will be adding a character described by series lead Jenny Boyd as “Somerhalder 2.0.” As in, Mystic Falls' own Damon Salvatore.

We’ve in fact known that Legacies would be adding new characters and in fact a new vampire – well, more accurately a very old vampire who looks and behaves like a teenager – for some time. However, now Jenny Boyd has opened up about Season 2 and the new character heading to the show, and her comments should definitely entice Vampire Diaries fans.

Just what Legacies needs, a smoldering, younger version of Ian Somerhalder, who is still very much popular with The Vampire Diaries fans, many of whom also watch the new Julie Plec series (and vice versa).

Not that Legacies has been without eye candy so far. Matt Davis is back as Alaric Saltzman, although he’s a little older and more parental in the new series. And newer, younger fans likely appreciate the tormented Landon Kirby, played by Aria Shahghasemi.

Season 2 will hit the schedule in just a couple of days, and previously we learned a little bit about this new vampire, who has been described as “dessicated” and basically living in a coma for centuries. So, he will certainly be a bit of a fish out of water in Legacies and unlike the other vampires at the school.

Apparently, from what Jenny Boyd told TV Guide, Lizzie’s really into that sort of centuries-old weirdness. But hey, if you’re the Damon Salvatore type…

The comparison is interesting, because Ian Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore does exist in the Legacies universe, so this new character would, in fact be Damon 2.0. We know that Damon and Elena had children and in particular a daughter Stephanie who has been mentioned on Legacies. Given Damon returned to life as a human, Julie Plec has said she would have to “give thought” to how Stephanie might factor into the plot of the Salvatore School.

Honestly, there have been regular humans on Legacies before. There’s no reason a regular human couldn’t be involved in the plot somehow, in my opinion. Stephanie wouldn’t need to be supernatural to show up on the series, although it would certainly take creativity on Julie Plec's part.

Regardless, we know two things for certain. One, there’s a new Somerhalder type of characer in this supernatural universe. Two, Ian Somerhalder himself has moved on to new projects, although his new series also keeps him in a supernatural world with vampires. V-Wars will premiere on Netflix, although it’s unclear when.

Legacies Season 2 will hit the schedule on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, only on the CW. For more on fall premieres, take a look at our full guide.

A toast to the Salvatore brothers! Ten years after The Vampire Diaries premiere, and 2.5 years after the finale, stars Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley are re-teaming for a project Damon would love: Bourbon. Yes, they are finally taking the jump to make their own bourbon.

Damon Salvatore loved him some bourbon, and The CW series was filled with drinking scenes -- which is kinda funny when you consider many of the viewers were high school age or below. But those viewers are probably old enough to drink now.

Ian Somerhalder revealed the new bourbon plan with his on-screen brother. I hope they call this Salvatore Brothers Bourbon or even Hey Brother Bourbon or something suitably cheeky like that. Lean into it.

As you can see, the second slide in his post showed a Vampire Diaries photo of the brothers drinking bourbon. Here's another Damon bourbon shot from Season 1's "History Repeating":

In his long Instagram caption, Ian Somerhalder mentioned he and Paul Wesley "have been working our asses off with our incredible team" to make their own bourbon.

He noted they plan to travel the world to meet fans to launch the new bourbon with some fun tasting parties. He also put out a call for requests in what fans like in a bourbon.

Celebrity drink brands are big right now -- from Ryan Reynolds' Aviation Gin and Hugh Jackman's Laughing Man Coffee to George Clooney's Casamigos tequila and Breaking Bad co-stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul's new mezcal brand.

I don't drink the strong stuff, but if the Salvatore brothers ever put out a coffee, I'm all in. It's just exciting to see Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley re-teaming for something even vaguely Vampire Diaries-related.

The Salvatore brothers stars recently reunited for The Vampire Diaries' 10th anniversary, which was celebrated earlier in September. They attended a convention together, where Ian Somerhalder admitted he's Team Stelena over Delena, but only because Delena fans have been "'problematic" to his own life.

The Vampire Diaries started on September 10, 2009 and ended on March 10, 2017. In between, the show launched the spinoff The Originals -- which Ian Somerhalder said he and Paul Wesley were "bitter" about, for good reason. After TVD and The Originals ended, Legacies launched as a joint spinoff of both shows. Legacies Season 2 starts Thursday, October 10, 2019.

Meanwhile, Paul Wesley is busy with Tell Me A Story on CBS All Access, among other projects in development. He returned to Mystic Falls last year to direct an episode of Legacies Season 1. Ian Somerhalder has also continued directing after Vampire Diaries, and he directed an episode of the upcoming Netflix series V-Wars. Here's what we know so far about that show.

Are you excited for the brothers to team up for this bourbon project? Do you hope they take it to the next step and re-team for a new TV series? That's my hope.

As The Vampire Diaries fans probably know by now, The CW show just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The series premiered on September 10, 2009. Ian Somerhalder recognized the anniversary by attending a fan convention the previous weekend, and by talking about the "very difficult" process of getting cast as Damon Salvatore. But he didn't post on social media that day, like so many of his co-stars and TVD producers.

In a post shared September 17, Ian Somerhalder explained that the 9/10 anniversary was too close to 9/11 for him to feel comfortable celebrating; but now that a week has gone by, he has a lot to say about his Vampire Diaries journey:

It's clear Ian Somerhalder still has a lot of love for The Vampire Diaries, his former co-stars, and the fans. (Except maybe the Delena fans, who are "problematic" for his personal life.) He was already famous as Boone from Lost before getting cast on Vampire Diaries, but his lead role of Damon shot him to a whole other level of fame.

Ian Somerhalder's Instagram post also mentioned he "will strive continuously to keep creating great characters, great content" -- and we know he has some content headed our way with V-Wars on Netflix. We're still waiting for word on when that TV series will premiere, and hopefully we'll get a teaser fairly soon, but there's plenty we already know about that show. Somerhalder recently said he's not worried about people thinking he's nuts for doing another vampire TV show after Vampire Diaries because V-Wars is so different.

The Vampire Diaries was a major hit after it premiered, and Ian Somerhalder recently talked about the episode that convinced him the show would be a major success. TVD got its first spinoff in The Originals, and Somerhalder said he and on-screen brother Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) were "so bitter" about The Originals, but for a good reason.

Now The Vampire Diaries and The Originals have their own joint sequel in Legacies, which is going strong into Season 2 this October. Fans are even hoping Legacies Season 2 (or Season 3? Or later?) brings in Damon and Elena Salvatore's children. We've already heard about Stefanie Salvatore, but will we ever get to meet her? Dr. Elena Salvatore has a medical practice in Mystic Falls in the timeline of Legacies, so any references to Elena and Damon their family would be welcome to fans.

Hopefully Legacies Season 2 has more references to The Vampire Diaries, in addition to bringing in more characters from The Originals. We know the Legacies 2019-2020 premiere will at least reference Caroline Forbes Salvatore. That show returns Thursday, October 10 on The CW. Keep up with everything airing to TV this year with our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.

Ian Somerhalder has plenty of credits to his name by this point in his career, but he's undoubtedly best known for spending the better part of a decade playing Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries. Somerhalder will always and forever be associated with The Vampire Diaries, so few could have blamed Somerhalder if he chose to branch out in non-vampiric direction for his next TV show. Instead, he's starring on and producing a new vampire show for Netflix, called V-Wars.

While some actors might fear being typecast and/or being stuck in a genre indefinitely by taking more than one project in the same niche, Ian Somerhalder isn't worried about tackling V-Wars after The Vampire Diaries. He explained why, saying this:

While V-Wars may keep him in a world of vampires, Ian Somerhalder was clear that it's going to be very different from The Vampire Diaries. Just because he spent eight years as Damon Salvatore doesn't mean he can't go in a brand new direction (aside from the occasional thirst trap post) with a brand new character on a brand new show?

There's more to the vampire genre than creatures that suck blood and brood, and all signs point toward V-Wars taking Somerhalder in a fresh direction, and not just because he's producing and directing on top of starring. He played a vampire for almost the entire run of The Vampire Diaries; V-Wars will be playing a human doctor by the name of Luther Swann. Damon was certainly no doctor, and V-Wars won't focus on magic as much as medicine.

In some ways, it sounds much more similar to The Passage (which was axed by Fox earlier this year) than The Vampire Diaries. According to the Netflix description, V-Wars will see a doctor pitted against his best friend after his friend encounters an ancient disease that turns people into vampires.

Ian Somerhalder told TVGuide that in V-Wars, people becoming vampires is "happening brand new, in real-time" rather than feature vampires who have already been around for a couple of centuries. Considering some of the comments from Paul Wesley, who played Damon's also very old vampire brother on The Vampire Diaries, it's probably a good thing that Somerhalder won't have to pretend to look like a teenager anymore! Somerhalder promises viewers will experience the reveal of vampirism in V-Wars "as it's happening," and the impact on the world "is going to be insane."

V-Wars hasn't yet received a premiere date on Netflix, but the ten episodes of the first season are expected to hit the streamer later this year. Interestingly, you can find the eight seasons of Ian Somerhalder playing a vampire on The Vampire Diaries streaming there now. Somerhalder has been hard at work on multiple parts of production for V-Wars, and he shared how his time on Vampire Diaries set him up for V-Wars:

Despite Ian Somerhalder's recent remarks about Delena shippers from The Vampire Diaries days that were less than complimentary, here he has nothing but magnanimous words about how The Vampire Diaries set him up for potential success with V-Wars.

At the very least, it must have been less of a battle to get going on V-Wars than it was for him to land the Damon Salvatore role back in the day! Ian Somerhalder also recently revealed that it was a "very difficult process" to be cast in the role that would make him a huge star on The CW. He already had some vamp cred (and star power) going into V-Wars.

Considering the work load that had Ian Somerhalder was shouldering that had him up at 6 a.m. to take care of "hundreds of things" each day, it's good to know that he's enthusiastic about the project! He's taken on more with V-Wars than he was tasked with on The Vampire Diaries, and only time will tell how well it finds an audience.

Streaming video is a growing platform, and fans of The Vampire Diaries still rewatch the series via Netflix regularly, if the panic over the potential loss of the show from the streamer earlier this year is any indication! Will the fans also tune into V-Wars? It will have vampires and Ian Somerhalder as familiar facets, but not much else sounds like it will be similar to The Vampire Diaries.

Of course, the Netflix release model (which isn't changing) means that viewers will have the option of binge-watching. If V-Wars can hook an audience in the first episode or two, that could all but guarantee success for the first season and perhaps a renewal for a second. Since Netflix doesn't get to release a new season of Stranger Things every year, it could use all the hits it can get!

For now, we can only wait for news of a V-Wars release date and hopefully a trailer. The good news is that there are plenty of options already scheduled for premiere on the streaming giant, and our fall TV schedule proves that there's no shortage of goodness coming to broadcast network, cable, and premium TV in the not-too-distant future.

The Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder has reflected on the “very difficult” process of getting cast as Damon on The CW series. Many fans will undoubtedly agree that Somerhalder was the perfect fit to play Damon Salvatore, but getting to see him sink his fangs into the part was more of a process than fans may have imagined.

Reflecting on the tenth anniversary of The Vampire Diaries’ pilot airing, Ian Somerhalder shared the story of his casting process. After pulling off a well-received audition for Warner Bros., Somerhalder’s test for the network did not go as smoothly. As in, it did not go well at all. Somerhalder told TV Guide:

How do you come back from such a rough audition? Well, Ian Somerhalder clearly managed to do it. He knew his take on Damon was more than one not-so-great audition. He had what it took to get cast, so Somerhalder endured.

Using that mindset, the future Vampire Diaries star gave a persuasive speech at his next audition. He was confident that he could play Damon Salvatore, and he let it be known. Ian Somerhalder relayed how he implored the network’s powers-that-be. Explaining what he told them, Somerhalder said:

Did it ever! The Vampire Diaries landed immediate hit status in the ratings. A success that Ian Somerhalder has previously revealed he believed would happen following a particular episode. The show’s legacy keeps living on a decade after the pilot.

Damon Salvatore became a breakout character, who remained for all eight seasons of the show. The love triangle between Damon, Elena, and Stefan propelled a great deal of drama for the vampiric saga.

Of course, some fans had their preference for how that triangle should get resolved. Many of them got their wish, which has set up the potential for Damon and Elena’s legacy to be felt on The Vampire Diaries’ spinoff, Legacies. Speaking of Damon and Elena, Ian Somerhalder recently opened up about his feelings on Delena shippers.

As a fan, I could undoubtedly sense that Ian Somerhalder seemed to be having fun playing Stefan’s villainous brother in Season 1. He also pushed himself a great deal in the role as Damon went from all-out villain to reformed rogue.

Ian Somerhalder is still fond of the vampire genre. He has V-Wars coming up for Netflix, which sounds incredibly intriguing. If you are still wondering what Damon Salvatore is up to post-finale, Somerhalder has shared his thoughts. On that note, fans are hoping that Damon and Elena’s daughter will put in an appearance on Legacies. Will it happen? Stay tuned.

It is neat to hear about the process of Ian Somerhalder getting cast. You have to wonder how different things might have been if he had not made that speech and gotten the role. Legacies is proof that The Vampire Diaries still has and will keep having one of television's greatest...well, legacies.

For now, you can binge The Vampire Diaries in its entirety on Netflix along with new content. The second season of the series’ spinoff, Legacies, will be among this fall’s premieres.

Delena or Stelena? The Vampire Diaries fans have been debating whether Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) should be with Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) or Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) since Season 1. Ian Somerhalder has firmly picked a side -- the one without his character. And it has to do with how "problematic" Damon and Elena fans were to his personal life, even more than just thinking Damon and Elena should not have ended up together in The Vampire Diaries finale.

Good news, though -- Ian Somerhalder loves loves LOVES Stelena fans. So at least Stelena fans can be happy about that, even if they're still upset about The Vampire Diaries finale.

Ian Somerhalder made his new comments about Stelena and Delena fans during The Vampire Diaries convention held over the weekend in New Jersey. The gathering -- which also included Paul Wesley, Joseph Morgan, and many more -- honored the 10th anniversary of TVD, which premiered on September 10, 2009.

So here we are, 10 years later, and the Stelena vs. Delena war is not yet over.

During a panel talk at the convention, Ian Somerhalder sat next to on-screen brother Paul Wesley and answered which 'ship he preferred, Stelena or Delena. His answer was captured by fans @wesleysIaugh and @wesleylover:

Paul Wesley appeared to think he meant Stefan and Elena's fans were the problem for him -- which might make more sense from an outside perspective -- but Ian Somerhalder clarified that no, he was talking about the fans who wanted Elena to be with his own character, Damon:

Yeah, The Vampire Diaries fandom is passionate and can be intense. Obviously not all Delena fans went overboard, but Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev dated in real life for about three years and fans were very invested in their on-and-off-screen relationships. When they broke up, and Ian started dating and then married Twilight's Nikki Reed ... not all Delena fans took it well.

Some Delena fans are now upset with Ian Somerhalder, but others understand why he felt that way, since several viewers crossed the line and made it personal:

It's understandably hurtful to be lumped into one large negative group, but from Ian Somerhalder's point-of-view it makes sense that the lingering feeling about "Delena" might be about all the times fans representing that 'ship made his life more difficult.

At least Delena got the endgame on The Vampire Diaries, so they have that. Stefan ended up with wife Caroline, but sacrificed himself in the end. Damon became newly human and lived a long happy life with Elena in Mystic Falls. Caroline is now somewhere in Europe and hopefully we'll see her again soon on Legacies.

Paul Wesley Explains Initial Clash With Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev: 'It Was A Cool Lesson To Learn'

Damon and Elena are still meant to be in Mystic Falls, where Dr. Elena Salvatore runs a family practice, in the timeline of the spinoff Legacies. Legacies Season 2 premieres October 10 on The CW, and fans are hoping to hear more about or even see Damon and Elena's daughter Stefanie.

How do you feel about Ian's Delena comments? Fair? Foul?

Hello, brothers! The Vampire Diaries is holding a 10-year reunion event in less than a month. It also happens to be an official convention, including stars of the spinoff The Originals. Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Joseph Morgan, and many more are booked for the convention, which will be held September 6-8, 2019 at the Hanover Marriott Hotel in Whippany, New Jersey.

The timing is perfect, since The Vampire Diaries premiered 10 years ago that week on September 10, 2009. The stars will probably have a lot of great stories to tell about what they expected at the time the show started, and how their lives have changed now. It should be a lot of fun!

Here's a list of who is attending (so far) per the official Creation Entertainment site:

Here's all the ticket information.

I do wish everyone was appearing at the same time, especially so The Originals stars like Daniel Gillies and Joseph Morgan could banter with The Vampire Diaries OGs Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. Somerhalder did recently say he and Wesley were "so bitter" about The Originals becoming its own spinoff since TVD lost so many great actors. And Gillies called out Wesley in an Instagram post about this convention, after having his own mini reunion with Morgan one year after their characters Klaus and Elijah took their own lives in The Originals finale.

That's the other cool thing about this Vampire Diaries convention, and why the timing is perfect. The Originals ended one year ago this August. The Vampire Diaries premiered 10 years ago this September. And the new spinoff Legacies Season 2 premieres this October 2019.

Michael Trevino recently said he would love a Vampire Diaries reunion for the 10th anniversary, and so here we are. This is better, and more realistic, than imagining a Vampire Diaries reboot or bringing many of these stars onto Legacies.

That said, Julie Plec did say Hope Mikaelson's storyline in Legacies Season 2 was shaping up to be perfect for some of her family members from The Originals to show up. Apparently she wanted Freya Mikaelson for something specific, but actress Riley Voelkel had a scheduling conflict with Roswell, New Mexico. Hopefully Aunt Freya can still show up later.

Steven R. McQueen already had a cameo in Legacies Season 1 as Jeremy Gilbert. And Matt Davis is one of the main stars as Alaric Saltzman, making him the only member of The Vampire Diaries Universe so far to star in all three series -- Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies. Fans are hoping Candice King will add her name to the list as Caroline Forbes Salvatore, but there's no confirmation on that yet. Everyone also wants Chris Wood to pop in for at least a cameo as the Saltzman twins' evil Uncle Kai Parker, especially after the Legacies Season 1 finale left that door wide open.

Paul Wesley made it clear he will not be playing Stefan Salvatore again, and it's understandable why. He did return to Mystic Falls to direct an episode of Legacies Season 1, though. Ian Somerhalder is busy with his upcoming Netflix series V-Wars, and he directed an episode of that. As much as fans would love to see Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev back in Mystic Falls -- considering their characters Damon and Elena are now raising kids there -- it does seem unlikely.

Are you planning to check out this Vampire Diaries anniversary convention? I'm hoping someone shares video from the panel discussions. I have no doubt they will be lively and worth a watch. Here's everything we know so far about what's ahead in Legacies Season 2.

Ian Somerhalder recently opened up about his favorite episode of The Vampire Diaires. He not only thought it was a lot of fun to shoot, and "encapsulated Damon and who he was," he said watching it convinced him that they really did have a hit show on their hands. He was right. Eight seasons and almost 10 years later, and Ian Somerhalder is still talking about Damon Salvatore and company to loyal fans.

During Wizard World Philadelphia 2019, Ian Somerhalder was asked about his favorite episode of The Vampire Diaries. He went with Season 1, Episode 6, "Lost Girls," which first aired on October 15, 2009. The episode was written by Vampire Diaries executive producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec.

Here's what Ian Somerhalder told the panel audience about "Lost Girls":

Go ahead and relive Vicki (Kayla Ewell) and Damon's (Ian Somerhalder) sexy underwear dance from The Vampire Diaries Season 1, Episode 6:

Ian Somerhalder didn't just appreciate The Vampire Diaries' "Lost Girls" episode for the nearly naked dancing. That's also the episode that many considered a turning point for The CW show. That's when Stefan (Paul Wesley) admitted to Elena (Nina Dobrev) that he was a vampire. It also gave us a flashback to Katherine and Stefan meeting in 1864. Oh, and it showed Damon turning Vicki into a vampire. A lot happened that week.

Here's more from Ian Somerhalder on his reaction to that whole Vampire Diaries episode, which he first watched alongside co-star Paul Wesley:

It really is amazing. The Vampire Diaries ended its eight season run in March 2017. Since then, Ian Somerhalder has been busy with plenty of things, but TV-wise he's busy with a new Netflix series V-Wars. The Vampire Diaries Universe is still soldiering on with its second spinoff. Somerhalder was "bitter" about The Originals becoming a show, but now we have Legacies, which has already name-dropped Damon and Elena's children and may even introduce them at some point in the future.

Ian Somerhalder thanked fans for making everything possible:

I doubt it will suck -- unless it's meant to suck, as vampires do! Ian Somerhalder is still working on post-production for his vampire show, V-Wars Season 1, which is expected later this year on Netflix. Here's what some other Vampire Diaries stars have been up to in 2019. Legacies Season 2 may bring a few folks back, we'll have to wait and see after it premieres this October on The CW.

The Vampire Diaries alum Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) was recently asked to name his favorite "K" villain from the show: Katherine Pierce, Klaus Mikaelson, or Malachai "Kai" Parker. It's a tough question. Take a second to think about how you'd answer.

He picked Kai.

First, Ian Somerhalder talked about being "bitter" over Klaus (Joseph Morgan) getting his own spinoff on The Originals. Then he talked a bit about Katherine (Nina Dobrev) before explaining why Kai (Chris Wood) was the best villain on The Vampire Diaries.

Here's what the Damon Salvatore actor told the Wizard World Philadelphia 2019 audience:

And it's Kai for the win for the worst!

Ian Somerhalder's Damon met Kai in The Vampire Diaries Season 6. Kai, if you recall, was munching on some pork rinds before poisoning Damon:

Chris Wood played Kai on The Vampire Diaries from 2014-2017, and Legacies fans are hoping to see him on that spinoff in 2019 (or 2020). In another Kai clip, Kai explained to Damon and Bonnie how an Ascendant worked, which could be a key reminder for Legacies Season 2:

Kai is currently in another Prison World, stuck there courtesy of Bonnie Bennett, using an Ascendant and Gemini Coven magic from Josie and Lizzie Saltzman when they were just children. The Legacies Season 1 finale showed Josie and Lizzie finding the Ascendant at the Salvatore school and having a vague memory of what it was. That was our sign that the twins may end up accidentally freeing their evil Uncle Kai from his Prison World.

Caroline? Bonnie? 6 Vampire Diaries And The Originals Stars Julie Plec Wants On Legacies Season 2

Kai Parker killed his twin sister -- also the twins' biological mother -- Jo Laughlin on her wedding day to Alaric Saltzman. The twins survived by magic moving them to Caroline Forbes' womb. If Kai gets out of that Prison World, I can totally see him manipulating the twins and also trying to kill them all over again.

Julie Plec added that Legacies Season 1 finale Ascendant scene without getting confirmation from Chris Wood that he would actually reprise his role as Kai in Legacies Season 2. She admitted that was pretty presumptuous of her, and we don't know yet if Wood will be in the new season or not. But Plec has been pushing for Kai to be on the spinoff, and she's not alone.

Josie actress Kaylee Bryant also told CinemaBlend Kai is one of her favorite characters, and she keeps pushing for him to join his nieces on Legacies:

Absolutely. So we have Ian Somerhalder calling Kai the best villain of The Vampire Diaries, Kaylee Bryant asking for him to be on Legacies, and Julie Plec already adding him to the Legacies storyline. Chris Wood, your ears should be burning.

Stay tuned on Kai Parker coming to Legacies Season 2 (or not). Here's what we know so far about the 2019-2020 season. Legacies Season 2 premieres Thursday, October 10 on The CW.

Six years ago, The Vampire Diaries got itself its first spinoff, The Originals, following Joseph Morgan's Klaus Mikaelson and family. You know who wasn't a fan? Vampire Diaries leads Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) and Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore).

The Salvatore brothers had a good reason for being "bitter," as Ian Somerhalder put it during Wizard World Philadelphia 2019. It came from a place of love for the stars TVD lost to the new show.

The topic came up when Ian Somerhalder was asked to name his favorite "K" villain from The Vampire Diaries -- Katherine, Klaus, or Kai? First of all, I love that question. Second, I love how he began his answer:

Yeah, if I lost the chance to work with Joseph Morgan every day I'd be bitter, too. Morgan joined The Vampire Diaries as Klaus Mikaelson in Season 2, and was a main character in Season 3 and Season 4.

However, in October 2013, The CW gave Joseph Morgan's Klaus and family their own spinoff in The Originals. The Originals premiered right after the first episode of The Vampire Diaries Season 5. Stars and characters like Daniel Gillies as Elijah Mikaelson, Claire Holt as Rebekah Mikaelson, and Phoebe Tonkin as Hayley Marshall were suddenly gone from the flagship vampire show.

The Originals went on for five of its own seasons before ending last summer 2019. (It took until the final season to get Candice King's Caroline on there for an unsatisfactory reunion with Klaus. Talk about bitter. Klaroline deserved better!) Right after The Originals ended, Klaus Mikaelson's daughter Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) got her own spinoff in Legacies, which is basically the love child of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.

So I'd say this all has a happy ending. And there was enough crossover between the two shows to keep the Mikaelson family alive (so to speak) on The Vampire Diaries. That's still happening now with past characters from Vampire Diaries and The Originals popping up on Legacies.

Caroline? Bonnie? 6 Vampire Diaries And The Originals Stars Julie Plec Wants On Legacies Season 2

Each series has been able to stand on its own two feet, and sometimes fans end up preferring the spinoffs to the show that started it all. When Legacies Season 1 hit Netflix, some fans even said they started there and went back to watch The Vampire Diaries and The Originals to understand all of the many references to the mothership shows.

One year out from The Originals finale, and two years out from The Vampire Diaries' ending, the stars have all moved on. Paul Wesley returned to Mystic Falls to direct an episode of Legacies Season 1, but he has his own new series now. Ian Somerhalder is working on another vampire show, V-Wars, where he is not the vampire. And Joseph Morgan just announced his first major TV role since ending his run as Klaus.

By the way, Ian Somerhalder eventually did answer that fan question from the Wizard World Philadelphia panel. He picked Kai, and I want to talk about that another time because it could/should directly tie into what's ahead in Legacies Season 2, which premieres this October 2019. Until next time, stay unbitter. (UPDATE: I'm ready to talk about Kai, so here's that next time.)

Praise Damon! It's a beautiful day in The Vampire Diaries Universe. Ian Somerhalder gave fans an update on his upcoming vampire Netflix series, V-Wars - and also talked about helping to clean the oceans, being a good dad, etc. Fans got a little bit distracted from the message in his caption because the image of his latest post was, um, this:

Hello, brother! Some of Ian Somerhalder's fans announced they are now deceased after that shirtless muscle shot, so they could use an old-fashioned vampire revival.

If you concentrate really hard, you can read The Vampire Diaries alum's update on V-Wars. As he wrote, there are "only some months" of post-production left before it'll head onto Netflix.

In the new series, Ian Somerhalder, age 40, plays the lead character of Dr. Luther Swann. It's a vampire show, but this time he plays the human best friend of Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes), who turns into a vampire.

Ian Somerhalder said he was drawn to the character of Dr. Luther Swann because he's so different from snarky, rich Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries. Dr. Swann's only superpower is just being a great dad -- plus he's a scientist, which is something Somerhalder said he always wanted to be.

Netflix has a page up for V-Wars with this description:

As the disease spreads, and more people are transformed, V-Wars will show a society fractured into opposing camps pitting "normal" people against the growing number of "vampires." Ian Somerhalder's Dr. Luther Swann races against time to understand what’s happening, while his best friend Michael Fayne rises to become the powerful underground leader of the vampires.

There's no word yet on the premiere date for V-Wars -- beyond fans expecting it sometime in 2019 -- but Ian Somerhalder did talk more about the series during a recent appearance at Wizard World Philadelphia 2019. He told the audience he had been up editing V-Wars until 3 a.m. that morning, before traveling for the panel discussion:

(Ian Somerhalder is married to Nikki Reed of Twilight fame, as you probably know.)

Ian Somerhalder directed one episode of V-Wars, and previously showed off some footage from when he was directing on set. He said he was glad he only did one episode because "it probably would've killed me" to do more. However, he's excited about the genre and story -- based on Jonathan Maberry's graphic novels -- and the relevant messages of the show. He's also talked in the past about hoping fans like V-Wars Season 1, or at least watch it enough that Netflix gives them a chance to go back for more in V-Wars Season 2.

Ian Somerhalder gave fans their first look at his Dr. Luther Swann last summer. Now we just have to wait for a trailer and a premiere date on Netflix. Here's what we know so far about V-Wars, including all the cast details. Stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, The Vampire Diaries Universe continues with the second spinoff series, Legacies, following The Originals' Hope Mikaelson. Legacies Season 2 premieres on The CW this October.

Hello, brother! The Vampire Diaries ended just over two years ago, but the Salvatore brothers are still together in the afterlife. Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) just shared a photo with Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore) in Poland, where Wesley's family is from.

The Internet tells me "Dobry Wieczor" means "Good evening" in Polish. As to why Paul Wesley's dad is wearing sunglasses at night -- I believe there's a song that covers that choice, but I'll just go with "because he's cool." That's where his son got his swagger.

This is not the first time Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder have shared a photo together after the show wrapped. They spent eight season playing brothers on The Vampire Diaries, and it's good to see they are still close in real life. In December 2018, Wesley shared a photo with Somerhalder in honor of Ian's 40th (!) birthday, joking that Ian was "no longer a teen."

In March 2019, shortly before the two-year anniversary of The Vampire Diaries finale, Ian Somerhalder shared a throwback photo to Vampire Diaries Season 2, which aired from 2010-2011. Of course, Ian also added a nice Zoolander joke:

This year actually marks the 10th anniversary of The Vampire Diaries premiere, which aired on September 10, 2009. One of their co-stars said he'd be up for a 10-year reunion, and I was thinking they could time it well over the summer -- pair it with The Originals finale anniversary in August, and also the premiere of Legacies Season 2 this October on The CW.

Paul Wesley has already joined the Legacies family to direct an episode of Season 1. He seemed like he might up for the idea of returning to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals spinoff as a monster-of-the-week, but not to revive Stefan Salvatore. Stefan's story is over, as played by Wesley, anyway. His spirit lives on through Legacies, in the Salvatore School itself (which was given to Caroline by Damon after Stefan's death) and through Damon and Elena Gilbert-Salvatore's daughter.

Legacies Season 1 revealed that Damon and Elena had kids, with a daughter named Stefanie in honor of Stefan. The Vampire Diaries Universe ruler Julie Plec told fans she was trying to think of a way that made sense for any of Damon and Elena's kids to be on Legacies. (I had some ideas there, not that I expect The CW show to use any.)

Last we heard, Ian Somerhalder was gearing up for V-Wars Season 1 to premiere on Netflix. That's a vampire show, but he's not playing a vampire. Nina Dobrev lost lost her CBS sitcom Fam, so fans are crossing their fingers that she finds the time and interest to make an appearance as Elena on Legacies.

Ian Somerhalder recently talked about what he thought Damon Salvatore did with his time as a human after The Vampire Diaries. The series ended with Damon and Elena starting a family, and then showed Damon and Stefan reuniting in the afterlife, with Damon closing the show with another sweet repeat of "Hello, brother."

Keep up with everything we know about Legacies Season 2 so far, and keep up with Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley on social media to see what other new throwback or new reunion photos they might share with fans.

Ian Somerhalder has become one of the most popular TV actors of the 21st century thanks to playing Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries and Boone Carlyle on Lost, and now Dr. Luther Swann on V-Wars. But there's a lot more to know about the actor, whose career actually started back in the 1980s.

Here are some of the most important facts and trivia that Ian Somerhalder fans should know.

How Old Is Ian Somerhalder?

The perpetually youthful-looking 5'9"-tall Ian Somerhalder was born on December 8, 1978 -- which finally puts him past the point of playing teenage roles. Lost premiered in September 2004 when he was 25. The Vampire Diaries started in September 2009, when Somerhalder was 30, and ended in March 2017 when he was 38. Now Somerhalder is finally old enough to play a father on screen. He said he was drawn to his Netflix's V-Wars character Dr. Luther Swann because Swann is a normal, good man -- a dad and a husband -- as opposed to a not-so-good vampire like Damon Salvatore.

Where Is Ian Somerhalder From?

Ian Somerhalder is a Southern boy from Covington, Louisiana, which is about 40 miles from New Orleans. It's a perfect area to grow up in, if your future includes the mysterious and supernatural. Interestingly enough, The Vampire Diaries taped most of its episodes in Covington, Georgia, which doubles for the show's Mystic Falls, Virginia. Somerhalder's parents -- a massage therapist and an independent building contractor-- raised Ian, his older brother Robert and younger sister Robyn in nearby Mandeville.

Ian Somerhalder has stayed close to his roots. He grew up loving the wilderness in the area and returned with the Ian Somerhalder Foundation to buy nearly 100 acres along the bayou for preservation and other projects serving the needs of animals and the community, per NOLA. He also supported his family when they opened McClains pizzeria in Mandeville, with another pizzeria in Hailey, Idaho. Ian and his brother Bob Somerhalder also opened a furniture business Built Of Barnwood.

How Did Ian Somerhalder Start His Career?

Ian Somerhalder started his career as a model at age 10. As he explained to Bend Weekly in a 2007 interview:

Ian Somerhalder said his mother used every penny to get an apartment in New York for three summers.

However, while modeling made him a lot of money (before fees), he didn't find it "intellectually satisfying." He decided to study acting with William Esper in New York. And he got pretty lucky -- after a couple of guest shots in L.A., he did four TV pilots and all four were picked up.

Ian Somerhalder's early TV career includes single episode roles on The Big Easy (1997) and Now and Again (1999) before landing a main role on Young Americans, a spinoff of Dawson's Creek that lasted one season. Somerhalder has had guest roles in several shows, from CSI to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and also played the role of Adam Knight across six episodes of Smallville. On the film side, he picked up a substantial role in the 2001 movie Life as a House and an even bigger role in the 2002 movie The Rules of Attraction.

Ian Somerhalder shot to fame with Lost as the ill-fated Boone Carlyle. He returned as a special guest star after Season 1 in episodes across Seasons 2, 3, and 6. Lost ended in 2010, but by then Ian Somerhalder was already cast in The Vampire Diaries.

Is Ian Somerhalder Single?

Nope! Ian Somerhalder is a happily married man. He's also kept things in the vampire family. Ian Somerhalder famously dated his The Vampire Diaries co-star Nina Dobrev for about three years before they broke up in 2013. Now they are friends, and Dobrev is also friends with Somerhalder's wife, Nikki Reed.

Nikki Reed, who was born 10 years after Ian Somerhalder in 1988, played vampire Rosalie Hale in The Twilight Saga. Somerhalder and Reed were married April 26, 2015 in Malibu, California, and they welcomed their first child, daughter Bodhi Soleil, on July 25, 2017. It's clear that after several years together, they are still very much in love; check out how Somerhalder celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary:

Nikki Reed was married to American Idol alum Paul McDonald before marrying Ian Somerhalder. Just a few months after her split with McDonald, Reed began dating Somerhalder. Somerhalder and Reed got married less than four months after they got engaged. Somerhalder and Reed were friends for years before they started dating, but the pair and Nina Dobrev were quick to dispel any rumors that there was any bad blood or betrayal between them.

Where Does Ian Somerhalder Live?

Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed are based in Los Angeles, but they love to travel -- even when they don't have to travel for things like his Netflix show V-Wars, which filmed in Ontario, Canada. In December 2018, Nikki Reed told People they are a "big camping family" and "probably spend 100 days out of 365 in our Airstream camping." She said they live to travel down to Joshua Tree and New Mexico and all over the place.

In 2015, Variety reported that Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed had paid more than $2.85 million for a contemporary home in Venice, CA -- and it was sold by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Apparently the 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath, 2,800-square-foot home is "Just off the trendy, spendy and hipster-swarmed Abbot Kinney shopping and dining district."

How Much Money Did Ian Somerhalder Make From The Vampire Diaries?

Ian Somerhalder has made a pretty penny from his lengthy career thus far. According to a 2010 TV Guide report on the top TV earners, Somerhalder made $40,000 per episode of The Vampire Diaries. There were 22 episodes for the first seven seasons of Vampire Diaries, and 16 in the final Season 8. He's been given an estimate net worth of $8 million, but it's not clear if that also includes his pay for producing and directing episodes. It was also posted before he joined Netflix's V-Wars. Either way, he should have enough money to support his family and causes.

What Does Ian Somerhalder Do When He's Not Acting?

In addition to acting, Ian Somerhalder also directs. He directed three episodes of The Vampire Diaries and he directed an episode of his upcoming Netflix series V-Wars. He was also a producer in his final season on The Vampire Diaries.

Ian Somerhalder is also deeply involved in environmental causes, and causes that support animal welfare. He's a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and was part of the Emmy-winning 2014 documentary on global warming, Years of Living Dangerously. In 2013, he told Us Weekly if he wasn't an actor, he'd be a marine biologist.

He launched the Ian Somerhalder Foundation in 2010 "to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures." The Louisiana native was inspired to launch the foundation after witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the horrible aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill. Somerhalder's wife Nikki Reed is equally passionate in environmentalism and animal rights, and she's the Vice President of ISF.

Ian Somerhalder Wants A Nobel Prize - For Someone Else

In 2011, Ian Somerhalder explained to E! that he had flown to Zimbabwe for a documentary after wrapping that year's season of The Vampire Diaries.

Ian Somerhalder noted that Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth didn't mention how agriculture contributes to climate change, so he wanted to change that. However, he emphasized that he has no political ambitions himself:

Ian Somerhalder should have plenty of other adventures ahead, and fans can follow his progress on big, small, and streaming screens -- as well as social media. In the meantime, keep up with CinemaBlend for more on all things TV, film, and pop culture.

The Vampire Diaries and Lost alum Ian Somerhalder is the lead star and a creative force behind V-Wars, which is coming soon to Netflix. This time, though, the former Damon Salvatore actor is not playing a vampire himself. He plays a scientist caught in the middle of the vampire wars (hence the title) with his best friend as the leader of the vampires.

Here's what we know so far about the show Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Legacies, and probably all other bloodthirsty fans may want to put on their watch lists for 2019.

What Is V-Wars About?

Netflix has a page up for V-Wars -- putting it in the TV Thrillers, TV Horror, and TV Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres -- giving it this description:

The V-Wars print anthology series was conceived by Jonathan Maberry. V-Wars: Chronicles of the Vampire Wars is the first book in the anthology series, arriving in 2012. That was followed by V-Wars: Blood and Fire, then V-Wars: Night Terrors and V-Wars: Shockwaves.

In Netflix's V-Wars, Ian Somerhalder plays Dr. Luther Swann, with Adrian Holmes (Arrow) as his best friend Michael Fayne. As the disease spreads and more people are transformed, society fractures into opposing camps of normal people vs. vampires. Swann races to understand what’s happening, while Fayne rises to become the powerful underground leader of the vampires.

When Does V-Wars Premiere On Netflix?

Back in October 2018, actor Adrian Holmes posted "Stay tuned for V-Wars, Spring 2019 on @netflix." However, spring came and went. Turns out, Netflix was holding V-Wars for the end of the year. On October 30, 2019, Netflix finally revealed the premiere date of December 5th, 2019, along with some cool new photos.

How Many Episodes Will V-Wars Season 1 Have?

Netflix gave V-Wars a straight-to-series order, and Season 1 will have 10 episodes. Since it's Netflix, they should release all at once. That makes it perfect for binge-watching, as opposed to network shows like The Vampire Diaries that often run for 22 episodes a year, but you have to wait a full week for each new entry. That is, until the seasons end, and then you can binge The Vampire Diaries Universe in its entirety, so far, from The Vampire Diaries to The Originals and Legacies Season 2. They are all currently available on Netflix.

Who Has Been Cast In V-Wars?

In addition to leads Ian Somerhalder as Dr. Luther Swann and Adrian Holmes as Michael Fayne, the main cast includes Jacky Lai as Kaylee Vo, and Peter Outerbridge as Calix Niklos. Per Deadline, Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl) was also cast as Mila, Kyle Breitkopf (The Whispers) will play Dez, and Kimberly-Sue Murray (Crimson Peak) will play a character named Danika. We're still waiting for more details on many of the V-Wars characters. Sydney Meyer (Shadowhunters) revealed on Instagram that she's playing Ava O'Malley, and that's her in the photo above with Ian and Adrian. Sydney posted that on April 26, saying they were in V-Wars reshoots. Adrian replied with compliments and said "Love our battles," hinting to his vampire character fighting with her character.

Ian Somerhalder - Dr. Luther Swann

In August 2018, Ian Somerhalder gave fans their first look at his V-Wars character, Dr. Luther Swann. The full image shows blood on his hands, in addition to that serious expression on his face. Somerhalder captioned the Instagram image, "Would you trust this man?" Somerhalder said he wanted to play a good, normal man -- a husband and father whose superpower is just being a good dad and helping to save the world through science. It marked a welcome change of pace after playing Damon Salvatore across The Vampire Diaries.

That photo of Dr. Luther Swann is still the only real official image we have from V-Wars as of May 2019. Hopefully that will change soon, since there should be plenty of footage out there to show fans. On October 20, 2018 Ian Somerhalder posted a video announcing V-Wars had wrapped filming for Season 1. He thanked everyone in the filming locations in Canada -- plus the cast and crew and everyone at Netflix and IDW -- and said they would work hard to make V-Wars a hit show that fans appreciate and want to see continue.

Adrian Holmes - Michael Fayne

Adrian Holmes plays Michael Fayne, the other lead star of V-Wars. Fayne's charisma, quick thinking, and strategic sense lead him to take a leadership role in the growing vampire faction, despite being best friends with the human Dr. Luther Swann.

In October 2018, Adrian Holmes shared his own grateful wrap post to mark the end of V-Wars Season 1 filming, writing in part:

Adrian Holmes was born in Wales but raised in Canada and known for the award-winning Canadian series 19-2. You may also have seen him as Frank Pike on Arrow, or as James Turner in Supernatural. He also played Ajani Okeke, Zhao's head-of-security and personal bodyguard, in the 2018 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson movie Skyscraper.

Jacky Lai - Kaylee Vo

Jacky Lai is known for playing Aline in Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments and Riley in Beyond. In V-Wars, she plays a struggling online journalist named Kaylee Vo. She's described, per Deadline, as a would-be Assange who will do or say almost anything to advance her career. A fierce, funny, hustling fringe player, she breaks the biggest story imaginable and soon finds herself a key part of that story with a growing list of deadly enemies. On October 29, Lai shared this collection of images and a lovely caption from the last day of filming:

In June, Jonathan Maberry posed with Jacky Lai at the table read, describing her character as "a take-no-prisoners investigative reporter." Lai described her character, via Instagram, as "Her attitude kinda savage but her heart is gold."

Peter Outerbridge - Calix Niklos

Peter Outerbridge was also cast as a series regular for V-Wars. He plays Calix Niklos, described as an elegant, malicious science expert on the Homeland Security Team. Fans might know Outerbridge best as General Davies on Zoo, or maybe as The Conductor on The Umbrella Academy, Captain Martens on The Expanse, Henrik Johanssen on Orphan Black, or Ari Tasarov on Nikita, among his many credits.

Who's Behind The Scenes Of V-Wars?

V-Wars is based on Jonathan Maberry's V-Wars: Chronicles of the Vampire War and comes to Netflix from IDW Entertainment and High Park Entertainment. Brad Turner (24, Stargate) was announced as directing the pilot episode and executive producing the show. William Laurin and Glenn Davis were announced as showrunners, with Eric Birnberg and Thomas Walden as producers through High Park; David Ozer and Ted Adams for IDW Entertainment; and James Gibb for Marada Pictures.

David Ozer, president of IDW Entertainment shared a statement on V-Wars when everything was first announced in April 2018:

Ian Somerhalder was not only attached to star, but also direct a portion of the series. Somerhalder has experience from directing three episodes of The Vampire Diaries from 2015 to 2017. Adrian Holmes complimented Somerhalder's work ethic after wrapping the episode his co-star directed:

High praise! Ian Somerhalder gave fans a glimpse behind-the-scenes of V-Wars in a video showing him directing on set, and you should definitely check that out.

When And Where Did V-Wars Season 1 Film?

V-Wars filmed Season 1 in Canada. The 10-episode season reportedly started filming in June 2018 in Sudbury, Cambridge and Toronto, Ontario. V-Wars Season 1 wrapped in October, and there were news reports via CBC in Cambridge, Ontario about a bridge in the community of Galt being closed so the film crews could work on the Netflix series. Officials warned that the special effects and scenes could be "disturbing," with "simulated violence," so people were asked not to bring children to the area to watch filming. FYI, Galt's Main Street Bridge has also been used for filming on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale. On October 20, Ian Somerhalder posted this message to fans marking the end of filming:

Based on Sydney Meyer's post from the casting section above, it sounds like V-Wars went back for reshoots in April. Many TV shows and movies schedule reshoots for additional photography, but apparently that's something Ian Somerhalder forgot to keep in mind when he gave himself a drastic haircut. Hopefully that didn't cause any issues!

Will There Be A V-Wars Season 2?

At this point, it's too soon to say whether Netflix will bring V-Wars back for Season 2. Netflix is a very data-driven streamer, and it does tend to shut off the lights around Season 3, when shows start to become too expensive. But there are several factors that would be taken into consideration, including (presumably) fan demand. V-Wars Season 1 got a straight-to-series order, and Ian Somerhalder has already been vocal about asking fans to please watch Season 1 and keep episodes streaming on Netflix so The Powers That Be see there's interest and the cast and crew get to return for Season 2:

Stay tuned for more updates on V-Wars once Netflix decides to dole them out. We're still waiting on a trailer and interviews. Keep up with the current Netflix premiere dates so far.

Legacies is the joint spinoff of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, and what legacy could be more relevant to fans than the one left by Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder)?

Klaus Mikaelson's The Originals daughter Hope is the main character of Legacies, with Alaric Saltzman and Caroline Forbes-Salvatore's Vampire Diaries twins Josie and Lizzie Saltzman as fellow regulars. Wouldn't it make perfect sense to add Damon and Elena's daughter Stefanie to the story in Season 2, after her name-drop in Season 1?

Elena and Damon Salvatore ended up together in The Vampire Diaries finale, and we know they lived long, happy lives. Dr. Elena Salvatore set up a practice in Mystic Falls, and Damon appreciated life as a human again. Legacies Season 1 also thrilled fans with mention of their children.

Sure, the two mentions of their kids -- and specifically of a daughter named Stefanie Salvatore -- happened in alternate timelines. But The Vampire Diaries Universe ruler Julie Plec acknowledged Damon and Elena's kids, and she even weighed in on featuring them in Legacies:

As many fans replied, the kids wouldn't have to be supernatural to appear on Legacies. But they could be.

Since Stefanie got a shoutout in Legacies Season 1, in honor of her late uncle Stefan Salvatore, here are six ways The Powers That Be could let us meet Damon and Elena's daughter in Legacies Season 2.

Stefanie Salvatore Manifests Supernatural Powers And Attends Salvatore School

Let's assume in this scenario that Stefanie Salvatore starts showing some kind of supernatural power, whatever it might be, so she ends up attending Salvatore School as a student. How would this power manifest? Would Damon and Elena raise her to be aware of supernatural abilities, or try to protect her by keeping that hidden?

Maybe if Stefanie does have some kind of power, let's say a witch, that would force the issue and the family would have to address an entire world of supernatural abilities -- plus the existence of the Salvatore family school down the road. Damon gave the Salvatore boarding house to Stefan's widow Caroline, figuring that's what Stefan would've wanted, and she and Alaric have been running the Salvatore boarding school ever since.

Julie Plec tweeted that the Salvatore School was founded when the Saltzman twins were under 5. "Right when their powers started manifesting in dangerous ways." So they are at least that many years older than Stefanie Salvatore, considering Damon and Elena started having kids after he became human again at the end of The Vampire Diaries.

As we saw with Pedro, the Salvatore School isn't necessarily just for high school-aged kids. What if Stefanie starts manifesting powers at her current age (9-11, maybe?) and ends up at the Salvatore school, under the tutelage of family friend Alaric Saltzman, and under the guidance of longtime family friends Lizzie and Josie. Would they be like older sisters to Stefanie? It would be interesting to see.

As fans have pointed out, Stefanie could be carrying magical blood on both sides. As one CinemaBlend commenter wrote:

Here's one fan's suggestion to Julie Plec:

Another fan had a suggestion on the same track:

Stefanie Salvatore carrying a cure in her blood could certainly make for an interesting plot point. First of all, how would we know this? It would have to come up in some fashion, when she manifests a supernatural power. There are any number of directions the story could take if Stefanie Salvatore has supernatural powers. But, honestly, I prefer the scenarios where she doesn't.

Lizzie And Josie Saltzman Babysit Stefanie Salvatore

Let's say Stefanie is just a regular kid, a family friend of the Saltzmans. In the alternate universe of that Legacies Season 1 episode, Josie addressed Damon as "Stefanie Salvatore's dad." Considering the age difference between the girls, it seems unlikely they'd be close friends. It's more likely the twins would be called in to babysit Stefanie (and maybe her siblings) if Damon and Elena were out on a date night.

Josie is a sweetheart and seems like she'd be great with kids. But Lizzie showed with Pedro that she might only really get along well with kids. I'd love to see Lizzie bonding with young Stefanie, and talking to her like any other person her age -- i.e. venting to her about her latest complaints. I see Stefanie either being like a patient young friend to her, close to Elena with Caroline, or maybe going in the snarky direction befitting Damon's daughter.

Either way, a babysitting storyline could accidentally introduce magic to Stefanie, if Lizzie blows up in some way or if the twins start talking about The Merge or some other supernatural term and curious Stefanie wants to learn more.

It's also possible that Jeremy Gilbert could come back into the storyline after his Legacies Season 1 cameo and he could be the one to babysit Stefanie. But in the interest of being practical, I'd say have the twins do it. They are already main characters of Legacies, so it wouldn't require convincing Steven R. McQueen to return again on top of casting a new character and scenario for Stefanie. It seems more doable to give that storyline to the Saltzman twins. But hey, anyway to get Jeremy back works for me.

Stefanie Salvatore Helps Out At Mom Elena's Practice

In the continued interest of practicality, I am assuming Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder are not returning for any Stefanie Salvatore story on Legacies. We'd all love them to, but let's be realistic and assume they will not show up in Season 2. It would be great if we could at least get Candice King to show up in Season 2 as Caroline, so let's start there.

Anyway, I could see young Stefanie maybe wanting to follow in her mom's footsteps as a doctor. In that respect, she could be a young presence at Dr. Elena Salvatore's practice. She wouldn't work there in a child labor capacity, but if Mom was out or busy somewhere, and some Salvatore School/Mystic Falls High kids rushed into the practice because there was an emergency on the streets, I could see a ... 10-year-old, maybe? ... Stefanie in the office rushing to get supplies to help. If Judith Grimes can be such a badass on The Walking Dead at 10, I don't see why the daughter of Damon and Elena couldn't do the same.

Plus, that's another scenario where the world of the supernatural could creep into the show, whether Stefanie knows it exists at this age or not. Supernaturals don't exactly bleed or heal like regular humans, and she'd probably be old enough to notice that in a medical crisis.

We See Stefanie Salvatore Somewhere Else In Mystic Falls

This is the catch-all section for any other way we just happen to run into Stefanie Salvatore out there in a non-dangerous capacity. If we can get Jeremy on screen, maybe Stefanie is out shopping with Uncle Jeremy. It's unlikely that we'd see Damon and Elena on-screen, so any other way would work. If she goes to school locally -- probably not Mystic Falls High School quite yet -- maybe we see her with fellow school kids.

Stefanie would be familiar with Alaric as her dad's friend, so maybe she spots Ric out shopping or something and says "Hey, Mr. Saltzman" and they have a brief conversation giving fans an update on Damon and Elena. It could be something that simple. Or it could get more complicated...

Stefanie Salvatore Is Put In Supernatural Danger

As much as it would be difficult to see a Mini Salvatore in danger, that wouldn't be too shocking for the daughter of Damon Salvatore. There are still supes out there that might want to hurt Damon for things he's done in the past, and what better/worse way than to kidnap his child?

I'm thinking of Kai Parker on this. Uncle Kai was referenced in the Legacies Season 1 finale, when Josie and Lizzie were holding an Ascendant, vaguely recalling it from a long time ago. Bonnie Bennett used the very young twins' Gemini Coven magic to bind Kai in another Prison World. He's there now, but that Ascendant returning to the story suggests he could come back. That's what Julie Plec wants, it's what Josie actress Kaylee Bryant wants, and other Vampire Diaries fans would love it too.

Kai is directly tied to the Gemini Coven Merge storyline, but Kai and Damon have a history too, and I could totally see a revived Kai somehow discovering the existence of Stefanie Salvatore and kidnapping/manipulating her as a power move.

It doesn't have to be Kai, that's just one idea that could fit into where they were already hoping to go in Season 2 if Chris Wood returns. But putting Stefanie in danger as a Gilbert-Salvatore wouldn't exactly be new in Mystic Falls, and we do have a Super Squad of badasses who'd be willing to do just about anything to help her.

Stefanie Salvatore Needs Help When Damon And Elena Are In Danger

Let's say something happens to Damon and Elena off-screen. The supernatural world won't leave them alone or whatnot. It's easy to imagine. Stefanie would probably call her Uncle Jeremy. But Jeremy might call in the folks at the Salvatore School.

The Saltzmans already know of Stefanie, hence the Legacies Season 1 reference, but this would be another case where they'd have to decide whether she already knew about the existence of supernaturals or not. The Vampire Diaries already did the whole Holy Crap Vampires! thing with Elena. And The Originals' Hope is on the other end of the spectrum as a tribrid with multiple powers.

What could Stefanie do that's different? Maybe she's like a Harry Potter squib, like some other Vampire Diaries characters, where she doesn't have powers herself but she's aware of the supernatural world. If she was raised in awareness of the supernatural, would she envy people with supernatural abilities, or be grateful that she gets to be normal? Would she even be allowed to stay normal, considering what usually happens to humans in The Vampire Diaries Universe?

For all I know, Legacies Season 2 will not even mention Stefanie, or any other Gilbert-Salvatore children. But Season 1 planted that hope in fans' minds, and Julie Plec did acknowledge the kids in her tweet. So we know she and the writers are at least thinking about options.

There's a lot to think about when it comes to Legacies Season 2, beyond Damon and Elena's kids. How many past Vampire Diaries and The Originals stars will return this time? Will we finally see Caroline? How about Kai? Any hope of Bonnie or Freya? Will Penelope come back from Europe? How will we get Hope back after her big Season 1 finale sacrifice, now that everyone has forgotten her?

Julie Plec said the writers would be getting back to work in early June, with filming for Legacies Season 2 to start in late July. Season 2 will premiere this fall 2019 on The CW. Meanwhile, Nina Dobrev has her CBS comedy Fam, which may or may not be renewed for Season 2, and Ian Somerhalder will soon release his new vampire drama V-Wars on Netflix.

How would you like to see Legacies introduce Stefanie Salvatore and/or any other kids Damon and Elena had after The Vampire Diaries?