Ian Somerhalder (a.k.a. the sexy beast champion) talks 'Vampire Diaries' season 2

Ian Somerhalder (a.k.a. the sexy beast champion) talks 'Vampire Diaries' season 2



The Vampire Diaries has been good to Ian Somerhalder: It earned him a spot on Entertainment Weekly’s 2009 list of TV’s Best Bitches and the title of Sexiest Beast in this summer’s popular EW.com bracket game, which saw readers rack up more than 1.5 million votes while whittling the 64-deep field down to his devilishly delicious Damon Salvatore and Twilight‘s saintly sensitive Edward Cullen. Shortly after his victory last month, we caught up with a humbled and grateful Somerhalder, who was already feeling the pressure that comes with the crown…

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations on Damon being named the ultimate Sexy Beast.
IAN SOMERHALDER: [Laughs] That is so cool.

What would you like to say to the people who voted for you?
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It makes you realize the dedication of the fans, how much fun they’re having and how much fun they make us have. It’s the fans who are making the success of the show happen. We can’t thank them enough. We’re just doing the acting leg of it. Season 2 is starting [Sept. 9, 8 p.m. ET, The CW], and we’re gonna try not to suck. Wow, that’s a terrible pun. Let me reword that. You finish the first season of the show, and everyone worked their asses off, and the season went really well, and people liked the show. But then season 2 comes up, and you realize, whoa, we have more of a responsibility now. The heat is really on now. We cannot do a bad job. So, we are committed to making this a better year of television than last year. So that’s what I want to tell everyone: “Thank you, and literally, we’ll try not to suck.” [Laughs]

We know from promos that Katherine [Nina Dobrev as the vampire lover who essentially turned the brothers in 1864] says she’s returned for Stefan and never loved Damon. What can you tease about season 2?
Poor Damon. Katherine comes back, and it’s the chicken or the egg thing. In the story, Katherine obviously came before Damon, and Damon learned a lot of his antics from Katherine and then 150 years of cynicism. When I watch Nina be Katherine, it’s crazy, the similarity that you see between Katherine and Damon. She starts wreaking havoc in a very similar way that for most of season 1 Damon wreaked havoc — because he wanted something. You’re gonna see Damon in a way in which you haven’t necessarily seen him before dealing with Katherine and what happens after so many years of longing and wanting to be with someone, being hurt and let down in that extreme manner. It’s a lot of fun watching Katherine and how powerful and manipulative and sexy and crazy she is. It’s a lot of fun to play. It’s brutal for me. [In classic Damon delivery] Damon doesn’t always get what he wants now, which is boring for Ian, but great for the story.