Ian Somerhalder shot to international fame after landing the role of Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries in 2009, but his day-to-day life looks very different now.
The 47-year-old appeared throughout all eight seasons of the hit CW drama, which wrapped in 2017. After that, he took on a leading role in Netflix’s sci-fi series V Wars, though the show was later cancelled after just one season.
Speaking earlier this month on the Haley on the Go podcast, Somerhalder revealed the toll that intense work took on him, saying he “ended up in hospital” after pushing his body too far. He explained that he had filmed “10 or 12 hours of footage in about six days”.
His exit from The Vampire Diaries also marked the end of his acting career, with Somerhalder choosing to step away from the industry altogether. Since then, he has focused on business ventures, including Brother’s Bond Bourbon, which he co-founded with former The Vampire Diaries co-star Paul Wesley. The bourbon brand launched in 2021 and, as of 2026, says it is available in 49 states and has expanded its footprint overseas.
Earlier this year, he told E! News:
“I retired from acting seven years ago.”
He also explained that money troubles were a major factor in that decision.
“I left an insanely lucrative career in television after financial upheaval from building a business that I didn’t build properly. And due to fraud, it put my wife and I into an eight-figure hole,” he told the outlet.
Somerhalder is married to Nikki Reed, who is well known for playing Rosalie Hale in the Twilight film series.
The pair married in 2015, while Somerhalder was still starring as Damon Salvatore.
Even with the financial setback, he said that he and Reed were able to recover.
“She [Nikki] really negotiated us out of this deal but we sold houses, paintings, cars, watches, everything.”
These days, Somerhalder is heavily involved in the bourbon business. A recent Instagram post showed him with what he described as ‘dirty working hands from moving barrels and working in the distillery’.
He and Reed also launched wellness and supplements company The Absorption Company. The brand is focused on addressing what it describes as the issue of nutrient absorption in supplements, and in 2026 it introduced a new single-supplement line.
And his business interests do not stop there. Somerhalder also told the outlet he has been learning to fly, suggesting another unexpected chapter could be ahead.
During his appearance on the Haley on the Go podcast, Somerhalder went into more detail about why he walked away from acting. He described the experience of making V Wars as especially difficult, noting that he had even relocated his family to Northern Ontario for the project.
“We Worked really hard on this thing for almost a year, and the show that got turned in wasn’t even watchable,” he said.
“I said to the studio, I don’t want to put my name on this. I’ll give you the money back — I’ll give you millions of dollars. And they were like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’”
He then shot “10 or 12 hours of footage in about six days,” after raising more than $6 million in an effort to fix the series. According to Somerhalder, he and producing partner James Gibb told Netflix they ‘needed creative control’ over the project.
Although he said the series was a ‘hit’, it was ultimately cancelled.
“I pulled the plug. That was it. I walked away,” he said. “These executives are b***ing at each other, and I’m like, are you kidding me? Done. I’m out,” he added.
Even so, he has not completely ruled out returning to acting one day. Speaking to PEOPLE two years ago, he said:
“I think it’s [acting] in the rearview mirror. I do.”