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When The Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder admitted he was furious about Damon Salvatore becoming a good guy
Throwback to when Ian Somerhalder revealed that he was furious about Damon Salvatore becoming a good guy in The Vampire Diaries.
As ethically challenged and immoral as Damon Salvatore was, The Vampire Diaries fans could never hate the character thanks to his irresistible charm. The show, that featured Ian Somerhalder as Damon, first aired on the television in 2009 and ran for 8 seasons. For the major part of the first three seasons, we saw the elder Salvatore brother hurting people around him, and we still had a soft spot for him. Of course, it all paid off when he turned into a good guy after falling head over heels in love with Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev).
While the fans were very excited about Damon coming in touch with his humanity, Ian revealed in an interview that he was furious about his character’s story arc. In 2019, during an interaction with Digital Spy, the actor mentioned that he did not like the idea of turning his originally evil character into a good guy and also admitted that he loved playing the antagonist in the show. “Obviously playing the bad guy is so much more fun,” he told Digital Spy.
The actor remembered calling Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, who developed the series, and being furious about the plot twist. “I remember calling them, and again I state this not as a petulant child, but I was livid,” he said. Ian's character was introduced as Stefan Salvatore’s elder brother -- a bloodthirsty vampire who did not think twice before hunting people down and hurting others. In the very first season, he ended up killing his own nephew. He even killed his brother’s best friend Lexi Branson.
However, Damon’s character started to shift when he developed feelings for Rose. The pain he felt while watching his friend die one day at a time after she was bitten by a werewolf, changed him forever. “I was livid. I was so pissed that Damon had taken this turn. And I remember this scene, I remember reading this scene in the script where Damon has to kill Rose and he's in love with Rose. I remember reading that scene, where he puts the stake in her heart and you're seeing all of her visions and he loves her and I was like, 'what the f*** are you guys doing?'” he recalled.
The creators then sat him down and discussed the storyline with Ian. They insisted that the character had to develop and grow with the show and it was time for Damon to get in touch with his humanity so that they could take to story further. Not to mention that change in his character was very important for Damon and Elena’s romantic angle. “And Kevin just said, 'Ian, you have to understand something. This is the 100-episode arc, well literally almost 200-episode arc of this character! You can't be a one-trick pony forever.”
Ian still insisted that it was a bad idea and believed that the plotline would ruin the character. However, he eventually understood why they needed Damon to become well-rounded in order to survive 8 seasons without making it look boring. He mentioned that while playing Damon, he realised how the audience work. No matter how many horrible things he did, the fans always managed to find some justification for Damon’s actions.
“This character could walk into an orphanage and literally kill 20 kids in cold blood, and the audience would go, 'Aww, well you know, listen, he was really upset about Elena...' and you're like, 'Wait, what?’ People gave [Damon] so much leeway, and it was a fascinating study on humanity and the psychological component of when you love a character – just very much how women or men will love a family member or a partner or significant other even when they are, you know, mean or destructive."
Just like Ian, Paul Wesley, who featured in the show as Damon’s younger brother Stefan, also admitted that he liked playing the bad guy in the series. From the very beginning, the fans fell in love with Stefan because of how kind, caring, and loving he was. This is why the creators took people by surprise when his character spiralled out of control and started killing people after switching off his humanity.
While attending the Dallas Fan Expo in 2017, he admitted that he loved playing The Ripper. “I was like playing this good guy for two years and I was ready to blow my brains out. I was like crying after every three episodes. Elena is like holding me and rocking me like a child. And finally, they were like ‘Oh you have a dark past and you are like this screwed up guys and you rip people’s heads off’ and I was like yes!” Paul said.
