Looking forward to Heroes Comic Con Belgium 2024 - The Vampire Diaries

Whoop whoop! This weekend it is time again for Heroes Comic Con Belgium 2024 in Brussels Expo! Over the last years, Brussels Expo has been the location for the combo-event Heroes Comic Con Belgium and Heroes Made in Asia Belgium and that will also be the case for this edition. But there is more, this year GameForce Belgium will also be held at the same location. When you buy a ticket, you will be able to visit all three of the areas. If you haven't bought a ticket yet, go to the website and secure one of those last tickets. After that come back here to read our first (of two articles about the movie and TV guest who will be attending the event. Today we are talking about two of them. All we can say is that with this guests things are gonna get 'bloody' fun!

Ian Joseph Somerhalder was born on December 8th, 1978 in Covington, Louisiana (United States). Being the second of three children, means that he has an older brother (Robert Jr.) and a younger sister (Robyn). Ian's mother (Edna)  worked as a massage therapist, while his father (Robert Sr.) was an independent building contractor. According to most sources, Ian's parents divorced when he was 13 years old and Ian grew up with his mother.

Looking back on is childhood it seemed to be predestined that Ian would land the role of vampire Damon Salvatore later on in his life. He grew up on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans. In New Orleans, the occult still is very much a part of daily life. It served as an inspiration for many vampire novels and locals still believe that the city is the home of the real vampires. Ann Rice, the writer of one of the most famous and popular vampire novels ("Interview With The Vampire"), was born in New Orleans and Ian's mother was a big fan of her books. To top things off: Ian is of Cajun ancestry and the Cajun people are very much linked to folk magic and voodoo.

 During his early school years, Ian showed an interest in acting, as he was in the school's drama club and he also performed with the local theater group. When Ian was 10 years old, his mother insisted on him giving modeling a try. Ian later explained that growing up money was tight, but his mother spent every spare dollar they had on putting him through modeling and acting classes. In 1990, Ian got a contract with Ford Models, which at the time was one of the biggest names in the fashion business. In the summertime, Ian would get on a plane with his mom and flew to New York to do modeling jobs. He worked for GAP Kids and Ralph Lauren (among others). In New York, Ian learned about the city and its culture, but also about being on sets, art direction, camera angles and so much more. At the age of 13, he put his modeling work to the background to focus on school and sports. He played American football and had a pretty normal life. Besides this, he played soccer, was in tracks, rode his skateboard and went fishing. Despite all of this, Ian missed the international feel that he had come to know during his modeling days. At the age of 16, Ian told his mother that he wanted to go back to work and back to modeling.

He got a manager and a New York agency and they booked him a shoot with Steven Meisel (at that time the biggest photographer in the world). At the age of 17, Ian decided he wanted to refocus on acting and began studying the craft with acting teacher William Esper. The William Esper studio is dedicated to the acting technique of Sanford Meisner. During this time, Ian also kept on doing modeling work to pay the bills and save up some money. Later on he stated that working with Esper helped him solidify his ideas to commit to acting to the fullest. In 1999, while he was shooting a GUESS advertising campaign in Los Angeles, he was asked to read for the pilot of "Dawson's Creek" spin-off "Young Americans". He begged for a few days off, to be able to do the audition and GUESS owner Paul Marciano was kind enough to let him do it. Ian nailed the audition and got the role of Hamilton Fleming on the show ( a role he played for 8 episodes). In later interviews he talked about his time on set in Baltimore. At that time Ian was 21 years old and he says he has never been more hungover on a set in his life. He says that he took his work very serious, but he also took his afterwork very serious.  In 2002 Ian played the role of Paul Denton, alongside James vanderBeek and Jessica Biel, in the movie "Rules of Attraction".

The year 2004, is the year of Ian's definitive breakthrough when he lands the role of Boone Carlyle in the TV show "Lost", which grew out to be one of the most popular TV shows ever. He played the role of Boone in 32 episodes between 2004 and 2010. Also in 2004, Ian steps into the world of DC, when he plays the role of antagonist Adam Knight in season 3 of "Smallville". In the years that followed, Ian kept making a name for himself and had roles in movies and TV shows like: "The Sensation of Sight" (2006, as Drifter), "Marco Polo" (2007, as Marco Polo), "Tell me you love me" (2007, as Nick) and "The Tournament" (2009, as Miles Slade). Also in 2009 Ian lands the role that will change his life forever, when he get cast as vampire Damon Salvatore in the new show "The Vampire Diaries". Fun Fact: A few years before this, Ian auditioned for a role in that other vampire show "True Blood". He wanted the role so bad and he rehearsed for it a lot. However, when he had to deliver, he blew the audition. Ian later stated, he was so disappointed about it that he could not bare to watch the show...at least not until he landed the role of Damon and he had his own vampire show.

Paul graduated high school in 2000 and he went on to Rutgers University. His time on Rutgers was short. Paul quit after one semester, because he was offered roles. In 2001, he was offered a main role in the TV show "Wolf Lake". He played the role of Luke Cates for 10 episodes, but unfortunately the show got cancelled after one season. In the years that followed, Paul made a name for himself with (minor) roles in movies and TV shows, like: "American Dreams" (2002-2005), "Minority Report" (2002), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2002), "Smallville" (2003), "The O.C."(2003), "8 Simple Rules(...For Dating my Teenage Daughter)" (2003-2004) and "Everwood" (2003-2004). In 2006, Paul plays the role of Trevor in the spiritual sports drama "Peaceful Warrior" and he also lands the role of Aaron Corbett in the TV movie "Fallen". The movie is based on the "The Fallen" novels by Thomas Sniegoski and revolves around the 18 year old Aaron, who finds out he is the Redeemer of the Prophecy. Almost a year later, Paul reprised the role of Aaron in the second and third part.

In 2008, Paul kept on working steadily. He played the role of PFC Logan Atwater in 5 episodes of "Army Wives" and he also played Evan Carroll in "The Russell Girl".  It was also around this time that he auditioned for the role of Stefan Salvatore in "The Vampire Diaries". But this didn't go as smoothly as he would have wanted. Initially the showrunners (Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson) were not sure about casting Paul. They thought he was too old for the role and they did not see him as a heartthrob. Remember when I mentioned that someone else almost got the role for Damon? Well that was Paul. When Ian Somerhalder di land the role of Damon, Paul was reconsidered for Stefan. He got one more chance and got to audition with Nina Dobrev (who played love interest Elena Gilbert). The chemistry between the two of them was undeniable and that is when he landed the role of Stefan (and we are glad he did). Paul played the role of Stefan Salvatore from 2009 until 2017 in 171 episodes of "The Vampire Diaries". During his vampire years, Paul also worked on other projects. In 2009 and 2010, he played the role of Stephen in 4 episodes of "24". In 2012, he played the role of Reese in the (very entertaining) movie "The Baytown Outlaws". In 2014 he starred in and co-produced the movie "Before I Disappear". In 2016, Paul co-founded the production company Citizen Media".

From 2018 until 2020, Paul played the role of Tucker Reed in the psychological drama series "Tell Me a Story". Over the last 5 or so years, Paul has been successfully combining acting, producing and directing. One of his most notable acting roles after "The Vampire Diaries" is the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds". Besides all of this, Paul is also an activist for animal welfare and other charities. In 2020, he and his screen brother Ian Somerhalder  launched Brother's Bond Bourbon. Paul is an ethical vegan.