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Ian Somerhalder revealed he was the “biggest Delena fan ever” until he saw how “mean” the Vampire Diaries fans could be to each other online
The actor discussed how the fandom became “a toxic cancer to society” in Entertainment Weekly editor Samantha Highfill’s debut book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries
While the actor said “it’s great to feel something about a show,” he believed “it’s not okay to hurt someone else as a result of your excitement or love for that thing.”
Ian Somerhalder has a bone to pick with The Vampire Diaries fandom.
The 46-year-old actor, who played Damon Salvatore on the CW teen drama, opened up about his feelings on how “mean” fans ruined the fun of the series’ storytelling in Entertainment Weekly editor Samantha Highfill’s debut book, I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries.
Throughout the show’s eight-season run, between 2009 and 2017, fans gravitated to different relationships — colloquially known as “ships,” making fans “shippers” of couples they supported, like Nina Dobrev‘s love triangle with brothers Damon (Somerhalder), known as “Delena,” or Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), known as “Stelena.”
“I was the biggest Delena fan ever until I realized that the fandom had the ability to turn on people and become really, really mean,” Somerhalder said in Highfill’s book.
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Nina Dobrev as Elena and Ian Somerhalder as Damon on ‘The Vampire Diaries’
“I was like, ‘Wait, whoa whoa, this is a fictional show with fictional characters, we can’t be mean to other people for real.’ It did change my appreciation of fandom,” he continued. “I don’t like people being mean to one another. It’s a toxic cancer to society.”
Somerhalder said seeing how some fans treated each other — or, even those involved with the show — online made him feel “disgusted and frustrated by how dark the fandom could get.”
While the actor said “it’s great to feel something about a show,” he believed “it’s not okay to hurt someone else as a result of your excitement or love for that thing.”
“We just wanted to tell a really deep, heartfelt story, so I learned a lot about society,” Somerhalder added. “It’s one of the reasons that I left the television business and became an entrepreneur.”
One aspect of the show that drummed up fans was Somerhalder and Dobrev’s off-screen romance, dating between 2010 and 2013.
Chris FrawleyWBTV Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder at ‘The Vampire Diaries’ signing in the Warner Bros. booth at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2013
The Vampire Diaries showrunner and co-creator Julie Plec called fan response to the pair’s relationship “really charming and sweet for a while because you were getting this energy of how much people cared and how passionate they were.”
However, Plec said it soon became obvious that fans were “mixing up real life with the fake life.”
Somerhalder called the idea of “shipping” characters — let alone actual humans — “a very dangerous thing” and compared it to having a strong preference for a sports team.
“People are vehemently opposed to anything different than what they see in their mind,” he explained. “With the advent of social media, people can just spew exorbitant amounts of hatred into the universe just because they’re not happy with a storyline on a TV show.”
Album / Alamy Stock Photo
Nina Dobrev as Elena and Ian Somerhalder as Damon on ‘The Vampire Diaries’
Interestingly, Dobrev, 36, herself expressed reservations about potentially dating a costar when auditioning for the role of Elena. During the process, she said she read with “so many Stefans and Damons” — with one potential Damon being her then-boyfriend Rob Mayes.
“There was a bunch of drama around that because I was dating Rob Mayes at the time, but they didn’t know that,” she revealed. “We were trying to keep it really secret because we were afraid that if they found out, they wouldn’t cast one or both of us.”
“So then it got awkward because I did get cast but he didn’t, and then we subsequently broke up, and then I ended up eventually, years later, dating the actual Damon,” she added with a laugh, referencing Somerhalder.
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I Was Feeling Epic: An Oral History of The Vampire Diaries is now available, wherever books are sold.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sg.news.yahoo.com ’
