Actor Ian Somerhalder sinks teeth into 'Vampire Diaries' role

PASADENA, Calif. — Ian Somerhalder stars as Damon Salvatore — a twisted, malevolent, murderous and sometimes hilarious vampire.

And yet the actor says he shares a number of qualities with his character on The CW's hit "The Vampire Diaries," which airs Thursdays at 7 p.m. on Ch. 30.

Really.

"I am not a maniacal killer, but I do find some similarities and things I have in common with Damon," Somerhalder said. "I mean, look, the reality of it is, I think Damon is a very lonely guy. We all know what it's like to feel lonely.

"And there are two relationships that he wants back — his brother and his girl. And I know what it's like to fight with my brother, and I know what it's like to not have my girl."

Of course, in Damon's case, his brother, Stefan (Paul Wesley), is also a vampire. They fought over a girl back in the 1860s and have never resolved their issues.

Stefan is the "good" vampire who refuses to kill humans; Damon has no such compunctions.

And the girl who Damon still pines for is a vampire who has been magically entombed beneath the ruins of a church since the end of the Civil War.

Still, Somerhalder sees similarities.

"I think there's a lot of common denominators between me and him," he said. "And I appreciate him. I find that I can't judge him, even though sometimes that's a bit difficult due to his actions.

"But to sum it all up, I think he's doing all of this for love, strangely enough, and he's just completely justified. And it makes this such a great experience and such a fun thing to do."

In part because Somerhalder, a Louisiana native, is a bit of a vampire fan.

"Grew up with Anne Rice. Loved it," he said of the "Vampire Chronicles" author who set many of her books in New Orleans.

And the former "Lost" star — whose character, Boone, was killed off early in the second season of that show (but just might be making a return appearance) — said Damon is his favorite role to date.

It's "more fun than I could ever possibly imagine — the most fun I've ever had in my entire run of my career," Somerhalder said. "And it just continues to be more and more fun every day."

e-mail: pierce@sdesnews.com