Why Ian Somerhalder Left Acting After V Wars

Ian Somerhalder says he has no plans to return to acting after a difficult experience making the Netflix series V Wars.

The former The Vampire Diaries star recently spoke on the Haley on the Go podcast about why he decided to leave Hollywood. He said working on V Wars changed the way he looked at his career.

Somerhalder played the lead role in the show and also served as an executive producer. He said he and his family moved to Northern Ontario for nearly a year while filming. However, when he saw the finished version of the series, he was very disappointed.

According to Somerhalder, he felt the final product was not good enough to release. He even offered to return the money he had earned and asked the studio not to use his name on the show.

Instead, he and producing partner James Gibb asked Netflix for creative control so they could improve the series. Netflix agreed but did not provide extra funding. Somerhalder said he raised more than $6 million himself to pay for six days of reshoots.

He said the intense workload affected his health, and he ended up in the hospital because he pushed himself too hard.

When V Wars was released in December 2019, Somerhalder said it performed well and found an audience. Despite that, Netflix canceled the series after just one season in March 2020.

Somerhalder claimed the cancellation happened because of disagreements among company executives. He said he was later told the decision should not have been made, but it could not be reversed.

After the experience, Somerhalder decided he no longer wanted his career to depend on decisions made by studio executives. At age 40, he said he realized he did not want to spend years working on projects that could be canceled for reasons beyond his control.

Since leaving acting, Somerhalder has focused on business and family life. He and his wife, actress Nikki Reed, co-founded The Absorption Company, which makes health supplements. He also co-founded Brother's Bond Bourbon with his former The Vampire Diaries co-star Paul Wesley.

Although Somerhalder and his team have regained the rights to V Wars, he said he is unsure whether the series will ever return.

In previous interviews, Somerhalder said acting no longer fits the life he wants. Instead of spending months away filming, he prefers to focus on his family, business ventures, farming, food, and energy projects.

For now, Somerhalder says acting is behind him, and he is happy building a different future outside Hollywood.