Ian Somerhalder has fallen in love with the Philippines
“The Vampire Diaries” star Ian Somerhalder spends a lot of his time compelling people to do his bidding as the snarky, sarcastic, arrogant, attractive vampire Damon Salvatore in the hit TV series.
This time, though, he’s the one who is utterly captivated. Somerhalder has fallen in love with the Philippines, and an original vampire didn’t even have to compel him.
“You’re incredibly lucky,” he said when asked about what he has seen of the country so far. “I wasn't aware that there were 7,000 beautiful islands in this country. When you look at it on a map, you can't quite grasp exactly what you're gonna see… Get on a plane, get on a boat, and explore your islands.”
Green-blooded vampire
Thirty-three-year-old Ian Somerhalder has been modeling since his teens, but made his breakthrough in the entertainment industry when he was cast in J.J. Abrams’ cult science-fiction TV series, “Lost.” His popularity rose when he joined “The Vampire Diaries.”
Ian Somerhalder said he was blown away by Filipinos' generosity and kindness. Meann Ortiz
And he’s not shy about using his popularity in the name of his advocacies.
“’The Vampire Diaries’ is targeted to a younger audience. And what I realized is that I can use that exposure to actually educate the youth of the world—which, mind you, is the most underappreciated, undervalued groups of people in the world,” he said. “We are doing ourselves a great disservice if we don't put the wheels of education in motion and empower our youth to become smarter consumers.”
‘Smolderhalder’ mania
In the few days that he has been in Manila and in El Nido, Palawan, where his photo shoot for local clothing brand Penshoppe was held, Somerhalder has come to admire the country and its people.
“El Nido is probably one of the most beautiful places on the face of the planet.” he gushed.
“And the people—everyone here has been so incredibly wonderful, intelligent, and soulful. It's been such a phenomenal experience and I'm really happy to be here. Thank you for the warm welcome and all the wonderful thoughts and the screams,” he said.
The screams from his admiring fans have been following him everywhere—from the airport to all of his appearances so far—prompting him to tweet that he now feels “like one of the Beatles.”
Leading the charge
Somerhalder was also impressed by what he has seen of how some Filipinos have taken steps toward caring for the environment.
“When we went to El Nido, we flew on this little charter plane, and what this company has done is they have a little card inside the plane that says one flight produces x amount of CO2, so they plant six trees for every passenger to offset that,” he related. “How cool is that? If Delta or any other giant airline did that, then there will be forests as far as the eye can see.”
He plans to adapt this idea for the animal sanctuary and sustainable agriculture farm that his foundation is putting up.
“I want to start planting trees for every person who's flying in to the farm. I want to offset all that carbon,” he said.
“There are big corporations who take massive strides in protecting and conserving everything from resources that fall from the sky to resources that we create and extract, on a corporate level,” he added. “The Filipino people are actually leading this charge toward a green future; I think people should know that.”
And Somerhalder is willing to spread the word.
“I've been blown away and humbled by your generosity and kindness. It's incredible. When I go home, I'll tell them you have to check this place out and what they’re doing to better themselves, and raise awareness for this place,” he added. –KG, GMA News
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