Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder Almost Starred In True Blood

While HBO’s True Blood and The Vampire Diaries dominated vampire media around the same time, Ian Somerhalder was originally almost cast in the former before finding his home on the latter series.

The Vampire Diaries‘ network, The CW, which is now home to shows like Riverdale and Supergirl, is far more strict with guidelines than HBO, but the two have quite a bit in common. True Blood was an edgy, sexy take on vampire mythology that was set in the fictional Bon Temps, Louisiana and included more than just vampire mythology, but saw the introduction of fairies, shapeshifters, and other mythological creatures as well. The Vampire Diaries was based off the book series by L.J. Smith and was developed by Kevin Williamson, of Scream fame, and was oriented more at teenagers and young adults. True Blood was also based on a book series, The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris and was run by Alan Ball.

The Vampire Diaries fictional setting of Mystic Falls, Virginia was the background for a love triangle between a seemingly normal girl (Nina Dobrev) and two vampires. True Blood played on this as well with Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who fell in love with a vampire, Bill, at first, but ended up torn between him and another, Eric, later in the series. Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder, who played one of the vampires in the series’ love triangle, Damon Salvatore, considered making True Blood his home, but not as a vampiric character.

Ian Somerhalder Was Almost Cast As Jason Stackhouse

Beloved as True Blood was, it’s hard to think of anyone else in the role of Jason Stackhouse other than Ryan Kwanten, but prior to his casting, Ian Somerhalder’s hat was in the ring. According to an interview Somerhalder did with Newsweek, he auditioned for the part, didn’t get it, and was quite upset about the casting change. Likely this disappointment didn’t last long, as he landed the role of Damon on The Vampire Diaries soon after. However, True Blood‘s premise intrigued him, as he had a very personal connection to aspect of the series’ premise. Said Somerhalder, “I’m from New Orleans. There’s a lot of vampire mystique and mythology that resonates there, and I was fascinated by it. I always wanted to play one. I auditioned for True Blood. I just couldn’t convince Alan Ball that was my role.“

The role of Jason Stackhouse is so different not only from the other characters on True Blood, but extremely different from Damon Salvatore. Jason was human – and proudly so, despite the fact that it set him apart from his sister, Sookie, who could read minds. Later, it was discovered that Jason stems from the same Fae lineage as Sookie, though he doesn’t have any of the traits beyond his natural charisma and handsome good looks that got him into lots of trouble – and got him lots of romantic partners – throughout the series. In some ways, Jason embodied the “dumb jock” tropes, but he had a keen sense of street smarts coupled with a heart of gold that led to him saving people throughout the series in heroic and occasionally stupid ways. Also, he was one of the characters in the series with the most sexual encounters, which were played out at length, as the series was broadcast on HBO.

After The Vampire Diaries ended in 2017, Somerhalder took on a role on a different vampire series, though not as a vampire. Currently, he stars on Netflix’s V-Wars as Dr. Luther Swann. V-Wars is based off the graphic novels by Jonathan Maberry, and just completed its first season. A second season is still yet to be announced. While still a different venture than True Blood, Somerhalder has developed an amazing career without it.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
(581 Articles Published)

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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