Ian Somerhalder has just returned to one of his most iconic roles — well, sort of.
The actor, who portrayed Damon Salvatore in the CW series, The Vampire Diaries, has teamed up with Walmart for their star-studded "Deals of Desire" Black Friday campaign. The series of nostalgic ads playfully pokes fun at the supernatural show, likening the drama to the thrill of finding a great Black Friday deal.
In an exclusive interview with Good Housekeeping, the 45-year-old dad of two spoke about what it was like to don his fangs once again (this time as a parent), shared his go-to gifting category and revealed the epic present he's getting his former TVD costar Paul Wesley, who is now his partner in their whiskey company, Brothers Bond Bourbon.
"It's the funniest thing, there are so many nods. And I hadn't been on a set for five years because I had sort of stepped away from this business, and so it was just really wild to be [back]," Ian said when asked about references to TVD that fans can expect to see in the ads. He then interrupted himself to show something over Zoom. "I just found my teeth that they gave me for this shoot. I found them in a bag when I was going to the grocery store, and I'm like, 'What is this? Oh, these are my fangs.' It's been a long time since I said that," he laughed.
"It was so fun to do that you're just immediately brought right back there, except you're a lot older. And you're tired because you're a parent now — it used to be that maybe the dogs barking kept me up or something at night, but now it's a way different world. But it was really magical," he continued.
Speaking of being a parent, Ian's already got gifting on the mind for his kids (who he shares with his wife, actress Nikki Reed). "Kids always want the same thing that other kids have. Little kids see big kids doing things," he said. He called out the Razor RipRider 360 Mini, which he recently got for his youngest. "Those things are so fun, and they're so robust now. I had to drive it down the driveway and I got in this thing, and it's still going."
And in case his adult loved ones don't want to try that at home, Ian has other essential gifts for friends and family. "I am definitely a health and wellness gifter. That's usually what I'm gifting to people is in the category of feeling good and keeping moving. The stuff that really gets you through the day in a happy, wonderful way, because days are long. And you want to feel great, and you want to have energy to do the things you want to do, whether it's spend time with friends or family or raise your kids...get to that baseball game for your little ones."
While chatting about gifting, we had to ask what Ian plans to give Paul for the holidays — and his answer did not disappoint. "It is the strangest thing. I spent eight years on television with this guy. I saw him all day long. And now, I communicate with him more now than I even did when I was stuck on a set with him for eight years. I think I've talked to Paul, messaged with Paul probably about 70 times already this morning — and it's 10:27 a.m.," Ian said.
"So am I gonna get Paul anything? I'm gonna get him a Damon Salvatore T-shirt jammies set." He might have been joking, but then he added, "That's actually really funny. You know what? I have time to get something made. I can totally see him sitting on the couch by the fire with the dog, watching Saturday cartoons and wearing jammies with my face all over it."
With that amazing image in mind, check out more of Ian's holiday gift picks (all on sale!), including what he's shopping for himself this year:
"To replace the circa 2012 headphones from The Vampire Diaries set I've been traveling with."
"As an outdoor enthusiast, this is easy to pack up and bring to any campsite."
"Featured in my episode of Deals of Desire, I was beyond impressed with the quality of these knives and will be putting them on my list."
"An introduction to the ride-on that may be just a little too fast for my almost 2-year old."
Jamie (she/her) is the news and SEO editor at Good Housekeeping. She oversees GH's digital news strategy, assigning and editing celebrity and entertainment news content. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2024, she was the digital editor at Woman's Day. She has over 7 years of professional experience writing and editing lifestyle content for the Rachael Ray Show, The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings, Insider, Elite Daily and more. She holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and lives in Brooklyn with her cats Lumos, Linus and Milo.
