Ian Somerhalder Really Loved Season One Damon on 'The Vampire Diaries'

Ian Somerhalder is opening up about playing Damon Salvatore for eight years.

The Vampire Diaries star loved the character’s first season arc, in particular.

“For me, season one was just the pinnacle for Damon. That was the apex of the ability of this character to shine through story,” Ian told EW. “I loved a lot of that stuff. That stuff was really fun. All the stuff with Damon and Vicki, the dancing in the Salvatore house.”

“In season two, Damon sort of struggles to recognize who he is and he misses being human – there were some great scenes that came out of that,” Ian continued. “But I loved that season 1 stuff: The struggle of Damon to find his love only to learn the naivet� of love and that he was duped and that he’s not as good as his brother in the eyes of a woman that he fancied. So those types of struggles, they were real. But there has been an amazing string of very well written scenes throughout these periods of time. 170 episodes, that’s crazy. That’s a lot.”

He added, “Damon has had a very fun time for a very long time. Damon’s had a great run. He’s had a lot of great lines, he’s had a lot of great scenes, there’s been a lot to do, and I learned a lot. I learned a great deal playing this character and navigating the waters of being on a big global hit network series.”

The Vampire Diaries series finale airs Friday, March 10 on The CW.

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