Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries had an interview with Jay Leno tonight. When he came out, Leno said, “You have normal skin.” Somerhalder replied loosely, “I have color, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder as Stefan and Damon in The Vampire Diaries. Photo: The CW

When mentioning the success of The Vampire Diaries, Ian gestured out to the crowd and said, “It’s because of them, that’s why.”

Ian gave a shoutout to Louisiana, calling himself (with a twang to his tone) a,  “Southern Boy.” He lived, “right on the lake, right north of New Orleans.”

Then it was time to talk about Ian’s past. “I got into (acting) really early.” He clarified that it was a little before 10.  Working early, he felt burned out at one point. “By thirteen, I was done.” He’d been done child modeling in New York, saying he had been one of the “little polo boys” for Ralph Lauren. He struck a pose and smile for Jay. “It was a blast. It was so fun,” he said of it.

Of course, his friends used to made fun of him for what he did. Leno then showed a retro Kids R Us ad Ian did, back in 1990. The ad said “save electricity” so Somerhalder said, “see, I was a conservationist even then.”

When it was time to talk about girls, Ian mentioned that during that time in his life he wanted to make out with girls that didn’t smoke, since even girls in the fashion business at age 13, 10 or 12 would typically smoke. (Oh, man! Horrible.) “One of your first kiss sorta deals, it just tasted like an ashtray,” he jokingly continued, “but it didn’t matter.”

Leno asked where girls were better – Louisiana or NY? Answering honestly, Somerhalder said, “They were sweeter and nicer in Louisiana and a lot looser and cooler in New York.”

Ian also got a chance to explain why he’s so mad in his People’s Sexiest Issue Photo. It was one of the first cold days, and he was in a T-shirt. He said his nipples had to be fixed in photoshop.

Then Jay asked about Lost.  (Oh, Boone how I missed you when they killed you off!) “Living in Hawaii was one of the coolest things ever,” Ian said. More girl talk brought out this quote, “You don’t actually go out with the girls in Hawaii, out of respect for the men in Hawaii. … You date the girls who come to Hawaii.”

The Vampire Diaries airs on The CW on Thursday nights. Make sure you don’t miss anything in our always exciting Vampire Diaries news and updates.

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