Ian Somerhalder quits acting after V Wars dispute

Actor Ian Somerhalder has stated that his experience with the Netflix series V Wars was the primary reason he walked away from acting in 2019. The 47-year-old, best known for his roles in Lost and The Vampire Diaries, detailed the ordeal in a recent interview on the Haley on the Go podcast, describing a process of creative frustration, personal financial investment, and executive conflict that led him to leave Hollywood.

Somerhalder said he was drawn to V Wars because it allowed him to play a scientist, Dr. Luther Swann, a departure from his previous vampire roles. He moved his family to Northern Ontario and spent nearly a year working on the project, which he also executive produced. However, when an initial cut was delivered, he found it unwatchable and attempted to prevent its release, even offering to return millions of dollars to the studio.

Instead of scrapping the project, Somerhalder and his producing partner, James Gibb, negotiated for creative control to fix the series. According to Somerhalder, Netflix agreed but refused to provide additional funding. The actor then raised more than $6 million himself to finance six days of reshoots, which generated 10 to 12 hours of...