‘The Vampire Diaries’: Ian Somerhalder Talks Directing Approach

“The Vampire Diaries'” Ian Somerhalder stepped
behind the lens for Friday’s new episode of his CW show.

It’s the second time the actor has directed the series in
which he stars as Damon Salvatore. His
previous outing as director occurred last
season, as Caroline turned off her humanity following the loss of her mother.

“That was a super sort of fast-paced, cliff-hanging,
dark episode, conceptual. This one was very different,” Ian said of
Friday’s episode – “Days of Future Past.” “We have a lot to set
up for the rest of the season.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Vampire Diaries’: Scenes From Season 7

Friday’s episode is set entirely in the time jump viewers
have seen flashes of all season long, so Ian had a lot on his plate, setting
the tone for what is to come for the rest of the season. Asked by Access
Hollywood if he felt a lot of pressure to be the first director to shoot an
entire episode set in the future “TVD” world, Ian said pressure just
comes with the job, no matter the material.

“Any time Warner Bros. and the network and my beloved
producers trust you with an entire episode and millions of dollars, yes, there
is a very specific amount of pressure that is naturally put on your shoulders,
but also, this is my baby too. I mean, this is my show too,” he said.
“I’ve lived this thing for seven years. It’s as much of a part of me as it
is Julie [Plec, ‘TVD’ executive producer] or anyone and so I look at it as such
an awesome challenge because I love what I do and I’m so thankful to the studio
and everyone that actually gave me the ability to do this again. And so, what I just wanted
to make sure was that we served the story right and that we could get the audience to
feel what these characters were really feeling.”

WATCH: Ian Somerhalder: Should Damon & Bonnie Have Dated?

Ian said in order to give the show impact, he realized
exactly what he needed to hone in on – the work of his fellow actors.

“This is Episode 16, of Season 7. We’ve done all this
stuff so many times. We’ve killed so many people. Stefan has always been in
danger or Damon’s been in danger or I need to save this guy or that guy or her,
but in order to recreate that same emotion, you just gotta make sure you tug on
the heartstrings of the audience through the performances,” Ian continued
of the vision he aimed for. “That’s all you have to do and Darren Genet,
our super talented DP, and our camera operators and everyone, are there to
catch it and there to light it and make it happen and I just wanted to focus
on catching those moments.”

To tackle the episode, Ian said he spent a lot of time getting ready.

“Fellini always said,
‘preparation, preparation, preparation.’ If you show up and you’re prepared,
you’re going to be OK. Just go for it. Sh** happens. Planes are flying over,
clouds come, it’s so cold that the camera’s freezing. Things happen. But, if you
show up and you’re prepared, then magic kind of happens and it’s fun and so we
prepped it like crazy,” he said. “Before I even sit in the director’s
chair, like the last episode, I had 150 hours of straight script preparation and then, you have all
your physical prepping, like location scouting and tech scouting and going over
with the DP and all the meetings and you’re looking at like hundreds of hours
of prep.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 7: ‘Cold As Ice’

This week’s episode will see Damon attempt to have the
Phoenix scar transferred to his body from brother Stefan’s (Paul Wesley), and
there will also be scenes with Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore), Rayna
(Leslie-Anne Huff), Enzo (Michael Malarkey) and Nora (Scarlett Byrne). There’s
also one involving Matt, who prior to the time jump, had started to rid Mystic
Falls of vampires (many of which had been his friends).

“I did get to shoot a scene with my brother Zach
Roerig, which was awesome, and it was a good scene. I left that scene — I get
teary-eyed even thinking about it. He was really great in the scene, but it was
a super emotional hard scene,” Ian said.

At WonderCon last weekend, Executive Producer Julie Plec had
big praise for her star’s latest turn as director.

“It’s so great when those boys direct,” she said,
also mentioning Paul Wesley. “Each of them
have had the opportunity now twice and for them, it’s an opportunity to sort of
take the show that they love and put their own spin on it visually, and Ian
really felt like it was important to live in a big scope world, get really
gorgeous, wide shots and lots of sky and lots of landscape and really open up
the world of the show and the script supported that, so it’s actually – the
production value is excellent and I’m really proud of him,” she said.

“The Vampire Diaries” airs Friday at 8/7c on The
CW.

— Jolie Lash