'Vampire Diaries' star Ian Somerhalder on Damon in season 3: He's the anti-hero

Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries recently gave some new dish on season 3 and revealed that his character, Damon, is going be the anti-hero.

Speaking to Zap2It about what's in store for the new season, Ian spilled some scoop on what will be happening with Damon, now that his brother Stefan (Paul Wesley) has gone to the dark side.

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"I was worried that Damon was becoming this hero, and [exec producer] Kevin [Williamson] said 'No, he's not the hero. He needs to be, but he's the anti-hero, because he's supposed to be not hurting people, but that's not his nature.'" Ian told Zap2It, "So he slips, and his response is 'Screw this.'"

Then, Ian added that this dynamic is what's going to make things interesting this season, "interesting for me as an actor and interesting for Damon as a character. I don't want to lose that quote-unquote 'bad' side of Damon.

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Ian also spoke about Damon's anger at Stefan for going on a ripper rampage with Klaus (Joseph Morgan), which is what he wanted to do with his brother ever since he first came to Mystic Falls. He always wanted to go be 'bad vampires' with Stefan, but he denied him this. Now he's doing just that, but with a vampire who almost killed everyone they care about.

Teasing season 3 even more, Ian recently also talked about how his relationship with Elena (Nina Dobrev) is going to evolve. While it has been reported by exec producers Kevin and Julie Plec that there won't be any crazy love connections with Damon and Elena, the two will become closer friends and aware of their growing attraction to one another.

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We'll see some evidence of this right away, when Elena celebrates her 18th birthday and Damon gives her a special and meaningful present.

"...he came across something that she really, really, really wanted and needed, and he did what he had to do to get it for her." Damon told Zap2It, "She thinks that he stole it, or that he found it. It's a very beautiful moment between them. It's a really sweet, quiet moment."

Meanwhile, Nina also had something to say about the gift when she spoke to ThinkHeroTV.

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"He gives her something that is very important to her, very meaningful to her and you wouldn't think so," Nina revealed, "you wouldn't think that Damon would do this by giving her what he's going to give her, it's a token of trust in many ways."

Originally published on Examiner.com.