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Nearly seven years after stepping away from acting, Ian Somerhalder has opened up for the first time about why he left Hollywood. According to The Vampire Diaries star, the decision came after he became deeply disillusioned with the entertainment industry.

Speaking on the Haley on the Go podcast, the 47-year-old actor said the turning point was working on V Wars, a Netflix series in which he both starred and served as a producer.

"I wanted to make V Wars because, for the first time, I wasn't playing a vampire. I was playing a scientist. We spent almost a year making the show, and in the end, it turned into something that was impossible to watch," Somerhalder said.

The actor admitted he was so unhappy with the final product that he even offered to return his salary to the studio.

"I told them, 'I don't want my name associated with this project. I'll give you the money back, millions of dollars.' They just looked at me like they had no idea what I was talking about," he recalled.

According to Somerhalder, Netflix agreed to give him and his team creative control over the series but declined to provide additional funding. As a result, he and producer James Gibb raised more than $6 million themselves to reshoot part of the project.

"We filmed about ten hours of new material in just six days. I pushed myself to the limit and ended up in the hospital," he said.

Although V Wars performed well after its release, Netflix canceled the series after just one season. Somerhalder believes internal corporate conflicts were ultimately to blame.

"I was told the show was never supposed to be canceled, but they couldn't bring it back because it would set a dangerous precedent," he said.

That experience prompted him to make a life-changing decision.

"I looked at myself in the mirror and said to my wife, 'I'm 40 years old. I don't want to spend two years of my life working for free for a year and having my future depend on people who build themselves up by tearing others down.' I just walked away. That was it," the actor said.

Today, Somerhalder lives on a farm in California with his wife, actress Nikki Reed, where they focus on environmental initiatives and business ventures while largely staying out of the spotlight.

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