Ian Somerhalder talks about moving to a farm with Nikki Reed
The Vampire Diaries alum also opened up about taking action toward ocean preservation during Shiseido’s annual beach clean-up event on Wednesday
When Ian Somerhalder and his wife Nikki Reed chose to leave the city behind and relocate to a farm, they received a fresh perspective.
The Vampire Diaries alum spoke about how embracing a peaceful life helped him to further execute the couple’s sustainable efforts at Shiseido’s annual beach clean-up in Huntington Beach, California on Wednesday.
“[It’s been] magic,” says the actor, 43, about moving to a farm outside of Los Angeles with Reed and their daughter, Bodhi Soleil, 5, on Wednesday. “It’s really the way it’s always supposed to have been. I think now you’re seeing a lot of people who were working in corporate offices, and you can see it now from a societal standpoint. People are having a really hard time getting back to work.”
He adds, “People have realized that their time and the value of their time and the value proposition of time has shifted a bit. Be more engaged, be outdoors more, spend more time with one another.”
Somerhalder, who says he doesn’t “intend on being on screen for a long time,” also talked about what he’s learned over the years.
“I believe the pandemic demonstrated the importance of moments. Birthdays are significant. Holidays are important. These tiny granular interactions with one another are extremely important “he claims “And that is why Nikki and I believe that the rural or even urban/rural lifestyle — which I think a lot of people are getting into, whether it’s permaculture or building food forests — we’re past the point of just thinking that we’ll stop all of this by not using plastic straws and driving electric cars.”
While he is no longer acting, the actor is as busy as ever with his bourbon, Brother’s Bond.
“We are moving away from just the word sustainability, ’cause at the end of the day, sustainability means maintaining the status quo, which doesn’t work,” he says. “At Brother’s Bond and in our household too, we use the ‘re’ words: regenerate, reuse, reclaim, reconstitute, rejigger, re-everything. It’s regenerative — not just sustainable.”
The Twilight star, 34, previously told PEOPLE about her personal experience during the pandemic.
“It was a watershed moment for me,” Reed explained in May. “I made a deliberate decision to give my child the most normal life possible.”
This entailed relocating to a farm “far outside the city” where they keep animals and grow lavender and rosemary alongside cucumbers and peppers. “Moving out of the city seemed like a relief,” she added. “I guarantee that if somebody wants to feel at rest, at peace, at calm, the answer is nature.”
She also discussed how it affected her mental health.
“Nature is the best form of therapy,” she said. “And it’s instant — you don’t have to spend six months in nature before you feel it. Go on a hike and release endorphins. Look at a tree instead of the blue light on your phone. All of our souls need a dose of that kind of medicine.”
Somerhalder rolled up his sleeves and cleaned the beach with the team at the Shiseido Blue Project event, which took place during the US Open of Surfing. He also went into great length about his love for ocean preservation.
“The point is that it is about more than just driving awareness. Awareness is wonderful, but it is useless without action “he claims
“That’s the main deal, and I believe it’s something that people overlook. What I like about this is that there is an actionable component, which is getting on the beach, seeing how clean it is, and emphasizing the fact that there are seven and a half billion of us here “He continues. “So, if every one of us does one small thing, if we each do our part, the world changes.”