'The Vampire Diaries' star Ian Somerhalder reveals why he left acting

Ian Somerhalder, famed for his role as Damon Salvatore in the hit series, The Vampire Diaries, reflect on stepping away from acting.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Ian looked back at his career as he celebrates the anniversaries of Lost and TVD.

Ian shared his thoughts on the impact of these shows on his life, calling it a "very humbling experience."

Ian, who played Boone in Lost, faced a difficult moment as the first major character killed off in season one.

"Losing that, I was the first one cast and the first one killed, that was a sort of tough pill to swallow," he said.

With the success of TVD, which premiered in 2009, Ian reached a larger audience, noting that the show "now has been seen by almost like 1.2 billion people globally."

He expressed "enormous gratitude" for the show, adding, "That path has gotten me to where I feel most authentic anyway, which is in a pair of cowboy boots, feeding the cows and running horses."

However, after his role in V Wars, Ian decided to step back from acting five years ago to focus on family and his environmental projects.

"I stepped away from that after V Wars to build these companies, launch films like Kiss the Ground, Common Ground and Ground Swell and raise my kids," he said.

Ian added, "I remember sitting with my management talking about this, saying, ‘Hey, this is the only thing I've ever known that's ever sustained my family, and I'm walking away from it,’ at this sort of peak, could have gone and done anything, but these partnerships mean way more to me."

"At the end of it, it's the grounding stuff that matter," Ian concluded.