Taking a break from his busy “Vampire Diaries” schedule, Ian Somerhalder garnered himself a little added exposure by covering the September/October 2012 issue of Essential Homme magazine.

Looking handsome as ever, the 33-year-old actor donned an Armani Exchange cardigan for the Matthew Lyn shot front page while talking about everything from acting to rumors that he wants the lead role in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” film adaptation.

On the challenges of being an actor:
“Much of life is like a television show. You have ups and downs. You never know where it’s going to go. And yes, it’s iffy as an actor, because you’re at the mercy of the writers’ imaginations. You’re ultimately subjected to exactly what they want and you have to deal with it.”

On taking his young audience seriously:
“If you empower a 15-year-old kid, or a 17-year-old kid who turns 18 in October, who can vote in November – if you empower that young person to understand what’s going on in the world around them, how certain politics and environmental implications are going to not serve them very well later on in life – are going to affect the way that they grow up and their children grow up – you affect that young person. They become empowered, and an empowered young person is the coolest thing in the world. And untimely, that’s where change comes in.”

On rumors that he’s pursuing the lead in “Fifty Shades of Grey:”
“I think it could be a very interesting job.”