‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 4 spoilers: Ian Somerhalder on Elena’s transition

We have heard from all sorts of stars from “The Vampire Diaries” leading up to its premiere on Thursday, so why not share some more words from one Ian Somerhalder? His character of Damon has been at times the voice of reason and of danger on the show, and he is going to be looking to adopt both roles all over again moving forward to what is certainly set to be the show’s most enigmatic season yet.

Speaking to TV Guide, Somerhalder says one thing that should make fans of the first two seasons of the show rather pleased: don’t expect Damon to be a softie this time around now that he really has tried to showcase his heart to win Elena as his own:

“I think that there is a definite air of that this season. Julie put it very simply to me: he tried everything. The guy tried to be the romantic, the big brother, to help everything … no one listened to him, and everything went to sh-t. It all went wrong. Now he’s saying ‘you know what? I did everything I could, no of you listened to me. Screw you.”

Somerhalder also said to anticipate seeing Damon adopt a very ruthless strategy when it comes to dealing with Elena; he is not going to let his own feelings get in the way of making sure she does what she needs to in order to survive, and he will create great tension with Stefan thanks to the way in which he has learned to be a vampire (minus the ripper stages) over the course of the past several decades.

What are you the most excited about when it comes to the new season?