Ian Somerhalder is ready to sizzle on the big screen but not as Christian Grey in the upcoming action thriller film titled "The Anomaly." The 34-year-old heartthrob actor has started filming in London to keep him distracted and have space from his split with girlfriend Nina Dobrev and "The Vampire Diaries" hiatus.

"The Anomaly" is an original action thriller film about the hard work of a troubled ex-soldier who regains consciousness in the back of a van with a kidnapped boy through a worldwide terrorism act. To make the story more interesting, the ex-soldier finds out that he only has 9 minutes and 37 seconds left to figure out how and why he was in that situation.

Ian Somerhalder will be joined with the other film's cast such as Luke Hemsworth, the older brother of Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Alexis Knapp of "Pitch Perfect," Brian Cox and Noel Clarke of "Star Trek Into Darkness" who directs the film as well. The official release date of the film and the additional information on the film's characters has not been confirmed yet.

Ian's fans believe that "The Anomaly" film is already a stepping stone for the actor towards a major movie character such as Christian Grey in the highly anticipated "Fifty Shades of Grey" film. Ian Somerhalder could be preparing as well to embrace the bigger movie-set filming experience compared to the small screen for the successful TV series "The Vampire Diaries."

The final script of "Fifty Shades of Grey" is not yet finalized as well as the filming schedule. With that, Ian Somerhalder can still go through the acting preparations that he need in other film projects if he will be officially cast as the dark billionaire Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of author E.L. James' erotic novels.

London