A new Hallmark original movie tells the story of legendary 13th-century Venetian trader, Marco Polo, whose book is said to have inspired a frenzy for exploration in Europe in the following two centuries. (An annotated copy of Polo's book was among the belongings of Christopher Columbus.)

In this film, young Marco Polo (Ian Somerhalder, Lost”) is abandoned along with his father and uncle by the missionaries in the mountains of China. After eventually making their way to the fabled country, Polo decides not to return with his uncle and father to Italy.

Impressed with the young man, Emperor Kublai Kahn accepts Polo as an envoy in his court. A lone Westerner on the far side of the world, Polo, accompanied by his servant and friend, Pedro (BD Wong, “Law & Order: SVU”), advances as a Mongol grandee for 20 extraordinary years and eventually brings back with him to the West a chronicle that changed history forever.

The movie also stars “Law and Order: SVU” actor B.D. Wong, Emmy nominee Brian Dennehy, and Singaporean actress Desiree Siahaan. It premieres on June 2 on the Hallmark Channel.

Somerhalder, one of the original cast members of the hit TV show “Lost,” spoke of his passion for travel in real life.

He was a teenager when his modeling and acting career took him away from home, first to New York, then to Europe, living in Italy and Paris alone as a 16-year-old. A few years ago, as one of the original cast members of “Lost,” he worked and lived in Hawaii. And when not working, he packs his bags and finds new places to visit.

As Somerhalder put it, “It’s like what Marco Polo said in the movie: ‘What is beyond that river, beyond that valley, beyond that mountain?’ I have the same curiosity.”

“Marco Polo” was shot entirely in China, an experience which Somerhalder recalled with fondness. But he also noted the cultural differences: The cast and crew were cautioned against any contact with the local women in a Muslim community in western China.

“If you so much as looked at their women, there was the possibility that [the men] would stab you,” he said. “We were in their world, in their territory, living by their rules. If that doesn’t wake you up to the fact that the world is very different once you leave the bubble of Los Angeles, New York or wherever it is you are in America, I don’t know what will!”

The temperature in southern China also left a deep impression on the actor. “Don’t ever, ever shoot a movie in the south part of China in the summertime,” Somerhalder said. “The average temperature throughout the shoot was almost 100 degrees. And high humidity. .We were shooting in this replica of the Forbidden City, which was all concrete and brick. And I was wearing so much clothing. I had long, black hair. I lost 20 pounds! It was insane.”