Phoebe Tonkin is one of Australia’s most successful young acting exports. Beginning her career on the Aussie teen series H20: Just Add Water, she gained international fame (and a casual 4.8 million followers on Instagram) from her starring role on The Vampire Diaries and its-spin off, The Originals. Now, with her career in its peak, she has returned to Australia to take on the lead role of young Gwen (with her older self to be played by Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver) on Stan’s new original series, Bloom, premiering on January 1. Below, Phoebe chats all about Bloom, and what it means to be an actor in 2018.
POPSUGAR Australia: Tell us about the premise of Bloom.
Phoebe: The premise is if you have the opportunity to have your youth, energy and vitality back, with the knowledge of being in your sixties or seventies, what would you do differently? Are there any wrongs you would right, any big regrets you had in your life that you would try to make up for, if you had the chance?
PS: You play a character called Gwen – tell us about her!
Phoebe: When we meet Gwen we find out she’s been struggling with dementia for the past few years and so a lot of her memory has gone. But you realise there’s a man she loved once when she was much, much younger, as well as the man she’s still living with now, Ray. She went through some stuff when she was younger and was quite torn between two men she loved very much. You realise as we explore in the series that sometimes our memory is a little foggy and you can romanticise relationships. So, we’ll learn more about the relationship she had with Max and her husband Ray.
PS: What drew you to the character and the show?
Phoebe: I love working in Australia. I think Stan is doing a great job of being a strong competitor to big American cable shows. I thought the premise was really interesting and unique, and I thought the creatives involved – [director] John Curran is someone I’ve wanted to work with for a long time – and all the Australian actors are people I’ve always looked up to. But yeah, the premise was just really different, and I think it’s very bold for Australian drama.
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