Phoebe Tonkin has appeared in some of our favorite series, from the iconic H20: Just Add Water, which was the obsession of tweens in the 2000s, to Vampire Diaries , and now she has a much more adult and complex role in Boy Swallows Univers e which, she told us on the February InStyle cover, is her favorite so far.
This series, which premiered on Netflix this January 11 , is based on a book of the same name and tells the story of Eli Bell, a boy who faces organized crime for the love of his mother, Francis, played by Phoebe.
“I wanted to be very careful with the addiction, but almost everything we see in Frankie’s character is a mother trying with all her might, but making a lot of mistakes,” the actress explains to us.
Phoebe is a VERY Australian Australian person, for whom there is nothing better than the look that getting into the sea gives you. After some time in LA she has found success in projects in her country and even lives in the place where she grew up and where she has lifelong friends, but that doesn’t make her any less ambitious or any less focused.
“I have had to be patient and I even thought it was not the right path. There were low moments in my personal life as well. We have all gone through uncomfortable or painful periods that turn you into an adult woman.”
Full translated interview:
“Don’t worry, it’ll get so good you’ll forget it was ever bad…” Phoebe quotes her favorite line from her new series. Boy Swallows Universe arrived with the formula to become an Australian classic and she knows it: “It was great to see how universal the themes are, but there is something so innately Australian that it is a character in itself.” This is the actress from Sydney, with the Aussie seal so tattooed on her heart that she would change her red carpet looks for the evidence of Balmora beach, place of her favorite memories and beauty hacks that she defends to death: “I look better after swimming in the sea,” and as a good Chanel ambassador, “I’ve always loved a red lip.” Returning to her hometown, where she lives in the same house where she grew up and has made friends “since she was born”, is not only personal…her latest Netflix series could be a harbinger of an Aussie era on our screens (and not only because the accent with which those of the Land Downunder were blessed).
In the coming of age of a child in the suburbs of Brisbane, in the 80s, Phoebe embodies an incredibly defective being. “We forget to interpret complicated, flooded and messy women,” she said during her directorial debut in 2019, the same year she received a special Christmas gift: “My mom gave me Boy Swallows Universe and I loved it; I thought it was a unique way to talk about difficult topics and I had heard they were making a series.” After getting the role, she adopted a true maternal instinct and doing justice to her character was the mission. “There are many elements in the book that were real things that the author had to go through in his childhood, so I took it very seriously. I wanted to be very careful with the addiction, but almost everything we see in the character of Frankie”
“She’s a mom trying her hardest, but she makes a lot of mistakes. There’s purity and romance at her core: she’s desperate for something ordinary that to her is extraordinary.” For this mother, the flame of hope does not go out and it was natural for Phoebe to relate to that, being “optimistic, grateful and loyal”, the three words with which she most identifies.
We also know that quick results are not your thing. Since she started acting classes at 10 and moved to the US to work full-time (“I didn’t feel like a girl because no one feels that way at 20, but I was very young”), she has experienced the ups and downs: “I’ve had I had to be patient and I even thought it was not the right way. There were low moments in my personal life too. We have all gone through uncomfortable or painful periods that turn you into an adult woman. A few years ago a project changed me in terms of how I saw work and opportunities.” Defining limits, the projects you pursue and sacrifices you would make for a role turned out to be a map to Australia. Plot twist: adventure can be in the place we came from and for Phoebe it was called Frances: “It was the best and most satisfying experience I have ever had; the highest at the Australian and television level.” Destination? “Yes, I believe in him. There are too many examples of that in the world. Those things happen to those who believe because they are open to it.”
But opening up to the universe never exempts the blows and trials, in fact it amplifies them and that is the oxymoron of life. For that reason, the most recent story that Phoebe interprets Ta-heartbreaking and fulfilling-it must be told with magical realism: there is magic in life’s obstacles. “When you get to the other side you are able to look back and realize that these difficult periods led you to a wonderful place. If you talked to your future self, I would tell you that everything is going to be okay.” What would Phoebe ask her future self? “I don’t want to dictate my decisions based on where I think things will end up. No opportunity is good or bad, because it leads to something else – or at least to a lesson that ends in decision. So I don’t regret anything.” There could be a rom-com coming soon or even her dream role of Anna Karenina, but whatever the future holds for Phoebe (or you, dear reader), it will be accompanied by an inexplicably magical realism. We have no proof – nor any doubt – that indeed, all of this will get so good that we will forget that it was ever bad.
“Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have each day and I think that requires a lot of patience. Having compassion for everyone is something I try to integrate daily.”
Published January 31, 2024
by Stephanie Ramirez
Source
Translation via Google