Forget Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda – for Aussie girls growing up in the early 2000s, you were either a Cleo, Rikki or an Emma.
H2O: Just Add Water had quite the grip on Gen Z and millennial girls. If they were anything like me, every fallen eyelash, dandelion puff, and birthday candle wish was spent hoping for a mermaid tail.
For Phoebe Tonkin, 36, the question of whether the iconic Aussie series, which also starred Cariba Heine and Claire Holt from 2006 to 2010, could ever make a comeback is one she’s heard more than a few times.
Phoebe Tonkin’s one condition for an H2O reboot
And with nostalgia for the early-2000s mermaid phenomenon still running deep, and a ton of nostalgic reboots either recently released or in the works – Scooby-Doo, Freaky Friday, Legally Blonde – it’s no surprise fans are still hoping for a return.
“I think I’m probably a little old to play a high-school mermaid!” Tonkin told WHO recently.
However, she did reveal she would “love” to see a reboot, but has one condition if it were to make its return to Aussie screens.
“I would love to see a reboot, but I think there are so many amazing young actors that could take on those roles,” she added.
“That was my first job and was such a huge job for me, and it was, I think, my second audition. I was still in high school and it completely changed my life. So I hope they do reboot it and I hope they give that opportunity to three young actors, new actors.”
Naur, Cleo!
H20 debate divides fans on TikTok
Ever since the show has made a sudden resurgence through TikTok, poking fun at the Aussie accent (particularly the way we say ‘no’), fans have had a go at envisioning what a reboot could look like, with or without the original actresses.
“I don’t think the original cast would be up for it but I would love to see a continuation with Emma, Rikki and Cleo on a grown up level. But I’m sure even if the actors would want to do it the network would want to cater to a younger audience,” wrote one fan online.
However, some remain protective over the series: “H2O is better off left alone,” writes another.
There was also talk of the rest of the main cast having doubts about a reboot, with Heine, who played Rikki Chadwick, echoing Tonkin’s sentiment of being “too old” to play a mermaid.
“I don’t really blame her, who would want to play a role that they outgrew?” another online agreed.
Well, while we sadly might not see them swishing their mermaid tails anytime soon, we can get a Tonkin fix from her latest romantic drama series, Two Years Later, alongside Brenton Thwaites. Read on to hear more about it…
Phoebe’s new role in Two Years Later
It’s become a period of time that is often glossed over in films and TV shows, but in Tonkin’s show Two Years Later, viewers are dunked straight into the COVID pandemic.
“I think this show is telling a quite brave story about COVID,” she tells us.
“There’s not a lot of representation of the pandemic on screen. And I think it was very – to use the word of the time – unprecedented. I think a lot of men and women were struggling with loneliness and isolation, and I don’t think this is entirely unrelatable.”
After their daily bus flirtations are abruptly halted by lockdowns, it takes Tonkin’s Emily and Ryan (Thwaites) two years to see each other again on their commute. So Ryan decides to bite the bullet, impulsively proposing an experiment to Emily: eight dates to determine if they should be married.
“She is a sort of strange creature,” she says of her character. “And I think that’s why Ryan is attracted to her, and in the same way, Emily is super attracted to Ryan’s quirks as well. I think that’s why this show sort of stands out from other rom-coms – it’s real, and it’s about real people.”
“It’s OK to not always make the best decisions”
“I think what I hope people take away from the show is that it’s OK to be in your thirties and to not necessarily know everything and not have everything figured out. It’s OK to not always make the best decisions, because that helps you evolve and grow – and I think that is the show’s big theme,” she says.
It’s a far cry from the moonlit waters of Mako Island and the pre-teen drama of H2O, but Two Years Later marks a decidedly more adult chapter for Tonkin, who has since built a more mature career across projects including Boy Swallows Universe, The Originals and Bloom.
But she’s made it clear she hasn’t forgotten her roots on the iconic series.
“It’s just nice that people are still enjoying that show 20 years on,” says Tonkin.
