Bob Mahoney/The CW Watch out Vampire Diaries stars, it looks like Kevin Williamson is playing favorites!
After Phoebe Tonkin's show The Secret Circle was canceled, Williamson didn't waste any time finding a new home for the Australian breakout star, casting her as Tyler's (Michael Trevino) sexy werewolf friend Hayley on The Vampire Diaries.
We chatted with Phoebe about the transition from witch to werewolf, the complicated dynamic between Hayley, Tyler and Caroline (Candice Accola), and her close friendship with Claire Holt, who plays Rebekah on the CW hit series.
Before landing the role of Hayley, Phoebe was a huge fan of The Vampire Diaries and admits she didn't hide her "fan girl" side on her first day. "It was cool. I was like a total fan girl my first day. Claire showed me around all the sets and I was like, ‘What?! This is a set? It looks so real on the show!' I was like win-a-competition girl," she says. "But it's really cool! There's so many amazing sets and they are so detailed and huge. I obviously knew so much about the show before I went on it, so I was just really excited."
Phoebe calls the transition from witch to werewolf "sort of easy," explaining, "I love the supernatural world and I love Kevin, obviously!" As for the transition from the wickedly seductive Faye on The Secret Circle to the "tomboy" Hayley, Phoebe says, "It's fun to play a character that isn't so manipulative and evil. [Hayley] is a bit more empathetic; she's a free-spirit. She's very independent and she's ballsy. I think she thinks she's tougher than she is."
If Phoebe was "really excited" to join the show, her real-life BFF and former H20: Just Add Water co-star Claire was really, really excited. "Well, I had to call her and tell her to go into her trailer so I could tell her because I knew that she would squeal like a toddler. And when I told her, she was so excited," Phoebe recounts of Claire's reaction to her joining the show. "On my first day, she was like the girl at high school that like her friend from her junior school was coming to her new school because she was showing me around. She was super excited and proud to show me around, so it was nice having an in, like the cool girl on my first day!"
Fans of Caroline and Tyler's relationship were less than thrilled by Hayley's debut in Mystic Falls, especially when Klaus (Joseph Morgan) hinted that the two wolves had hooked up when she helped him break his sire bond. However, Phoebe says, "All we know is that they were just friends and they went through a big ordeal."
Of course, Caroline has yet to meet (or even find out about) Hayley, and Phoebe says, "I think Caroline is a little threatened because she doesn't know exactly the details of their relationship in the past. I think definitely Caroline is kind of suspicious...There's a few scenes with the three of us, that's kind of an interesting dynamic. There are no cat fights, but you definitely see an interesting dynamic between Haley and Caroline."
And before Forwood fans completely hate the lady wolf, Phoebe teases, "Haley has bigger priorities than relationships or liking anyone." So then why is she in town? "We don't know exactly what brings her to Mystic Falls except that she wants to see Tyler and that she's looking for something that's important to her."
The Vampire Diaries airs tonight at 8 p.m. on the CW.