Tonkin in ‘The Secret Circle’

With The Secret Circle cut short after one season on The CW, fans were sad and even tried to breathe some life back into the series with campaign attempts. Sadly, showrunner Kevin Williamson has moved on but he has strongly said in the months following that he would love just one thing to come out of the series’ cancellation: to work with Phoebe Tonkin again. The Aussie actress who lit up screens as the bad girl rebel with witch powers has a strong tie to The Vampire Diaries as best friend Claire Holt popped up on the hit drama as Original Vampire Rebekah. Now, it seems like fans can expect a familiar face as Tonkin is returning to The CW to have a little fun in Mystic Falls.

TV Guide reports that Tonkin will be joining Season 4 of The Vampire Diaries as a potential new love interest for werewolf Tyler (Michael Trevino). She’ll play “Hayley, a wild, sexy and very free-spirited friend with whom Tyler shares a past”. Likely, she’ll complicate the love triangle already set up between Original Vampire Klaus (Joseph Morgan, who will be coming back later this season), Caroline (Candice Accola), and Tyler.

Since The Secret Circle‘s cancellation, Kevin Williamson had consistently stated that he wanted Tonkin to star either on The Vampire Diaries or his new FOX series The Following. Tonkin’s first U.S. role was in the short-lived supernatural drama and her last major role before was the Australian import H2O: Just Add Water, which she starred in for four years along with Holt.

There is no timetable on Tonkin’s role but given the series’ willingness to allow fan-favorites an extended stay, there could be plenty of Tonkin to come in the show’s future. Her character of Hayley will first appear in the third episode of the new season.

The Vampire Diaries returns Thursday October 11th at 8PM on The CW.