At first glance, Ryan Corr and Phoebe Tonkin appear to share nothing in common aside from the fact that they’re both Aussie actors, but a deep-dive into their career history proves that their stars were always destined to align on a project one day, and that project just so happens to be Stan Original Series Bloom.
Corr and Tonkin at the AACTA Awards
Both born in ’89, they kicked off their careers as wee lil teens on beloved children’s TV shows that millennials grew up watching after school and on weekends.
Corr, a Melbourne-native, got his start on The Sleepover Club and Silversun, which you’ll remember as that cooked futuristic series about a gang of friends hurtling through space on a giant craft of some sort. What a classic.
Corr in Silversun (the tips… my god, the tips…)
In 2006, he scored a gig on the adolescent series Blue Water High at the same time that Phoebe was cast in her breakout role, coincidentally another show with ‘water’ in the title, H20: Just Add Water.
BWH saw Corr sashaying along Sydney’s Northern Beaches, surfboard in hand while Tonkin spent her days on the sand over in Queensland, when she wasn’t frolicking in the water wearing a gigantic scaly mermaid tail.
Both shows imbued young Aussies with not just an interest in surfing (and becoming a mermaid), but also major crushes on both rising stars.
Corr (right) in Blue Water High
Tonkin (middle) in H20: Just Add Water
Tonkin in H20: Just Add Water
From there, they inevitably dipped their toes (water pun totally intended) in the soap opera circuit, both starring in the respective soap from their hometown with Corr banging out an episode of Neighbours while Tonkin starred in seven episodes of Home & Away.
Phoebz later scored a three-episode stint in Packed to the Rafters which starred Ryan as a main star. This would be the first time they shared a stage, or set, rather, but ultimately not the last.
Tonkin in Packed to the Rafters
Corr (left) in Packed to the Rafters
Corr continued to cement himself in the Australian television landscape, taking on roles in more mature shows like Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Redfern Now and Love Child.
Meanwhile, Tonkin headed overseas where her career saw her transform into more supernatural creatures, first as a witch in the short-lived CW series The Secret Circle and then as a werewolf in both The Vampire Diaries and its spinoff The Originals.
Corr in Underbelly
Corr in Love Child
Tonkin in The Secret Circle
Tonkin in The Originals
Corr scored a bunch of roles in films with more heavier themes including Wolf Creek 2, Holding The Man, Hacksaw Ridge and The Water Diviner while Phoebe also starred in darker shows including Stalker, Safe Harbour and The Affair.
Then, fate finally brought the pair together in outback Victoria on the set of Stan Original Series Bloom.
Tonkin plays the younger version of the character Gwen who regains her youth after eating a ~mysterious~ berry and Corr plays the younger version of Sam.
Suss out the trailer below and hit up Stan on New Year’s Day for all six episodes of the highly anticipated drama series.
