Aussie Star Rebecca Breeds On The 'Vampire Diaries' Spin-off 'The Originals'

The long-running Aussie soap Home And Away has bred many a Hollywood star – Isla Fisher, Ryan Kwanten, Chris Hemsworth…

Since shedding Summer Bay's troubled Ruby Buckton, Rebecca Breeds, too, has turned to Tinseltown. She's landed covetable roles in the popular US television shows Pretty Little Liars and The Originals, a Vampire Diaries spin-off. 

The Sydneysider will be a celebrity guest at this month's rebranded Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming Expo on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne. For Breeds, conventions are still a relatively new experience – one she attributes to her recurring part as the vampire Aurora de Martel in The Originals. The vivacious 29-year-old enjoys chatting to fans. "I'm a face-to-face girl – that's how I like to meet people," Breeds enthuses, having apologised for speaking from an "echoey" stairwell. "I'm better face-to-face with people than on social media."

The Originals centres on a power struggle between vampires, werewolves and witches in contemporary New Orleans – its protagonist the first vamp/wolf hybrid, Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan). Edgier than The Vampire Diaries, it's like a supernatural Sopranos. Wired recently proclaimed The Originals "TV's best political show", praising its figurative rendering of America's race relations. The Originals has a diverse cast – even if it's dominated by Australian actors like Claire Holt, Phoebe Tonkin and Nathaniel Buzolic. The female characters actively resist patriarchal dictates. 

Introduced in the third season, Breeds plays Aurora – a French noblewoman-cum-vamp. Back in the Middle Ages, Aurora and Klaus were lovers. However, Aurora was compelled to vehemently reject Klaus by his older brother, Elijah (Daniel Gillies). Aurora seeks revenge on the autocratic Mikaelson family – as she and Klaus (now enamoured with Leah Pipes' decent human Camille O'Connell) rediscover that old "sexual tension". 

The trick for Breeds was to depict Aurora as simultaneously evil and sympathetic – while being mindful that her psychological instability (and scope for "inappropriate" behaviour) is heightened as a bloodsucker. "I think it was just giving myself freedom to play, 'cause her moral compass, the bounds of right and wrong from a child, she'd lost – she never had that. She was always kind of, 'What's right and what's wrong and how should I act, how shouldn't I react?' So a lot of what helped me with her is letting her childlike innocence come out. She was very impulsive. She was also very menacing. She would plot things as well – obviously she was a fantastic plotter! But I think that the underriding thing that made the character really fun and really interesting was the freedom to do something really horrific and then giggle about it." Indeed, Breeds revelled in portraying her anti-damsel as tragicomic. "I like a bit of comedy – and I have a pretty big personality."

Breeds commends the theatrically-trained Morgan. "He blew me away," she raves. "There's very, very emotional scenes and he would do it five, six times in a row and every time have the same emotional intensity and commitment – which is so exciting to work with." Conversely, as the "playful" Aurora, Breeds challenged the Brit in workshops. "I would give him things sometimes that he wasn't expecting, which keeps things fresh and exciting for him."

Aurora threatened two of The Originals' best-loved, and most contested, 'ships (relationships) – those between Klaus and Camille, and Klaus and The Vampire Diaries' Caroline Forbes. Unwittingly channelling the devious Aurora, Breeds suggests this was intentional. "That's what the writers want. They wanna kick up people – write controversy and get people talking about it!" Fortunately, there are now 'Klaurora' 'shippers.

At present, Aurora's fate remains unclear – the vampire last espied under a sleeping spell. But, Breeds reveals, "there's definitely a chance" Aurora's narrative arc will be fulfilled, should The Originals be renewed. Alas, Breeds left the show after scoring the titular role in NBC's ill-fated legal soap Miranda's Rights. "The writers were setting me up to kinda be the big bad in the end. [But] I got a pilot, I got an NBC show, so I was like, 'Oops, sorry guys…' So they had to completely rejig their plans." Breeds was approached to return this current season, but she was then in Perth filming the indie feature Three Summers. "I hope that the stars align and they shoot more episodes and I'll be available and I can jump back on the show, because I would love to reprise Aurora. I miss my red wig. The red wig was a lot of fun!"

Already acting in her early teens, Breeds spent four years with Home And Away – receiving two Logie noms. She married her co-star Luke Mitchell (another Supanova guest), the pair basing themselves in Los Angeles. Breeds' breakthrough US role came with the nomadic philanthropist Nicole Gordon in Pretty Little Liars – which was "great fun". Ironically, Pretty Little Liars' producers also asked Breeds back but, again, she was "busy" with other jobs. "It's a blessing and a curse!"

Breeds flew home to portray Molly Meldrum's fiancee Camille in the Seven Network's mini-series Molly. Next, she'll be seen in the aforementioned Three Summers – the first Australian film from expat Brit comedian Ben Elton. The socially-themed rom-com is set in the music festival scene, with an ensemble cast including Magda Szubanski. Breeds plays a muso, with Irish actor Robert Sheehan her love interest. "It's a hoot. It's a feel-good film. There's lots of music and creative arts, dancing… It's very, very funny in Ben Elton's style. It's also quite political in Ben Elton's style." 

Today Breeds considers her time in the US as "an awesome adventure", stressing that she'll never abandon her homeland. "I really love Australian cinema. I really support Australian work. I will always work in Australia for the rest of my life."

You can catch Rebecca Breeds at Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming Expo in the Gold Coast (21 — 23 Apr) and Melbourne (28 - 30 Apr). Check out the Supanova website for all the details.