The Originals’ Claire Holt Talks Matt/Rebekah & Reuniting With Phoebe Tonkin

The Original family of vampires from The CW’s Vampire Diaries moves to their own series on October 3, and at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego, we talked with Claire Holt about what this move will mean for her character Rebekah… and her relationship with poor, human Matt Donovan.

“I think that love affair is sadly coming to an end,” she confirms. “I can’t imagine they’re going to do long distance well. So, they had fun over the summer… it was a mutually beneficial, sweet relationship but it’s come to a natural end.” Could Rebekah be looking for someone new after The Originals begins? “There’s a lot of cuties around New Orleans, and it’s going to have to be someone who she’s not related to! Which doesn’t leave many options right now, so I don’t know. I’ll let you put two and two together,” she hints, making us think it might be Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) who ultimately gets Rebekah’s attention. “Who knows? I’d imagine maybe they could be, at some point,” Claire says when asked about that possibility.

The Originals also finally reunites Holt with her H2O: Just Add Water co-star Phoebe Tonkin, who plays “Hayley” on the new series. “It’s so great to work with Phoebe again,” Holt says. “We haven’t filmed anything yet, but just being around each other on a set brings back so many memories. I think Rebekah’s going to be really protective of Hayley, and she’s looking out for her. Hayley doesn’t have any family, so it’s going to be interesting to see Rebakah put her pride aside a little and be part of the team. It’s going to be nice and fun, I think. The characters will have a little spark there.”

The promise of a family — especially with Hayley’s child coming into play — might be enough for Rebekah to get over that whole “wanting to be human” desire. “You know what? As Elijah said to her, ‘I’m offering you what you’ve always wanted. You’ve always wanted a family.’ So I think she’s really going to love that child, and treat it like it were her own, and she’s going to have fun playing dress-ups, I think, with the little cute wolf baby,” Holt speculates.

One thing is for certain — fans should not place any bets on which side Rebekah will take in the Klaus vs. Marcel war. “Who knows? Your guess is as good as mine. [Klaus has] betrayed her a number of times, so she may cross over to the dark side,” Holt hints.

The Originals premieres Thursday, October 3 on The CW before moving to Tuesdays on October 8. Read some more of our Originals coverage complete with more interviews here!