Honestly, if you were a teenager or a twenty-something back in the mid-2010s, your Tuesday nights probably belonged to New Orleans. Specifically, a version of New Orleans filled with brooding immortals, jazz-infused bloodbaths, and a hybrid named Hayley Marshall. Looking back from 2026, it is wild how much Phoebe Tonkin and The Originals defined a very specific era of supernatural TV.
People didn’t just watch the show; they lived for the toxic family dynamics of the Mikaelsons. But at the center of that hurricane was Phoebe Tonkin. She wasn't an Original. She wasn't even supposed to be the lead at first. Yet, she became the heartbeat of a show that, let's be real, could sometimes get a little lost in its own lore.
From "The Backstabbing Bitch" to Werewolf Queen
You remember Hayley in The Vampire Diaries, right? Most people hated her. Seriously. She was the one who set up those twelve hybrids to be slaughtered just so she could get a lead on her birth parents. She was manipulative, she was cold, and she definitely wasn't a "hero."
Then The Originals happened.
Moving Hayley Marshall from Mystic Falls to the French Quarter was a gamble. Phoebe Tonkin had to take a character that fans genuinely disliked and make us care about her survival. And she did it by leaning into the messiness. Hayley wasn't a perfect mother or a perfect person. She was a survivor who suddenly found herself carrying a "miracle baby" in a city that wanted that baby dead.
The growth was insane. We saw her go from this girl with nothing to lose to a woman who would—and eventually did—die for her daughter, Hope. Tonkin played that transition with this specific kind of grit. She didn't do the "damsel in distress" thing. Even when she was pregnant and being hunted by witches, she was still throwing punches and making deals.
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The Chemistry That Ruined (and Saved) Us
We have to talk about Haylijah. If you didn't have a Pinterest board or a Tumblr account dedicated to Hayley and Elijah Mikaelson, were you even watching?
The chemistry between Phoebe Tonkin and Daniel Gillies was electric. It was that classic "forbidden love" trope, but it felt earned because both characters were so broken. Elijah was all about honor and suits; Hayley was all about instinct and flannel. It shouldn't have worked, but it did.
Behind the scenes, though, things weren't always as smooth as a New Orleans jazz set. There’s been plenty of talk over the years about how the cast felt regarding the final season. If you’ve followed the rumors (and some of the candid interviews since the show ended), it's no secret that some of the stars, including Tonkin, weren't exactly thrilled with how things wrapped up.
That Season 5 Death: What Really Happened?
If you want to start a fight in a The Originals fan group, just mention the name "Greta."
Hayley’s death in Season 5, Episode 6, "What, Will, Be, Done," is still one of the most polarizing moments in the entire "TVD-verse." It felt rushed. It felt... small. For a character who had survived ancient curses and hollowed-out gods, dying in a farmhouse scuffle because of a Nazi-vampire felt like a slap in the face to a lot of fans.
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Phoebe Tonkin has been pretty classy about it in the years since. She’s mentioned in interviews, like that famous email exchange with Entertainment Weekly, that she was grateful for the five-year journey. But you can read between the lines. The production of Season 5 was reportedly a bit of a mess because the writers were already looking toward the spin-off, Legacies.
Hayley was killed off to facilitate Hope’s "orphan" storyline. It’s a trope as old as time, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. The fact that Phoebe reportedly didn't even give permission for her face to be used in family photos in Legacies—forcing them to blur or hide her image—speaks volumes about the "proper goodbyes" that happened behind the scenes.
Life After the Bayou: Phoebe Tonkin in 2026
Where is she now? Well, Phoebe didn't just fade away after the Mikaelson mansion burned down.
She’s actually had a massive 2025 and 2026. She recently married art advisor Bernard Lagrange in New York City (May 2024, for those keeping track). She’s also been leaning heavily back into her Australian roots. She just finished filming a series called Two Years Later in Brisbane, which is a rom-com-drama slated for a late 2026 release.
It’s a far cry from ripping out hearts in the bayou.
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But for most of us, she’ll always be the girl who turned into a wolf and took on the most dangerous family in history. She brought a grounded, "no-nonsense" energy to a genre that can sometimes get too campy for its own good.
Why We’re Still Talking About Her
The reason Phoebe Tonkin and The Originals still trends on TikTok and gets millions of views on streaming is because of the "found family" aspect.
Hayley was an orphan. She was a foster kid. She was someone who never had a place. Seeing her create a home—even a violent, blood-soaked one—resonated with a lot of people who felt like outsiders. Tonkin didn't play her as a superhero; she played her as a girl who was scared but did it anyway.
What You Can Do Now
If you're feeling nostalgic, there's actually some cool stuff you can do to keep the New Orleans vibe alive:
- Watch "H2O: Just Add Water": If you want to see Phoebe Tonkin and Claire Holt (Rebekah Mikaelson) before they were vampires, watch this. They were teenage mermaids in Australia. It is peak 2000s TV and honestly hilarious to watch after seeing them be "badasses" for five seasons.
- Check out "Two Years Later": Keep an eye on Paramount Plus later this year. It’s Tonkin’s big return to a leading TV role, and it’s getting a lot of buzz for being a very "grown-up" look at relationships.
- Visit the "Original" locations: If you’re ever in Georgia, head to Conyers. That’s where they filmed most of the French Quarter scenes. It’s way cheaper than a flight to New Orleans and you can actually see the "Mikaelson Compound" (which is actually a real building in the town square).
Hayley Marshall might be gone, but the impact Phoebe Tonkin had on that universe is permanent. She wasn't just a side character in the Mikaelson story; she was the one who finally made them human.