beauty
Like many young Australian actors, Phoebe Tonkin moved to Los Angeles at age
20 to try her luck. It didn’t quite turn out how she expected. “Everyone who gets into
acting has these big aspirations of the different roles they’re going to play and the
experiences they’re going to have. I definitely didn’t move to LA thinking I was going to
end up in Atlanta for seven years playing the same character for 10 and a half months of
every year. It was amazing and I was grateful, but it’s a funny thing to sign a contract
when you’re 21 that more or less eats up your entire twenties.”
Now 32, Tonkin has spent her time since her The Vampire Diaries/The Originals era
ended being a little more selective about her projects, which last year included roles in the
Damien Chazelle-directed Babylon, starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, and Transfusion
with Sam Worthington, which was filmed in Australia. “I love working in Australia.
I think there is a specific storytelling that happens. Sometimes I’ll read stuff in America
and I’ll know it’s good, but it’s just not my language, it’s not how I grew up. Then I’ll read
an Australian book or script and it’s in my bones. I can smell where it took place, I can
taste the foods being described. And I actually bought a place in Australia last year
because I love working here. I definitely want to keep coming back and making stuff.”
She’s also an ambassador for Chanel, a relationship she says makes her “incredibly
proud”. “It’s a house that really aligns with my values, my tastes, my sense of style, the
things that I’m interested in. The way they champion female artists and filmmakers,
and empower women in other aspects than just fashion… I think it’s inspiring.”
For most of us, being able to wear a single Chanel dress in our lifetime would be
enough; for Tonkin – who gets to utter the glorious sentence “I pretty much only wear
Chanel now,” – it’s about more than that. “When you travel with them, you’re not just
going to your hotel room and putting some makeup on and going to a show. There is
always an experience that has nothing to do with Chanel. When we were in Hamburg,
we went to the ballet. When we go to Paris we always visit at least one museum. It says
a lot about how they’ve kept Gabrielle’s legacy alive, because she was so inspired,
so beautifully educated in culture and the arts. And I think that’s why, when you
are an ambassador like myself, you are ingrained in the brand. You’re not just
Words
wearing a dress at an event. You speak the language, you understand the history
JUSTINE CULLEN
of it… And if I’m wearing something all the
time, I want to believe in it, and I want to be
proud to be wearing it and understand why I’m
As the iconic house
wearing it.” It’s also given rise to a lot of pinch-me
unveils a new era in
moments, like being photographed for a magazine
cover in Coco Chanel’s apartment on the Rue
the form of its
Cambon in Paris. “Sitting barefoot at her desk wearing
sustainably minded
a Chanel jacket, surrounded by all the books she read
beauty collection,
and collected… it was magical,” remembers Tonkin,
adding “Although seeing Snoop Dogg at a Chanel
No. 1 de Chanel, brand
party was also pretty surreal!”
ambassador Phoebe
NEW
GROUND
Tonkin is ready to tackle
her next phase, too.
PHOTOGRAPHY Jess Ruby James
DAV I D J O N E S . C O M
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