Rebekah May Be Gone For Good

Your favorite blonde original vamp may not be around very much. Actress Claire Holt, who plays the devious-but-vulnerable Rebekah on both The Vampire Diaries and the spinoff series The Originals, shocked fans by exiting the latter midway through the show's first season. Holt told Buzzfeed that her decision to not return to The Originals as a series regular was a "life choice," one she made so she could spend more time with her family in Australia. ( The Originals films on location in New Orleans.) Now, it seems that Holt is ready to jump back into acting — just not on the show you're thinking of. According to Deadline, Holt will star in NBC's new series Aquarius, which may mean Rebekah will be away from New Orleans for longer than Original fans would like.

Holt's latest role will be more grounded in reality than her role on the supernatural CW series. Aquarius is about police officers tracking the Manson Family before the group goes on their infamous murder spree. The 26-year-old actress will play an LAPD officer desperate to be taken seriously, which proves to be a challenge given the series' '60s setting. The show, which is described by Deadline as a "gritty drama," is a big jump from The Originals and most of the work that Holt has done in the past. Prior to her time on The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, she guest starred on Pretty Little Liars and the Australian tween television series H20: Just Add Water, in which she played a mermaid. Aquarius will be Holt's first project for geared towards an older demographic. Though it's sad to see Holt leave The Originals as a series regular, taking on the role in Aquarius is a smart career move — it will prove that she's capable of carrying a role outside of a youth-skewing network.

That being said, I'm sad to see Rebekah's time on The Originals cut short. Fans were thrilled to see the blonde vamp reunited with her brothers on the Season 1 finale of The Originals, but while it appeared to give viewers hope about a possible Rebekah return, Holt's new series may mean that these visits to New Orleans are short and far between. Luckily, the Season 1 finale wasn't the last we've seen of Rebekah: showrunner Julie Plec confirmed that we would see Rebekah in one of the first three episodes of Season 2. Holt herself told TVLine that her time away from The Originals wasn't permanent, and that she would like to return to the series. It's hard to tell where The Originals will fit into her new schedule with Aquarius, but hopefully she won't leave Rebekah fans waiting for too long after her initial return at the beginning of Season 2.

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