The bobbed high schooler has amazing style, an attitude problem and terrible driving skills \u2014 which she uses to secure lessons with Raymond in her vintage pink convertible complete with a \u201cprincess\u201d vanity plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a princess?\u201d Aquamarine (Sara Paxton<\/a>) asks upon seeing the spoiled weatherman\u2019s daughter\u2019s ride, as her new friend Hailey (Joanna \u201cJoJo\u201d Levesque<\/a>) quips back, \u201cNo, just a royal bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n But Cecilia is so much more thanks to Kebbel, 41, who only agreed to play the somewhat prototypical mean girl if she could make some \u201cslight emotional adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, however, Kebbel actually auditioned to play the titular siren in the 2006 fish-out-of-water tale \u2014 a role she tells PEOPLE she \u201creally, really, really, really wanted\u201d at the time. \u201cI mean, my name is Arielle. Her name\u2019s Aquamarine. We\u2019re both mermaids. I was obsessed.\u201d<\/p>\n Arielle Kebbel in \u2018Aquamarine\u2019Credit: Cinematic \/ Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n Kebbel even showed up to her audition in a \u201chorrific blue wig,\u201d which was a nod to Aquamarine\u2019s hair in the Alice Hoffman<\/a> book the film is adapted from. It was a bold move, and it didn\u2019t go over particularly well, the actress recalls, joking that she was probably the reason the hair and makeup team went for a subtler hairstyle. \u201cMaybe they were like, \u2018Yo, after that, we gotta cut it. It\u2019s never going to work. It\u2019s never going to work.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum<\/a>, who directed Aquamarine, still remembers Kebbel\u2019s audition wig well. \u201cI knew from the moment she walked in that I wanted to work with her,\u201d the filmmaker tells PEOPLE. \u201cShe came in in a blue wig and she acted her heart out and she took real risks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey asked me to come back for Cecilia,\u201d Kebbel recalls, admitting, \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, it took me a minute because I was so heartbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really had to wrap my head around like, \u2018Am I going to be OK emotionally going to set every day on a mermaid movie, not being the mermaid?\u2019 That was a very real question,\u201d the The Vampire Diaries<\/a> alum remembers. \u201cAnd then I was like, \u2018Yes, of course I am. I want to be in this. What am I doing? Put my ego aside.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n It was a decision that shaped Kebbel\u2019s career for years to come. \u201cThat movie helped me find my voice on set maybe even more than they realized,\u201d the actress tells PEOPLE, recalling that she was \u201cvery clear\u201d about her take on Cecilia \u201cgoing into it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI needed her to be a mean girl with a heart or who cares, right?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Arielle Kebbel in 2026Credit: Jamie McCarthy\/Getty<\/p>\n Echoing this, Rosenbaum adds, \u201cYou want a villain who\u2019s got a lot of layers and I feel like [Kebbel] showed [Cecilia\u2019s] vulnerability and that was really nice. So you sort of understand where she\u2019s coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was never scripted,\u201d Kebbel recalls, \u201cthat I was almost crying when Daddy wanted to take away my car, but I thought that would add some humor and also kind of show a bit of vulnerability. It was never scripted that I screamed that way about, \u2018She\u2019s a fish!<\/a>\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was just these little moments that I really had so much fun playing with and asking to kind of do my own take on,\u201d the John Tucker Must Die<\/a> star continues, \u201cand I think that helped give me confidence moving forward to speak up on other sets that I was new to and say, \u2018Hey, can I try this? I kind of see it this way. Let\u2019s see what that does.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Cecilia may not be the nicest, but she \u2014 like the main trio made up of Paxton, Levesque and Emma Roberts<\/a> \u2014 is dealing with a lot. Namely, she is also struggling to wrap her mind around the existence of mermaids. She repeatedly tries to prove to her loved ones that Aquamarine is a siren, but nobody believes her.<\/p>\n Arielle Kebbel (right) in \u2018Aquamarine\u2019Credit: Disney+<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely a horror film from her perspective,\u201d Kebbel tells PEOPLE of Cecilia\u2019s lot in the 2006 film. \u201cShe\u2019s going into cool girl summer, and she leaves a horror film.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe has lost everything,\u201d Kebbel says of the character. \u201cShe\u2019s lost the trust with her dad. She\u2019s lost her car. She\u2019s lost her popularity. She lost the boy. She can\u2019t believe the fish is real. So I was coming out at a place from, like, \u2018I have to make all of this very real to make these stakes high.\u2019 And so I just thought, \u2018Well, this is it. She\u2019s losing it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Cecilia\u2019s role in the film is not as central as the main threesome\u2019s friendship, but it is a crucial ingredient \u2014 and makes for a wildly entertaining ride. Two decades after the film\u2019s release, it also remains \u201ca very meaningful part of my life,\u201d Kebbel tells PEOPLE.<\/p>\n On a recent flight, the Marshals<\/a> actress recalls, a pilot \u201cgrabbed me and was like, \u2018Can I take a picture? Aquamarine is everything.\u2019 And I was just like, \u2018Yeah, and you\u2019re flying our plane.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What? Can I get a picture with you?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo it definitely stands out as just being a continued special experience in my life,\u201d she adds, \u201cbecause when people come up to me and share their memories of the film, it just makes it that much more special for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Arielle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f0487a93-eba8-4dfa-bb69-d793a218876a.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Arielle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/44326518-28b2-43b4-9ec4-e11072b6c9c2.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Arielle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b4d2abac-fbc6-440f-b07a-283dfb965368.jpg\"\/)
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