Australian actress Phoebe Tonkin used a touch of magic to secure her latest television role.

Which, if you take into account the fact she’s played a vampire/werewolf onThe Originals,a witch onThe Secret Circleand a mermaid in H2O: Just Add Water,it’s not all that surprising that something otherworldly propelled her into this gripping new Australian series.

When it came to securing the role of Olivia in the newSBSfour-part drama seriesSafe Harbour, Phoebe was not about to let a role she coveted so highly slip through her fingers by leaving it all up to the traditional casting process.

Instead, she took matters into her own hands.

On January 2, 2018, Phoebe posted a photo to her Instagram account detailing the moment she received the news she’d booked a job she fought so hard to get. A photo which included a brilliant nod to her past roles, signing off with “there’s still some witch left in all of us.”

Safe Harbourbegins with five Australians, including Phoebe’s ‘Olivia,’ enjoying a sailing holiday aboard a yacht to Indonesia. They then come across a fishing boat with a broken motor packed full of hungry, ill and desperate asylum seekers.

After a tense discussion between the group of friends, they decide to tow the nearly-sinking boat to the safety of Australian shores. But in the middle of the night, the boat mysteriously disappears.

Many years later, the yacht’s owner Ryan (Ewen Leslie) is accidentally reunited with Ismail (Hazem Shammas), one of the refugees from the ill-fated boat who was making his way to Australia with his brother, wife, son and his very sick daughter.

Delighted to see him again, Ryan invites Ismail to a BBQ with his wife Bree (Leeanna Walsman), his sister Olivia and their friend Helen (Jacqueline McKenzie) all of whom were on the boat, and whose lives have been drastically changed by the events that took place there.

During the lunch, tensions flair when Ismail’s wife Zahra (Nicole Chamoun), unable to contain her rage and sorrow, lashes out at the group of Australians for leaving the asylum seekers to die in the middle of the ocean.

And that’s when the truth is really spoken, for the very first time.

Someone cut the rope between the two boats, and the consequences were dire.

Joel Jackson as Damien and Phoebe Tonkin as Olivia in Safe Harbour. Source: SBS.

When asked about how fans reacted to the first trailer released forSafe Harbour ,and the idea that it depicted certain elements of the asylum seeker crisis happening right now in Australia, Phoebe said that while she was shocked by some initial reactions, the series itself is an important conversation starter.

"I really had my heart on the line for this project," said Phoebe Tonkin. Source: SBS.

Safe Harbour is a four-part drama series that will premiere on SBS at 8.30pm Wednesday 7 March and will air weekly. Episodes will also be available to watch on SBS On Demand.

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