In 2006, fans were introduced to a modern day The Little Mermaid-inspired story when Aquamarine hit theaters. Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, the fan-favorite film starred Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts, JoJo, Jake McDorman, Arielle Kebbel and Tammin Sursok.
The movie followed the story of a mermaid, named Aquamarine, who washed ashore during a storm to prove to her father that true love exists. After finding out her secret, two BFFs — Claire and Hailey — help her win over a cute lifeguard. Things got pretty difficult at night when Aquamarine lost her human legs and transformed back into a fish. At the the end of the film, the three girls prove that true love exists, not by finding a lower, but between friends. Aquamarine returns to the sea with plans to continuously visit her friends on land.
Aquamarine marked the first leading film role for Emma, who was known as a Nickelodeon star until then. Following this movie’s release, she nabbed a ton of well-known movie parts that fans are still watching today. It also marked JoJo’s film debut. Prior to the starring role, she was known as just a singer.
“I’ve actually been acting since I was 6, doing professional theater and stuff like that in my hometown of Massachusetts,” she told MTV in 2006. “So acting wasn’t a new thing for me. But as far as film, it was new, and these girls are so professional and everybody was so great to work with.”
During the same MTV interview, Sara got real about wearing her mermaid tale while filming the movie. “The first time I actually wore the tail, it was really weird, ’cause the tail’s like 100 pounds or something, really heavy,” the actress recalled. “So, five guys on a stretcher had to carry me everywhere. When I was in the full outfit for the first time and they brought me out on the stretcher, I felt like a princess. Everyone was clapping for me, and I raised a hand in the air and everyone’s like ‘Whoo hoo!’ and then they threw me in the pool like a fish.”
All these years later and the entire cast has blossomed into major stars. But what exactly have they all been up to since the 2006 premiere? We broke it all down!
Scroll through our gallery to find out what the cast of Aquamarine is up to now.
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