Riding BookTok wave: Mako Mermaid actress Brooke Lee joins Musk’s romance streamer

From Mako Mermaids to Hollywood - a Gold Coast actress’ breakout role on Musk’s streaming platform is sparking comparisons to Margot Robbie’s Wolf Of Wall Street moment.

From Gold Coast shores to Hollywood screens, Mako Mermaids star Brooke Lee is carving her path in the film industry, drawing comparisons to Margot Robbie’s meteoric rise.

After cutting her teeth in hit Australian series Mako Mermaids, the St Hildas graduate is making her Hollywood breakthrough in Lick, a steamy film adaptation from romance streaming platform Passionflix.

Passionflix was founded by Tosca Musk - sister of tech mogul Elon Musk.

The film, based on Australian author Kylie Scott’s bestselling rockstar romance novel of the same name, boasts a huge Australian lineup, with Lee starring alongside costar Travis Burns and Aussie director Louise Alston.

Taking on the “intimidating” lead role of Evelyn, Lee said the project was a bold shift from her Disney Channel days and mirrors Robbie’s transition from Aussie soap star to making her mark in the US.

“I’ve got a few things in the pipeline.

Behind-the-scenes of Brooke Lee's new film Lick. Picture: Supplied.

“But this was definitely a polarizing jump from Mako (Mermaids) to play Evelyn for Lick.

“But it was a challenge that was really interesting, and I learned a lot,” Lee said.

“Margot Robbie’s first big break post an Australian TV show (Neighbours) was The Wolf of Wall Street, which would’ve been such a daunting movie - not just because of the cast she was playing opposite, but also because it had full frontal nudity.

“In my movie, there are also a couple of sex scenes - so it’s similar.”

The Maudsland local credits the Gold Coast’s booming film industry and surge of streaming services for helping Aussie talent gain international breaks.

“The Gold Coast is the creative hub of Australia - the time of it being Sydney and Melbourne has passed,” Lee said.

“There are great opportunities coming to Australia that local talent can have a shot at.

“But there are also opportunities for people overseas with platforms that aren’t as well known like Passionflix.

“They offer an incredible opportunity to a huge fan base”.

Headshot of Gold Coast actress Brooke Lee with red hair, before having to transform for the role of Evelyn in Passionflix’ Lick. Picture Supplied.

Behind the scenes of Brooke Lee’s new rock star romance film Lick. Picture: Supplied.

Lee said Musk’s platform taps into the enormous audience and untapped potential of romance fiction, which has had a chokehold on TikTok’s reader community #BookTok for a few years.

“We are consuming media at such a massive rate, there are more opportunities - not just for actors but for crew, writers, people that want to sell their projects - because there are so many more platforms and ... there’s such a huge fanbase.

“Look at Kylie Scott (author), she was able to sell from quaint Brisbane - she was able to make a New York Best-seller series and now she’s got a movie out of it.

“People are loving it because of BookTok - because there are so many romance or spicy fantasy novels - and so many people reading so much more than they ever did before.

“The whole platform of romance is really having a moment”.

Musk said the project highlights the genre’s universal appeal.

“Working with such an incredible team of Australian talent on a production with American roots highlights the international appeal of romance stories and how they resonate across

cultures.”

Lick poster, starring Aussies Brooke Lee and Travis Burns. Picture: Supplied.

Tapping into romance fiction’s skyrocketing popularity, Musk’s romance-on-demand streaming service mirror’s Reece Witherspoon’s successful book-to-film business model and has struck a chord with audiences looking for faithful adaptations of favourite novels.

Unlike streaming giant Netflix, Passionflix sticks to source material word for word, scene for scene - something Lee said comes with “responsibility”.

“I’ve read something like 30 books this year so it was one of the biggest priviledges I’ve had,” Lee said.

“There’s so many people who had a lot of expectations. So far from what I’ve seen ... people are really happy with my rendition of Evelyn.”

Lick, based on Scott’s bestselling novel, premiers globally on Friday on Passionflix.