Fear not, for Brooks Nader is always here. In fact, E! News can confirm that the model will soon be donning the iconic red swimsuit as she joins the cast of FOX's Baywatch reboot, set to premiere later this year. Brooks stars as series regular Selene, who is described by FOX as "the sharp-tongued Captain of the Zuma beach lifeguards." And while "she is excellent at her job," Selene butts heads with Captain Hobie Buchannon (Stephen Amell) as the two "have a very different approach to saving lives that is a constant source of friction." And when Hobie brings his daughter Charlie (Jessica Belkin) onto the team, "it becomes clear that their rivalry goes much deeper than lifeguarding."
Brooks also shared the news on her Instagram Stories on March 9, posting a photo of herself holding a script and writing, "I've been keeping a little secret..." The 29-year-old then reposted her 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in which she wore a red swimsuit reminiscent of the Baywatch costume, joking, "I've been manifesting this for a MINUTE."
Baywatch marks Brooks' biggest acting role to date, as she previously appeared in the 2018 film Backtrace and is set to cameo in the upcoming Eva Longoria-directed movie The Fifth Wheel. But as the Love Thy Nader star previously shared, acting was always the plan while growing up in Louisiana. "I Googled 'acting coaches in Baton Rouge' and found this random woman who worked with one person from Vampire Diaries once and was like, 'I create stars,'" she told Bustle in September. "She said, 'So what are your goals?' I said, 'I want to have my own show.' She was laughing in my face."
Despite the reaction, Brooks was undeterred, leaving Tulane University in 2017 and moving to New York City to pursue modeling. As she recalled, "My dad said, 'See you in Baton Rouge in a month when you run out of money.'" Brooks later got her big break in the modeling work when she won Sports Illustrated's 2019 Swim Search and was featured inside the magazine before gracing the cover in 2023.
Now that Baywatch is on her resume, there is another role she'd like to one day take on. "I'd love to play a version of myself in a movie," she shared with Maxim last year. "A crazy Southern girl who is living in the wild world of New York. Kind of like how Eva Longoria is pretty much herself in Desperate Housewives; she always said she didn't even have to act!"
