Remember “Aquamarine”’s“ ”Raymond? Jake McDorman Reflects on His Rom-Com Heartthrob, from Chest Waxing to Kitesurfing (Exclusive)

Bailey RichardsSun, August 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM UTC

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Jake McDorman in ‘Aquamarine’; Jake McDorman in 2023Credit: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection; Paul Archuleta/Getty -

Jake McDorman reflects on his breakout role as Aquamarine love interest Raymond in an exclusive chat with PEOPLE

McDorman says he waxed his chest for the first time and kitesurfed through crabs in preparation for the heartthrob role

He also opens up about his near-disastrous audition and how his relationship with the film has changed over time

Two decades after the shake, stretch and flex cemented him as a heartthrob, Aquamarine‘s Raymond is still a standout in the sea of teen movie crushes — and Jake McDorman couldn’t be happier about it.

The 40-year-old actor had only starred in “some embarrassing student films” and “even more embarrassing independent films” when he auditioned for the role of the kind-hearted, Weezer-loving lifeguard and love interest to titular mermaid Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in the 2006 movie.

He had to be equal parts pure, goofy and swoonworthy, which director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum describes as a “weird combination” that made the role difficult to cast.

But teenage McDorman fit the bill, though he almost fumbled the opportunity shortly after, he reveals to PEOPLE decades later.

First came a “physical” audition, in which he showcased his interpretation of the “shake, stretch and flex” — a subconscious signal Hailey (Joanna “JoJo” Levesque) and Claire (Emma Roberts) use to interpret his feelings — and he proved his silliness by “dancing awkwardly.”

Then came a chemistry read with Paxton, 38. This is where McDorman says he ran into trouble.

“When I came back to actually read with Sara, it’s getting exciting now because you’re getting closer and closer to actually getting the role,” the actor recalls to PEOPLE. “I go in, we read, we dance, it goes really well. I’m super excited, and I come downstairs and realize that I’ve parked in an executive’s parking spot and they blocked me in.”

“And so on this high of, ‘I think I got it, that went really good,’ I had to sheepishly go back into the [casting] office and be like, ‘Hey, so I can’t get my car out. Somebody blocked me in,’” McDorman recalls. “And they came out to see whose space I was in and they were like, “Oh, f---, she does not like it when someone parks in their space.’ ”

“So I spent the entire day getting phone calls from my agents like, ‘It went really good, fingers crossed,’ while I was just sitting in a parking lot waiting to be freed,” he continues.

Several hours later, after sundown, McDorman found his car unobstructed at last, and he later learned the hiccup was just that: a hiccup. The part of Raymond was his.

Emma Roberts, JoJo, Jake McDorman and Sara Paxton in ‘Aquamarine’Credit: 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Like most of the Aquamarine cast and crew, McDorman was young and new to the industry. Echoing sentiments Roberts — who was 14 at the time — shared in her own interview with PEOPLE, he says it was a huge deal to travel to Australia to film the coming-of-age fantasy flick.

“I think at that point in my life I had gone to Canada. I hadn’t even been to Hawaii. Certainly not overseas to Europe or anything,” he tells PEOPLE. “And then this movie shoots in Australia. So not only was it my first studio movie, but it was my first time on a 14-hour flight, relocating for a job.”

Playing Raymond in the project also marked another first for the actor: His first chest wax.

“My mother told me that I should wax my chest. Not that at 19 I had anything like a Burt Reynolds or anything, but she was like, ‘Well, lifeguards, they wax their chest so they move through the water quicker.’ And I was like, ‘Well, then if I can,’ ” he said, before jokingly adding: “Because I’m a professional method actor.”

The method approach also manifested in scenes where, in an effort to understand the quirks of newly land-locked mermaid Aquamarine (Paxton), Raymond — and therefore McDorman — tastes some of her heavily salted water.

“That was real,” he says of sipping the salty drink, which is followed by a memorable spittake. “I mean, I think even back then, I’m sure I was approaching that from this pseudomethod acting point of view of, ‘No, I really need to do it.’ ”

Now, McDorman’s philosophy is, “You do not need to do it, just act.”

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“But at that point in my life and in my development as a professional actor. I was very dead set on making sure copious amounts of salt were in every take,” he says.

This all-in philosophy also extended to some intense, stormy-day kitesurfing practice for a brief scene that a body double ultimately brought to life.

While training in Australia ahead of filming, McDorman says he “caught a gust of wind, and it didn’t just pick me up off my feet, it dragged me through [a thousand] crabs until there was a me-shaped streak in the group.”

“I had been pulled by my face through an entire migration pattern. It looked like I interrupted an episode of Planet Earth or something,” he continues.

Jake McDorman and Sara Paxton in ‘Aquamarine’Credit: Vince Valitutti/20th Century Fox

McDorman says he hopes the crabs in the line of fire were “okay,” and he laughs while recalling how little the training was ultimately put to use while filming.

“It was cool, but it was so overkill for what ended up being in the movie,” he explains of the training day. “I had that whole day and came out of that hardened thinking, ‘I survived crabs. I survived getting electrocuted. I survived stingrays.’ And then it’s just like, ‘All right, Jake, it’s close up on your face. Just move your hands back and forth. Give us a woo. All right, good. Wrap. We’re done.’ And I was like, ‘What the f---?’ ”

But McDorman has no hard feelings. In fact, he loves talking about Aquamarine. Raymond is a memorable character, but he takes the backseat to the friendship between Aquamarine and her new human friends — which is part of what makes the actor most proud of the project.

“It wasn’t the typical, ‘Oh, she needs the approval of this guy or the entire structure of the plot collapses in on itself.’ It’s set up that way initially to make you think you’ve got this pegged and then turns that archetype inside out, which I think is really cool,” he tells PEOPLE.

Jake McDorman, Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque, Sara Paxton and Emma Roberts at the premiere of ‘Aquamarine’Credit: Vince Bucci/Getty

The actor also says his relationship with Aquamarine has “only changed for the better” over the years.

“That cocktail of genuine connection in the film plus running and jumping in slow motion made it not embarrassing at all,” McDorman says of his turn as the lifeguard. “I mean, when I was younger, I’m sure there was a minute where I was taking a drag of a cigarette, being like, ‘I’m more than just a lifeguard. I’m a real actor,’ and probably wanted to distance myself from anything at that time that felt like it could potentially limit me.”

“But if we’re looking at how my relationship with the role in the movie’s grown since 2005, which is when we shot it, it’s only grown more affectionate and more grateful and more happy to be involved,” he added.

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Now, McDorman is reminded of the cult classic not only when he is recognized for his turn as Raymond, but also every time he visits his parents’ home, he says.

During a visit to the set of Aquamarine, McDorman’s mom “made the set designer promise her that he would give me — to give to her — the ‘lifeguard on duty’ sign,” he recalls to PEOPLE.

“I’ve seen it very recently because they do have it on display in the guest room,” McDorman says of the keepsake. “But also when we were going through 30-plus years of junk to get rid of, downsizing and moving across the country, we came across that sign, and she was like, ‘You’re going to f---ing bury me with that sign.’ ”

Much like Aquamarine itself, the set memento stood the test of time, he adds: “It survived great.”

on People

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