What Happened When Christie Brinkley Tried Out for Daryl Hannah’s Role in ‘Splash’ (Exclusive)

We know her best for making a splash in her famous swimsuit photos, but as Christie Brinkley reveals in her new memoir, Uptown Girl, she originally tried out for the mermaid role in the 1984 film Splash.

The part famously went to Daryl Hannah who starred opposite Tom Hanks in the romantic comedy and box office hit. Brinkley was one of several actresses who tried out for the mermaid role, but didn’t end up swimming away with it.

“It would have been a perfect part,” the 71-year-old supermodel told PEOPLE. “Because I did spend a large part of my childhood pretending in my head to be a mermaid. I mean I had a kelp bed near my house in Malibu, and my mom would always say ‘Stay out of the kelp beds … but I couldn’t help it. I was like a little mermaid going through the kelp beds.”

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After Daryl Hannah landed the part, Brinkley did get a follow-up call regarding the secret behind her own beachy hair waves. “They actually called me to say, ‘Can you tell us where you do your hair so we can get Daryl’s done like yours?’ I was like, ‘Oh, adding insult to injury,’” she says with a laugh.

Years later, their paths crossed once again — over a different sort of mermaid. This one hung in the Newel Art Gallery, an art and antiques emporium in Manhattan.

That’s where, as Brinkley recalls, “All of a sudden, I see this mermaid clipper ship [that was a chandelier hanging] and I love clipper ships and mermaids and I said, ‘Oh, I need that. I’ll take it.’” She bought it on the spot.

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Because the employee who was needed to take it down wasn’t at the gallery that day, they told her it would be shipped to her home. But a few days later, she got a call. “They said ‘Miss Daryl Hannah came in and wants the mermaid lamp,'” Brinkley recalls. “I said ‘Well, sorry, but I already bought it.’” 

When the Newell employee insisted how much the actress really wanted it,  Brinkley responded, “‘Well so do I and I’ve already bought it and I would really like to keep it.”

“[Daryl] said to say that she was the mermaid in the movie,” Brinkley was told. Again, she responded, “Well, I’ll be on the lookout for another, but I’ve been a mermaid my whole life.” 

And who could argue with that?

Today, she adds, with a laugh, “It’s in my entry hall.”

Uptown Girl by Christie Brinkley comes out April 29 from Harper Influence and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.