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Bonnie Piesse | |
|---|---|
 Piesse at theBig Apple Convention in 2010 | |
| Born | (1983-08-10)10 August 1983 (age 41) Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | Mark Vicente |
Bonnie Piesse (born 10 August 1983) is an Australian actress and singer. Her breakthrough role was playing a trapeze artist in the Australian children's television seriesHigh Flyers at the age of 15. After this she was scouted byGeorge Lucas to play a youngBeru Lars inStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) andEpisode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role she reprised in theDisney+ seriesObi-Wan Kenobi (2022). She also had recurring roles onBlue Heelers,Horace and Tina,Stingers, andLast Man Standing.
Piesse attended a Rudolf Steiner School in Australia where she developed a love for the performing arts and honed her skills as a singer/songwriter. Between 2000 and 2002, Bonnie won the 'Ranges Songsmith Award' and 'Apollo Bay Young Performers Competition' for songs she'd written and she was one of only a handful ofVCE performing arts students from around Victoria to be selected to perform atHamer Hall as part of the 2002 'Season of Excellence'.[citation needed]
Piesse was cast as Donna inHigh Flyers when she was 15. She learned the trapeze and Spanish web for the role and took six months off school for the shoot. She then went on to play Alicia inHorace and Tina, had a recurring role inStingers, and guest starred inBlue Heelers andLast Man Standing. She subsequently appeared inStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones andEpisode III – Revenge of the Sith asBeru Lars (Luke Skywalker's aunt).[1]
In 2005, Piesse played Sharona inAttack of the Sabretooth, which was directed byGeorge T. Miller and shot inFiji.[citation needed]
In January 2011, Piesse completed shooting her scenes for the romantic comedy,Love Eterne. She plays Sidonia, a psychic, mentor and confidant to the female lead, Medina, played byMelissa Navia. Her song, "There for Me" is featured in it. After completing its film festival run,Love Eterne has won awards at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, Best Shorts Competition andThe Accolade Competition. It was an official selection at theNew York International Independent Film & Video Festival (20 November 2011) and NewFilmmakers New York Annual Christmas Show (13 December 2011).
In December 2017,The Actors Awards nominated Piesse forBest Supporting Actress for her role inLove Eterne Mourning, a short film made from a couple of her scenes fromLove Eterne.
On March 29, 2021, it was announced that Piesse would return to her role as Beru Lars in theDisney+ seriesObi-Wan Kenobi.[2] When first approached about returning to theStar Wars universe by the show's directorDeborah Chow, Piesse was not actively pursuing acting roles; she and her husband were living in Europe, focused on dealing with their exit from ESP/NXIVM. "[S]ome roles are an easier fit than others. And this one just fits so easily that I didn’t feel I had to try too hard to embody [Beru]," Piesse toldELLE. "The main way to prepare was just—after everything I’d been through, I was still recovering fromPTSD. So I did a lot to heal and nourish myself and strengthen myself to make sure that I had all the energy that I needed to be on set. So it was more supporting myself."[3]
Piesse met Grammy-winning music producerVal Garay when she first arrived in Los Angeles. He introduced her to several songwriters includingJack Tempchin,Eric Kaz,Bonnie Hayes, andJD Souther, with whom she co-wrote some of the songs for her debut albumThe Deep End. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, and was released in January 2011[needs update] on Big Deal Records.[citation needed]
Piesse's song "All I Have" was featured in two episodes of the CW television seriesLife Unexpected in 2010.
Bonnie recorded "Bittersweet EP" with ProducerEmile Kelman and her song "Ariella" won the Singer Songwriter Category of the UK Songwriting Contest in 2013, alongside Lisa Nelson for her song, "Butterfly."
Another one of her songs, "There for Me", is featured in the romantic comedy,Love Eterne.
Piesse recorded a cover ofDream State (Brighter Night) bySon Lux for opening credits ofThe Vow.[4]
Piesse is married toSouth African filmmakerMark Vicente. Piesse and her husband were members of the self-described American multi-level marketing company and cultNXIVM. The couple left the organization in 2017 and became NXIVM's most outspoken detractors.[5] Their departure from the cult is documented inThe Vow, a documentary series forHBO directed byJehane Noujaim andKarim Amer.[6][7]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | Beru Whitesun Lars |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | |
| 2011 | Love Eterne | Sidonia |
| 2022 | My Favorite Girlfriend | Molly |
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | High Flyers | Donna | 26 episodes |
| 1999, 2001 | Blue Heelers | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | Last Man Standing | Kit | |
| 2013 | Twisted Tales | Samantha | |
| 2020 | The Vow | Herself | |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Beru Whitesun Lars | 2 episodes |
