Peta Wilson Biography

Date of Birth: November 18, 1970

Born in Sydney, Australia to father Darcy, an Australian army officer, and mother Karlene, Peta Wilson spent most of her childhood years in Papua New Guinea, and summered with her grandparents in Australia. She often had to change schools and quickly learned to fit in with different people and situations. An active girl, she became involved in sports such as swimming, cricket and horseback riding. Worried that her daughter was neglecting her feminine side, her mother sent Peta to modeling school when she was in her teens. She learned how to walk on a catwalk and ended up becoming a full-time model, traveling through Europe for various photo shoots.

In 1991, Wilson moved to Los Angeles to study acting. It was a while before she began landing roles in independent films such as The Sadness of Sex (1995), Naked Jane (1995) and Loser (1996). In 1996 she landed guest appearances on the popular Canada/France co-produced series Highlanderand the HBO series Strangers. After a couple of small roles in TV movies, she was just about to move to New York when her agent booked her an audition for the title role in the Canadian TV series La Femme Nikita, based on the hit French film. She beat out more than 200 other actresses for the part and moved to Toronto for the next four years to star in the show. Wilson earned two Gemini nominations for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role" for her performance on the weekly series, and while in Canada, filmed a lead role in the Canadian TV movie One of Our Own (1997), as well as Mercy (2000), co-starring Ellen Barkin and Wendy Crewson. In 2001, she played a role in the Showtime mini-series A Girl Thing, starring Stockard Channing. After filming the last episode of Nikita, she traveled to Germany to film the STARZ! TV movie Joe and Max (2002) before landing her first leading role in a big budget Hollywood feature with the 20th Century Fox film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), opposite Sean Connery.

To keep in shape, Wilson meditates, does yoga, scuba diving, horseback riding and swimming, and also enjoys painting and gardening. In February 2002 she gave birth to a baby boy, Marlowe.

Filmography:

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Mercy (2000)
Loser (1996)
Naked Jane (1995)
The Sadness of Sex (1995)