Peta Wilson - Biography

A statuesque blonde from Down Under, Peta Wilson achieved stardom as the star of the USA Network action series "La Femme Nikita" (1997-2001). The oldest child of an Army warrant officer, she had a peripatetic childhood, living in over 10 places before she was a teenager (although most of her upbringing was in Papau, New Guinea and Sydney, Australia). A self-professed tomboy, Wilson was a champion basketball player in Australia before embarking on a career as a model. Deeply upset by her parents' divorce and the pressures of modeling, she fell victim to eating disorders which she eventually overcame. Wilson relocated to the USA to study acting, taking occasional modeling assignments to pay the bills. After appearing in a handful of little-seen projects in small roles (like the 1995 Showtime movie "Woman Undone" and the 1997 Canadian feature "The Sadness of Sex"), she became discouraged and was on the verge of moving to NYC to attempt a career in theater when she was chosen over 200 other hopefuls to play Nikita. After a successful stint on the cable series, Wilson pursued parts in other television projects, including the miniseries "A Girl Thing" (2001), the short-lived series "Other People" (2001) and the TV movie "Joe and Max" (2002). Wilson's highest profile post-"Nikita" role came in 2003 when she appeared as Mina Harker, a character in Bram Stoker's <I>Dracula</I> novel, as part of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" opposite Sean Connery (a role originally intended for Monica Bellucci).