BONNIE PIESSE - A RENEWED HOPE

AFTER ESCAPING A TREACHEROUS CULT, THE AUSTRALIAN STAR REPRISES HER ROLE AS AUNT BERU IN OBI-WAN KENOBI

- Cynthia Wang

When Bonnie Piesse first appeared as the younger incarnation of Luke Skywalker’s aunt Beru in 2002’s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Episode II), she was a rising singer and actor whose early credits included High Flyers, Stingers and Blue Heelers. But seemingly overnight, the Melbourne teenager became part of a global pop-culture juggernaut, her fame carrying over to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Episode III) in 2005.

In the years since, a cosmic swirl of good and bad experiences have shaped Piesse. Now, after a self-imposed break from Hollywood, she has made an assured return to the screen as Beru in the Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. “I was shocked, actually. It kind of took me back to the moment when I first put on the costume when I was 16,” Piesse, 38, tells WHO over Zoom from her home near Lisbon, Portugal. “I definitely had a moment like, ‘Wow! I’m part of Star Wars again.’”