Peta Wilson

Early life

Wilson was born in Sydney on 18 November 1970.^[1] She is the daughter of the caterer Karlene White Wilson and Darcy Wilson, a former Warrant Officer in the Australian Army.^[2] She spent several years in Papua New Guinea when her father was stationed there. Her parents divorced in 1982.^[3]

Career

Wilson began her career as a model in Australia and Europe before relocating to the United States in 1991. There, she studied acting with Arthur Mendoza at the Actors Circle Theatre. She made her debut in a few independent films, such as the comedy/romance The Sadness of Sex (1995) and the drama Naked Jane (1995).

In 1996, while preparing to continue her studies in New York City, Wilson auditioned for a new television series produced for the USA cable TV channel. Chosen from over 200 candidates, she was cast in the lead role of La Femme Nikita (1997–2001), the television adaptation of the 1990 French thriller of the same name. The Canadian‑American co‑production, filmed primarily in Toronto, Ontario, ran for five seasons and 96 episodes. Wilson’s co‑stars included Roy Dupuis, Don Francks, Alberta Watson and Eugene Robert Glazer; her performance earned her two Gemini Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role.^[4][5][6]

After La Femme Nikita, Wilson starred in the thriller Mercy and, before leaving Toronto, appeared in the Showtime mini-series A Girl Thing (2001).

In 2001, she attended the Moscow International Film Festival alongside Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn and Tilda Swinton. Russian President Vladimir Putin, also present at the festival, reportedly confessed to being a fan of her television series La Femme Nikita.^[7]

In 2002, she portrayed real-life actress Anny Ondra in the television movie Joe and Max. Following this, she returned to Australia to focus on family life and give birth to her son. In 2003, Wilson played the vampire Mina Harker in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen while on set in Prague with her one-year-old son. During her time in Australia, she also starred in the mystery mini-series Two Twisted (2006), appeared in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006), and took a leading role in the independent film Beautiful (2009).

Returning to Los Angeles in 2010, she made guest appearances on CSI: Miami and The Finder before launching her lingerie label Wylie Wilson in 2012, opening a flagship store in Los Angeles.^[8]

In the following years, she continued with smaller independent productions while maintaining a low public profile. She returned to television with a recurring role in the Australian series Troppo (2022). In 2025, Wilson appeared in Shane Black’s action film Play Dirty.

Personal life

Wilson lived with her longtime boyfriend, director Damian Harris, from 1997 until their separation in 2002.^[2][9] They have a son.^[10]

Film

Television