Olivia Tennet

Olivia Tennet
Born (1991-01-04) 4 January 1991
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation Actress
Years active 1999–present
Spouse(s) Milo Cawthorne (m. 2013)

Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991)[1] is a New Zealand actress and dancer best known in her home country for her role as Tuesday Warner on the nightly medical drama Shortland Street, along with several roles in television and theatre. Outside of New Zealand, she is best known for her roles in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Power Rangers RPM (2009), and the independent film Blood Punch (2013).

Career

Tennet began taking dance lessons at the age of four years following her older sister into dance, eventually stumbling into acting three years later[2] She made her first major television appearance in the fourth season of Xena: Warrior Princess as the runaway Princess Alesia in the episode "If The Shoe Fits...".

Eventually, Tennet made her way into films. She went on to win the "Best Juvenile Performer" award at the Nokia New Zealand Film and TV Awards in 2000, for her role as Nicole Mitchell in Kids World. She also appeared in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as Freda, a young girl of Rohan. She then won "Best Actress" at the Drifting Clouds Short Film Festival for her outstanding performance in the short film Watermark, beating the other adult nominees.[3] The film won "Best Film" at the same awards.

Following this, Tennet became part of the core cast for Maddigan's Quest (2006) as the bratty circus performer Lilith. She would then gain her biggest television role to date as Tuesday Warner on Shortland Street, becoming part of the core cast for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. After her time on that show ended, she portrayed the role of teenage genius Dr. K on Power Rangers RPM, the seventeenth season of the Power Rangers series which premiered in March 2009.

Around this time, Tennet competed in the "Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition" with classmate Phoebe Mason (Epsom Girls Grammar School Drama Leader 2008) and did quite well, winning four of fifteen awards. The 5 minute performance included various scenes from Macbeth. Tennet and Mason won a trip to the Globe Theatre in London, July 2009.

Since her appearance on Power Rangers RPM, Tennet has participated in various television shows and theatrical productions in New Zealand. She played the role of nurse Lynne in an Auckland Theatre Company production of Stepping Out in June 2010, followed by the role of the Siren Queen for the Wet Hot Beauties' water ballet show titled Sirens for the Auckland Fringe Festival in February 2011. She also helped choreograph the show.[4]

Later on, Tennet made a television appearance in an episode of The Almighty Johnsons as Delphine in March 2011. She also took the stage as Emilia in Peach Theatre Company's production of Othello in July 2011. She then took on the role of Dorothy in a major theatrical production of The Wizard of Oz based on the 1987 musical produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Civic Theatre in September 2011, earning positive reviews for her portrayal of the character.[5]

Before leaving for the United States, her latest television appearance has been on the miniseries Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud as Julie Theilman, a courier working for Terry Clark of the Mr. Asia drug syndicate.

After wrapping up on The Wizard of Oz, Tennet moved to the United States to film a low-budget independent feature film titled Blood Punch which also featured many of her co-stars from Power Rangers RPM. The film premiered at the 20th Austin Film Festival in late October 2013 has won many awards and honors in the film festival circuit. She later appeared in the online thriller The Swarming produced by Fourth Wall Studios, along with the student-produced independent short film Home. Following this, she then narrated the audiobook version of Megan McCafferty's teen novel Jessica Darling's It List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection, along with the interactive storybook My Friend Barlow from OddBot Inc.

Tennet then appeared in the New Zealand miniseries When We Go To War and the joint Australia-New Zealand TV miniseries 800 Words. She has been producing her own series of dance videos titled Dancing in Small Spaces on YouTube and Vimeo, along with performing in theatre.

Personal life

Along with her older sister Emma, Tennet also has an older brother named Anton who is also an actor based in Melbourne, Australia. As of June 6, 2013, she is married to fellow New Zealand actor Milo Cawthorne, with whom she has worked with several times in the past, most notably on Power Rangers RPM and more recently on Blood Punch. The couple had been living together in Los Angeles, California since late 2011[6] before moving back to New Zealand in late 2013 to begin rehearsals for the Auckland production of 360: A Theatre of Recollections (2014).

Tennet graduated from the Epsom Girls Grammar School in 2008 shortly before appearing on Power Rangers RPM. In 2015 she was attending university in Auckland, studying speech therapy, along with working in commercial dance.[7]

In a recent interview, Tennet mentioned that she keeps her personal life private so as to keep her performances as believable as possible.[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Kids World Nicole Mitchell
2001 Ozzie Karen
2002 Watermark Megan Short film
2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, TheThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Freda
2005 Boogeyman Terrified Girl
2012 Swarming, TheThe Swarming Julie Short film
2013 Home Olive Short film
2013 The Act Off Dancer Short film
2013 Blood Punch Skyler
2014 Satisfaction Nicky Short film
2014 Partiality Kidnapped Girl Short film
2015 Sugar Hit Co-director Short film
2015 Chief Gary Denise upcoming
2016 Moving Jess Short film, upcoming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Xena: Warrior Princess Princess Alesia Episode: "If the Shoe Fits..."
2003 Lucy Lucie Arnaz TV film
2003 P.E.T. Detectives Helena Episode: "Fire Starters"
2006 Maddigan's Quest Lilith Regular role (13 episodes)
2007-2008 Shortland Street Tuesday Warner Regular role (54 episodes)
2009 Power Rangers RPM Dr. K Main role (32 episodes)
2011 Almighty Johnsons, TheThe Almighty Johnsons Delphine Episode: "Goddesses, Axl, Come in All Forms"
2011 Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud Julie Theilman Episodes: "Trains 'N' Boats 'N' Planes", "All at Sea", "Dominoes"
2013 Zelfs, TheThe Zelfs Tressa (voice) TV miniseries
2015 When We Go to War Lorna TV miniseries, six episodes.
2015 800 Words Siouxsie
2015 Funny Girls Kate/Little Meg Family of Force and Wartime Gals sketches

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Midsummer Night's Dream, AA Midsummer Night's Dream Puck
2005 Les Misérables Éponine
2006 Romeo and Juliet Juliet
2007 Cabaret Sally Bowles
2008 For Today Sophie
2008 Children of the Poor Albany
2008 Midsummer Night's Dream, AA Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia
2009 Titus Andronicus Lavinia
2009 The Arrival Workshop/Ensemble
2009 The Pied Piper of Hamilton Lead/Various
2009 Autobahn Lead
2009 Twelfth Night Viola
2009 Christ Almighty! Mary
2010 360 Little Sister Production for the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington
2010 Stepping Out Lynne Production with the Auckland Theatre Company.
2011 Sirens[9] Siren Queen Production with the Wet Hot Beauties Ballet Group.
2011 Othello Emilia Production with the Peach Theatre Company.
2011 The Wizard of Oz Dorothy Gale Production with the Peach Theatre Company.
2014 360 - A Theatre of Recollections Little Sister Auckland production
2014 The Man Whose Mother Was A Pirate Philosopher/Terrible Crabmeat/Ensemble Auckland Theatre Company production.
2014 Hauraki Horror Jaime Ridge The Basement Annual Christmas Show
2015 The Book of Everything Margot Klopper Silo Theatre production for the Auckland Arts Festival.
2015 Jesus Christ Part II Jesus The Basement Annual Christmas Show

Voiceover

Year Title Role Notes
2003 The Fat Man Verna Muske Radio play
2013 Jessica Darling's IT List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection Narrator/Jessica Darling Audiobook
2013 My Friend Barlow Finch/Narrator Interactive storybook

Music Video

Year Song Artist Role
2008 "Exit Light" Solomon Lead Girl
2013 "I Kill Giants" The Naked and Famous Lead Dancer/Choreographer
2013 "Apple" Barnaby Saints Lead Girl

Web Series

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Flat3 Lee Ep. 17-"The White Album"
2014 Dancing in Small Spaces Choreographer/Editor/Dancer
2015 Jiwi's Machines June

Awards and Nominations

Year Nominated work Award Category Result
2000 Kids World Nokia New Zealand Film & Television Awards Best Juvenile Performer Won
2003 Watermark New Zealand Drifting Clouds International Film Festival Best Actress Won
2011 The Wizard of Oz Metro Magazine Best Arms and Legs Outstretched Won
2011 The Wizard of Oz Hackman Theatre Awards DANZ Award for Best Dancing in a Play Nominated
2014 Blood Punch Hoboken International Film Festival Best Actress Nominated

References

  1. ↑ IMDb Bio
  2. ↑ Whittaker, Emma. "Wizard of Oz dream comes true". The Auckland Central Leader. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "NZ short film makes its mark". The New Zealand Herald. 3 March 2003. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  4. ↑ Wenley, James. "Review: Water Ballet "Sirens"". Theatre Scenes. Theatre Scenes. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Smythe, Nik. "A timeless classic well wrought". Theatreview. Theatreview. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  6. ↑ Powley, Kathryn. "12 kiwis to watch in 2012". The New Zealand Herald. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Fonte, Bears (3 September 2015). "Interview: BLOOD PUNCH’s Power Ranger Power Couple Talks Death, Deceit, and Double Takes". AM FM Studios Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Langdana, Rayhan (31 January 2014). "Interview with Olivia Tennet". Craccum: The Official Magazine of the University of Auckland. The University of Auckland. Retrieved 2 August 2014. I’m a pretty private person – part of being an actor is the more people know about you as a person, the less people will believe you as a character.
  9. ↑ "Sirens at James Wenley's Auckland Theatre Blog". Retrieved 2011-12-20.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.