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Mavournee Hazel (born 20 March 1996) is an Australian actress. She began her acting career with recurring and guest roles in various television shows, including '' Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures'' and '' Catching Milat''. She joined the cast of Australian soap opera ''
Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'' as Piper Willis in 2015. She starred in four online spin-offs as Piper and received a nomination for Best Daytime Star at the 2018 ''Inside Soap'' Awards. Hazel would later star as Zoe Sailer in '' Halifax: Retribution'', Gemma in the
Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
series '' Shantaram'' and as Bluebird "Blue" Gleeson in '' NCIS: Sydney''. In addition to acting, Hazel has also modelled for jewellery company Mimco and been a brand ambassador for Grey Goose.


Early and personal life

Hazel grew up in Adelaide with her parents and three siblings. She attended Loreto College and later
St Peter's Girls' School St Peter's Girls' School (commonly known as Saints Girls) is an independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary day school for ...
from which she graduated. During her time in school, Hazel made the South Australian State Lacrosse Team twice. Hazel always wanted to be an actor and she began a three-year course at SA Casting, a theatrical agency, when she was around eight years old. Hazel also took acting lessons with actress Doris Younane, whom she first met when Younane was a guest speaker at another course Hazel was taking. Younane later became Hazel's mentor and friend. Hazel acquired an acting agent, who advised her to relocate to Sydney or Melbourne after she finished school. She enrolled in an Advanced Media and Communications course at
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, which allowed her to be in the city for auditions. In 2019, Hazel came out as demisexual.


Career

Hazel's career began with several recurring and guest roles in '' Totally Wild'', '' Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures'', '' Catching Milat'', and ''Changed Forever: The Making of Australia''. She also had a supporting role in short film ''Servo'', which played at the St Kilda Film Festival. In August 2015, it was announced that Hazel had joined the regular cast of Australian soap opera ''
Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'' as Piper Willis. She had completed a semester of her university course when she first auditioned for the role. Hazel flew to Melbourne for the audition and a meeting with the show's casting director. She then went through two more rounds of auditions, before she was told she had won the role a few months later. Hazel said she fell in love with her character after the first audition, and felt that there were many parallels between Piper and herself. She relocated to Melbourne within three days to be available for fittings and filming, and she made her first appearance as Piper on 16 September 2015. Hazel starred in four webisode series as Piper. The first, '' Hey Piper'' was released shortly before her debut appearance in the main show and features her character making video calls to members of her family. She then starred in the weekly series '' Pipe Up'' from 2016 until 2018. Hazel also appeared in '' Summer Stories'' and '' Neighbours vs Time Travel''. For her portrayal of Piper, Hazel received a nomination for Best Daytime Star at the 2018 ''Inside Soap'' Awards. Hazel decided to leave ''Neighbours'' in 2019. She explained to Maddison Hockey of ''
TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
'' that she had learned a lot from her time with the serial, but she wanted different challenges that came with new roles. She also found that she and Piper had almost become the same person and she needed to separate herself from her character. After leaving ''Neighbours'', Hazel opted to stay and look for acting work in Australia. She made an appearance in the first season of crime drama '' My Life Is Murder'' in August 2019. That same year, she was cast as Zoe Sailer in '' Halifax: Retribution''. Hazel underwent "a radical hair transformation" which helped her get into the character. She commented, "I was so grateful for it. I could look in the mirror and see Zoe and really have shed Piper." She also had to learn and sing the
Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...
song " Bad Guy" along with Craig Hall, who plays her character's father. The actors, who both lived in Sydney, rehearsed together and they bonded over the fact neither of them are singers. In 2022, Hazel was cast as Gemma, the girlfriend of lead character Lin Ford (
Charlie Hunnam Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He portrayed Jax Teller in the FX (TV channel), FX drama series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), for which he was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for ...
), in '' Shantaram'', a television adaption of Gregory David Roberts' novel of the same name. To prepare for the role, Hazel decided to read the novel, fearing she would be asked about it, and soon learned her character does not actually appear. ''Shantaram'' was filmed in Melbourne and Thailand. Hazel admitted that she was nervous about working one-on-one with Hunnam, having not acted since ''Halifax: Retribution''. Their first scene was an intimate moment between their characters, which required them to attend intimacy training. Hazel described working on the series as "a pivotal moment" for her. After filming ''Shantaram'', Hazel was planning on going to Los Angeles and auditioning for the pilot season, before she was offered a role in the 2023 New Zealand thriller film ''Home Kills''. Director Haydn Butler praised Hazel's audition and described her as "a powerhouse of an actor". The film was shot on-location in New Zealand and Hazel stars alongside Josh McKenzie, Cameron Jones and her former ''Neighbours'' co-star Stefan Dennis. The film had its world premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival. That same year, Hazel joined the cast of the upcoming
Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
/
Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
series '' NCIS: Sydney'' as AFP Forensic Scientist Bluebird "Blue" Gleeson. The series, being filmed on-location in Sydney, is the first international edition of the ''NCIS'' franchise.


Other work

Outside of acting, Hazel has modelled for Australian jewellery brand Mimco. She also took part in a fashion photo shoot with her ''Neighbours'' co-star Olympia Valance for social media. In August 2018, Hazel became an ambassador for Grey Goose vodka and her first event with the brand was the Melbourne Film Festival Opening Gala. She later appeared in clothing brand Sportsgirl's "Be That Girl" campaign.


Filmography

*Source:


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazel, Mavournee Living people 1996 births Actresses from Adelaide 21st-century Australian actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian television actresses Australian film actresses Demisexual people