by Paul Fischer

With the release of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Peta Wilson joins part of the new Hollywood elite. The down-to-earth Wilson joins with Hollywood legend Sean Connery, who plays renowned adventurer Allan Quatermain, leader of a team of legendary figures with extraordinary powers who will battle the technological terror of a madman known as "The Fantom." This "League" comprises seafarer/inventor Captain Nemo, vampiress Mina Harker (Wilson), an invisible man named Rodney Skinner, American secret service agent Tom Sawyer, the ageless and invincible Dorian Gray, and the dangerous split personality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

League is certainly a big film for Wilson's first venture into mainstream Hollywood, and the actress is unconcerned that audiences may not be focussed on the acting. "There are no pitfalls of doing any job, because you have to work, so you can learn and grow. This is my first big Hollywood film and a great experience. It was difficult for sure, because it is so big. There are so many special effects and actors, but exciting nonetheless." As for the rumoured fighting that occurred between director Steven Norrington and star Connery, Wilson responds carefully. "Do you think such things didn't occur with Kubrick and Polanski? I think Norrington is a genius whom I think is extraordinary and the truth will come out when people see the film."

Wilson was something of a nomad growing up. Born in Sydney, she spent some of her earlier childhood in New Guinea, then all over Australia. One can imagine that having lived such a nomadic existence, would have fuelled in her a desire to act, but not necessarily, she says. "When I first studied drama, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. My family, though, all thought I was an actress from the day I was born," she says with a laugh. "I went to drama school in the hope that by studying it properly, I'd get whatever was inside me out of my system. Then I could be a nurse or have a normal job and settle in one place." Of course, the best laid plans and all that. For Wilson, her love of acting had to do with fitting in as a kid, "emulating what a lot of the other girls I went to school with, were good at," she says. "I loved the art form of investigating another person's life."

Peta never pursued her dream to act professionally Down Under. It was a broken love affair that brought her to the States. "When we broke up, I did the classic thing and said I'm leaving to travel across America." The 20 year old Wilson had actor friends in LA but no plans to take on Hollywood. "But then this friend, who was an actor, suggested I do it. He put me in touch with the teachers he'd worked with." Wilson studied acting for five years, she recalls, before eventually hitting the pavements of Hollywood, nerve-stricken, following every meeting and audition. Roles in lesser known films such as 1995's The Sadness of Sex and Naked Jane quickly followed, before, two years later, she landed the title role in the TV hit Nikita.