Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991) 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 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. The film won "Best Film" at the same awards.
Following this, Tennet became part of the core cast for Maddigan's Quest (2006) as Lilith. She then appeared as Tuesday Warner on Shortland Street for 54 episodes during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. She later 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, as part of the Young Shakespeare Company.
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.
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.
Before leaving for the United States, she made an appearance on 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 and has won many awards and honors in the film festival circuit since then. While in the United States, she also appeared in a web series and did voiceover work before moving back to New Zealand.
Since then, Tennet appeared in the miniseries When We Go To War and the joint Australia-New Zealand TV series 800 Words, along with various stage and voiceover credits. She also produced her own web series of dance videos titled Dancing in Small Spaces on YouTube and Vimeo. In late 2018, Tennet, along with actors Esther Stephens and Aria Jones, formed a 60's doo-wop trio named The Up-Doos who have begun performing in several local Auckland venues.
In 2020, Tennet reprised the role of Dr. K in two episodes of the second season of Power Rangers Beast Morphers.
Personal life
Tennet was born in Auckland, New Zealand. Along with her older sister Emma, Tennet also has an older brother, Anton Tennet, who is also an actor based in Melbourne, Australia.
While living in Los Angeles, California, she married fellow New Zealand actor Milo Cawthorne, with whom she has worked 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 since late 2011 before moving back to New Zealand in late 2013 to begin rehearsals for the Auckland production of 360: A Theatre of Recollections (2014). As of June 2016, the couple had separated. Since then, she has been in a relationship with musician Tom Broome with whom she has a son named Alwyn.
Tennet completed her secondary education at Epsom Girls Grammar School in 2008, shortly before appearing on Power Rangers RPM. She began studying speech therapy at the University of Auckland after moving back to NZ with her then-husband and as of July 2019, she graduated with her bachelor’s degree.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes2001Kids WorldNicole Mitchell2002WatermarkMeganShort2002Freda2005BoogeymanTerrified Girl2001OzzieKaren2012JulieShort2013HomeOliveShort2014Blood PunchSkyler2014SatisfactionNickyShort2014PartialityShort2015Jiwi's MachinesJuneShort2016MovingJessShort2017Gary of the PacificHouse Buyer2020This TownJasmine2020Baby DoneBeth2021A Love YarnRose O’Doyle
Television Year Title Role Notes1999Xena: Warrior PrincessAlesiaEpisode: "If the Shoe Fits..."2003LucyLucie ArnazTV film2003P.E.T. DetectivesHelenaEpisode: "Fire Starters"2006Maddigan's QuestLilithMain role2007–2008Shortland StreetTuesday WarnerRecurring role2009Power Rangers RPMDr. KMain role2011Delphine HansenEpisode: "Goddesses, Axl, Come in All Forms"2011Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green CloudJulie ThilemanEpisodes: "Trains 'N' Boats 'N' Planes", "All at Sea", "Dominoes"2013Tressa (voice)TV miniseries2015When We Go to WarLornaTV miniseries2015Funny GirlsTV series2015–2018800 WordsSiouxsieRecurring role2017Why Does Love?DonnaTV film2018KiwiDianneTV film2018The Brokenwood MysteriesDaisy RoseEpisode: "Scared to Death"2019Kiri and LouKiriVoice role2019Jandal BurnSherriVoice role2020Power Rangers Beast MorphersDr. KRecurring role
Voiceover Year Title Role Notes2003Verna MuskeRadio play2013Jessica Darling's IT List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & PerfectionNarrator/Jessica DarlingAudiobook2013My Friend BarlowFinch/NarratorInteractive storybook
Music videos Year Song Artist Role2008"Exit Light"SolomonLead2013"I Kill Giants"The Naked and FamousDancer/Choreographer2013"Apple"Barnaby SaintsLead2018"100%"BoycrushDancer2018"Disappear"The MiltonesDancer/Choreographer2018"Devil's Work"RacingDancer2018"Look Up"Sorrento ft. Troy KingiDancer/Choreographer
Web series Year Title Role Notes2014Flat3Lee"The White Album"2014The ZelfsTressaWeb episode: "Bad Hair Day"2015Jiwi's MachinesJune2014–2015Dancing in Small SpacesEditor, choreographerSelf-produced web series (11 episodes)2015Stake OutGanet"Kids"2016Friday Night Bites"Slutwalk: The Musical"2021TalkbackZoe WilliamsTVNZ OnDemand
Stage Year Title Role Notes2002PuckHer Primary Schools Senior Production2005Les MisérablesÉponine2006Romeo and JulietJuliet2007CabaretSally Bowles2008For TodaySophie2008Children of the PoorAlbany2008Hermia2009Titus AndronicusLavinia2009Workshop/Ensemble2009Lead/Various2009AutobahnLead2009Twelfth NightViola2009Christ Almighty!Mary2010360Little Sister Production for the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington2010Stepping OutLynneProduction with the Auckland Theatre Company.2011Sirens Siren QueenProduction with the Wet Hot Beauties Ballet Group.2011OthelloEmiliaProduction with the Peach Theatre Company.2011Dorothy GaleProduction with the Peach Theatre Company.2014360 - A Theatre of RecollectionsLittle SisterAuckland production2014Philosopher/Terrible Crabmeat/EnsembleAuckland Theatre Company production.2014Hauraki HorrorJaime RidgeThe Basement Annual Christmas Show2015Margot KlopperSilo Theatre production for the Auckland Arts Festival.2015Guys and DollsHotbox GirlAuckland Theatre Company production.2015Jesus Christ Part IIJesusThe Basement Annual Christmas Show2016Mia Blonde in "Ice Dagger"Mia Blonde2016In Flagrante: The Venus SeasonDancerQ Theatre, Auckland, NZ2016The Opening Night Before ChristmasSelfThe Basement Annual Christmas Show2017In Flagrante: The Butterfly ClubDancerThe Butterfly Club, Melbourne, Australia2017Pleasuredome: The MusicalEnsemble dancer, understudy for Lilith; LilithReplaced Ashleigh Taylor for the role of Lilith2018In FlagranteDancerThe Butterfly Club, Melbourne, Australia2018Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric PlaySilo Theatre
Other works Year Title Role Notes2013I Kill GiantsChoreographerThe Naked and Famous music video2015K Rd StoriesDirector"Sugar Hit"2016That Bloody WomanChoreographerAuckland Theatre Company stage play2017As You Like ItChoreographerUniversity of Auckland Summer Shakespeare 2017 production2018Shortland Street: The MusicalChoreographerAuckland Theatre Company stage play
Awards and nominations
YearNominated workAwardCategoryResult2000Kids WorldNokia New Zealand Film & Television AwardsBest Juvenile Performer2003WatermarkNew Zealand Drifting Clouds International Film FestivalBest Actress2011The Wizard of OzMetro MagazineBest Arms and Legs Outstretched2011The Wizard of OzHackman Theatre AwardsDANZ Award for Best Dancing in a Play2014Blood PunchHoboken International Film FestivalBest Actress
References
External links
Olivia Tennet - Johnson & Laird Management YouTube Channel - OliviaTennet