Sarah Peirse

Sarah Peirse is a New Zealand actress who works on both screen and stage. She is best known for her roles as Honora Rieper in Heavenly Creatures and as Kate in Rain.

Career

Screen

Peirse played two very different mothers — the kind-hearted yet stricken mother Honora Rieper in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, and the disaffected sophisticate Kate in the 2001 film Rain.

Later roles include Hilda in Peter Jackson's Hobbit (2012-2014) trilogy, as well as Dr. Gladys Bell in the television series Sweet Tooth (2021-2023).[1]

On 9 December 2024, Peirse was named in the cast for series three of Foxtel legal drama The Twelve.[2]

Stage

In 2018, Peirse performed in Melbourne Theatre Company's The Children".[3]'

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1980	A Woman of Good Character	Lizzie
1985	Sylvia	Vivian Wallop
1986	My Letter to George
	Arriving Tuesday	Carol
1988	The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey	Linnet
1994	Heavenly Creatures	Honora Parker Rieper
2001	Rain	Kate
2002	Unconditional Love	Florist
2011	Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield	Annie Beauchamp
2013	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Hilda Blanca
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Hilda Blanca
2018	Mortal Engines	Dr. Twix
2024	Went Up the Hill	Helen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2008	Aftershock	Angela Flite	TV movie
2010	Spirited	Charlotte
2010-17	Offspring	Marjorie Van Dyke	Recurring role
2014	Old School	Margaret McCabe	8 episodes	[4]
	Rake	Politicians Commissioner	1 episode
2016	The Shannara Chronicles	Pyria	2 episodes
	Hunters	Finnerman	Main role
2017	Seven Types of Ambiguity	Detective Staszic	Main role
2017-19	The Letdown	Verity	8 episodes	[5][6]
2020	Stateless	Genevieve	Main role
2021	Sweet Tooth	Dr. Gladys Bell	3 episodes
2021-24	Under the Vines	Marissa	17 episodes
2021-23	Love Me	Christine Mathieson	8 episodes	[7]
2025	The Twelve		TV series

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2023	Switzerland		ABS Waterfront	[8]
2018	A Cheery Soul	Miss Docker	Sydney Theatre Co	[9]
	The Children	Patricia Highsmith	Melbourne Theatre Co	[3]
2012	The Gift		Auckland Theatre Co	[10]

References

1. "Sarah Peirse". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
2. Writer, Staff (8 December 2024). "Danielle Cormack, Eryn Jean Norvill, Sarah Peirse join Sam Neill in 'The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer'". IF Magazine. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
3. Harford, Sonia (18 January 2018). "Sarah Peirse in MTC's The Children, a nightmare vision of the 'quake' to come". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
4. Knox, David (30 May 2013). "ABC announces new crime series, Old School. | TV Tonight". TVtonight.com.au.
5. Knox, David (25 October 2018). "Cameras roll on season 2 of the Letdown | TV Tonight". TVTonight.com.au.
6. Knox, David (16 June 2017). "Cameras roll on the Letdown series for ABC, Netflix. | TV Tonight". TVTonight.com.au.
7. Knox, David (15 August 2021). "Love Me, new local drama for Binge, Foxtel. | TV Tonight". TVtonight.com.au.
8. Writer, Staff. "Actress Sarah Peirse chats about iconic New Zealand films to 'Switzerland' | Articles". www.rova.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
9. Writer, Staff. "★★★★☆ A Cheery Soul (Sydney Theatre Company)". Limelight. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
10. "Theatre: The Gift - Entertainment News". NZ Herald. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

External links

• Sarah Peirse at IMDb