"It was a long, long time ago now," says Piesse. "I still have pretty vivid memories of the whole thing, because it was such a dream-time for me. When I see it, I'll probably look really young."
The wait is unusual for the young actress, who is used to the span of a few short months between wrap and release in Australian television. But Episode II was unusual in many ways, starting in August of 2000 when Piesse's agent called her, indicating that Casting Director Robin Gurland had expressed interest in her for a role in Star Wars.
"I didn't know what part it was for until they faxed me the original script of Beru from Episode IV, so I was reading her words," she recalls. Studying the original performance on videotape, Piesse then read for Gurland in Melbourne, and then heard nothing for a few silent weeks.
"I thought that I didn't get it, and then Mom came to school and told me. She was running across the courtyard, screaming something. At first I thought, maybe I did get it. But then, I thought I shouldn't get too excited because someone may have had a car accident or something," she laughs.
Having gotten the part, Piesse carefully watched Shelagh Fraser in Episode IV, extrapolating what a young Beru would be like. "I taught myself the accent because I knew that to get more work I needed to have more accents. I basically taped American TV shows and listened to them and practiced. Robin Gurland also helped me, and there were so many American people on set, that you're just hearing it around you all the time. That helped too."
It was not until Tunisia that the full realization of being in Star Wars sunk in, Piesse recalls. "I think the first day was the most memorable, when we first went out onto the set. The sunrise was just starting over the desert, and here were these moisture vaporators and the Tatooine homestead. It was a really surreal experience."
Aside from a small session of ADR looping in Melbourne, Piesse hasn't worked as Beru since principal photography wrapped. "I'm glad, in a way, that I've had so much time to prepare between the time that we shot it and now that it's coming out, because I've hada lot of time to think about it and have a normal life and finish my school and just hang out with my friends and contemplate what it's going to be like," she says.
She won't have much longer to wait -- Piesse recently saw the trailers theatrically and is looks forward to the film's May release. "It's pretty exciting, seeing it all put together. I hadn't read the full script or anything -- I had only seen my script -- so, it will be really interesting to see what the actual movie is like."
This story originally appeared in issue #56 of the StarWars.com Homing Beacon email newsletter.
