Mavournee Hazel

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 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+ 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 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 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, which allowed her to be in the city for auditions.

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. Hazel said she fell in love with her character after the first audition, 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 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. 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." 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. 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.

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.