April Rose Pengilly | |
|---|---|
 April Rose Pengilly in 2011 | |
| Born | April Rose Pengilly 12 April 1988 [1] Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Education | Wenona School, National Institute of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, model |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
April Rose Pengilly (pen-GILL-ee; born 12 April 1988), also known as April Rose, is an Australian actress and model.
April Rose Pengilly is the daughter of INXS member Kirk Pengilly and designer Karen Hutchinson. [2] She attended Wenona School, a girls school on the North Shore of Sydney, and began modelling during Year 12. [3] She has used the stage name April Rose to separate herself from her father. [3] [4] She is also the step daughter of world champion surfer Layne Beachley.
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(October 2012) |
Pengilly signed to Sydney's Chadwick Models at age 16, then to New York's Wilhelmina Models after graduating from high school and became a youth ambassador for the 2006 David Jones Summer collection, along with Megan Gale. [5]
Pengilly has walked for leading designers at Australian Fashion Week, lived and worked in New York, London, Tokyo and Osaka, and fronted major campaigns. She has worked with top photographers Rankin, Steven Chee, Nick Scott, Nicole Bentley, Pierre Toussaint, James Demitri, Bradley Patrick, and Terry Richardson. She has featured on magazine covers and in editorials for InStyle , Elle (UK), The Times (UK), Harper's Bazaar , Marie Claire , Oyster , Seventeen (US), and Glitter (Japan).
Pengilly has been selected for many elite roles, including ambassador for leading Australian department store David Jones, face of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, face of the Nokia L’amour cell phone collection, ambassador for Sony, ambassador for Barbie and the "legs" of Japanese stocking label ATSUGI.
In 2009, Pengilly was named Ambassador for the Melbourne Fashion Festival, working alongside J. Alexander and Doutzen Kroes. [6] She has worked as a TV presenter for Fashion TV at London Fashion Week. She signed on as an ambassador for the charity Dementia Australia, adding to her previous involvements with charities including The Eye Foundation, SunSCHine/Sydney Children’s Hospital and the RSPCA.
Pengilly began a fashion and lifestyle blog in 2011. [2] She was nominated for PETA's annual Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity Awards in 2014.
Pengilly began studying acting in her spare time, [2] and attended classes at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and Actors Centre Australia. She was cast in the independent feature film LBF in 2011. The film is based on the Australian novel Living Between Fucks by Cry Bloxsome and stars Australian actors Toby Schmitz, Gracie Otto, Septimus Caton and Bianca Chiminello. The film, directed by Alex Munt, premiered internationally at South by Southwest festival. [7]
Pengilly starred in the independent short film Object in 2013, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. [8] The following year, she competed on the season 14 of Dancing with the Stars . She was partnered with Russian dancer Aric Yegudkin and danced for Dementia Australia. [9] Pengilly and Yegudkin were eliminated in week three despite a score of 29 out of 40. Viewers thought Pengilly and Yegudkin's elimination was unfair, as fellow contestant Mark Holden had received a lower score and broken rules. Holden later offered to swap places with Pengilly. [10]
Pengilly has worked as a television host, covering London Fashion Week for FashionTV. [11] In 2015, Pengilly had a guest role in the Channel 7 miniseries Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door . [12] The following year, she had a guest role in Brock . [12] She also appeared in the short films Jinxed,Duffy, [8] and Lovelost.
Pengilly admitted she struggled to be taken seriously as an actress in Australia following her modelling career. She was ready to move to the United States when she joined the cast of soap opera Neighbours as Chloe Brennan in late 2017. [13] She made her first appearance on 27 March 2018. [14] For her portrayal of Chloe, Pengilly won the Best Daytime Star accolade at the 2021 Inside Soap Awards. [15] Pengilly departed Neighbours following its cancellation in 2022, but returned for a guest stint when it was revived by Amazon Freevee in 2023. [16]
After leaving Neighbours, Pengilly voiced the role of Amy Haqq in the six-part audio series Gripped: Second Son, which also stars Lincoln Younes and Zoe Carides. [16]
When she appeared on Neighbours, Pengilly split her time between her home in Sydney and Melbourne, where the show's studios are located. [8]
Pengilly was in a relationship with drummer Tim Commandeur for three years, before they broke up in 2014. [17] She later dated musician Alex Laska of Melbourne rock band Kingswood. [18]
On 9 December 2023, Pengilly announced her engagement to her partner Adam Paul, with whom she has been in a relationship with since early 2022. [19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | LBF | Tanya | |
| 2013 | Object | Model | Short film |
| 2014 | Dancing with the Stars | Herself | |
| 2015 | Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door | Tracey | |
| 2016 | Jinxed | Jane | Short film |
| 2016 | Duffy | Lydia | Short film |
| 2016 | Brock | Hippy Girl | |
| 2018 | Lovelost | Sophie | Short film |
| 2018–2023 | Neighbours | Chloe Brennan | Series regular (2018–2022); guest (2023) |
Mark Ronald Holden is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "I Wanna Make You My Lady" (September), "Last Romance" (November) and "Reach Out for the One Who Loves You". Holden regularly appeared on national pop music show, Countdown. Holden is remembered for his clean-cut image, his white dinner suit and his penchant for handing out carnations to girls on the set of the popular television show Countdown – he was nicknamed "The Carnation Kid". In the 1980s he worked as a songwriter in Los Angeles providing material recorded by Meat Loaf, Joe Cocker, Gladys Knight, Bob Welch and Steve Jones. He was one of three original judges on the television series Australian Idol (2003–07) and the first season (2005) of The X Factor. In 2023, Holden voiced "The Old Man" in the narrative video game RoboCop: Rogue City.
Ada Nicodemou is an Australian actress of Greek Cypriot descent. She began her acting career in 1994 in TV serial Heartbreak High as Katerina Ioannou. She also starred in Police Rescue and Breakers.
Jodi Lee Gordon is an Australian actress and model. From 2005 to 2010 she portrayed Martha MacKenzie in Home and Away. Gordon won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent in 2006. Gordon competed in the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars and made her debut feature film appearance in The Cup (2011). She has also appeared in Underbelly: Badness and Camp. From 2016 to 2023, Gordon played English teacher Elly Conway in Neighbours.
Kirk Pengilly is an Australian musician and member of the Australian rock group INXS. Kirk plays saxophone and guitar, and also performs as a backing vocalist.
Scott McGregor is an Australian model, television presenter and actor. McGregor worked as a model on the game show Temptation. He has also appeared in television commercials and print advertisements. From 2008, McGregor hosted the motoring show Blood, Sweat and Gears. As an actor, he has appeared in Underbelly, Winners & Losers and Offspring. McGregor joined the cast of Neighbours as Detective Mark Brennan in 2010. He departed the show the following year to pursue other career opportunities, before returning in 2013 for a guest stint. He returned in 2014 in a regular capacity, until his departure in 2019. He reprised the role once more the following year.
Pia Whitesell is an Australian model, actress and television presenter. Whitesell came to prominence after winning Dolly's annual modelling competition. She later competed in the second series of Search for a Supermodel. Whitesell has appeared in various advertising campaigns for brands such as Myer and Mossimo. She became the co-host of Qantas' in-flight entertainment programs in 2010 and was named the first Australian celebrity tourism ambassador for Chile in 2014.
Zoe Cramond is a New Zealand actress. After graduating from Unitec Institute of Technology, Cramond appeared in various theatre productions and television commercials. She made appearances in Outrageous Fortune and Shortland Street, before deciding to give up her acting career to study graphic design. She returned to acting after being cast in the television film Panic at Rock Island and Go Girls.
Olympia Montana Valance is an Australian actress and model, whose roles include Paige Smith in the soap opera Neighbours and Tahlia Woods in Playing for Keeps. For her role as Paige, Valance received a nomination for the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent.
Aric Yegudkin is an Australian choreographer and professional dancer born on 14 November 1985. Yegudkin is best known as a professional dancer on the Australian Dancing with the Stars.
Aaron Brennan is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Matt Wilson. The actor originally auditioned for the role of Tyler Brennan and participated in a long casting process, during which he sent the producers a recording of himself performing a scene, before attending an audition. Producers ultimately selected Travis Burns to play Tyler, but created the additional role of Aaron for Wilson. Like Tyler, Aaron was introduced as the brother of established character Mark Brennan. Wilson relocated from Sydney to Melbourne for filming, and debuted four months after Tyler's arrival, on 16 June 2015. The character was initially intended to be a guest part, but due to Wilson's "endearing quality", he was promoted to the full-time cast.
Sarah Kathryn Roberts is an Australian television and film actress. After training at the 16th Street Actors Studio, Roberts took part in the 2012 reality television series Bollywood Star, in which Australians compete for a chance to work with Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt. She has made guest appearances in various Australian television shows, including Jack Irish and INXS: Never Tear Us Apart. After appearing in the 2014 Neighbours spin-off series Brennan on the Run as Sienna Matthews, Roberts joined the cast of the main show in a recurring capacity. From 2017 to 2021, she played Willow Harris in Home and Away. Roberts has also starred in the feature films Felony and UnIndian.
Timothy Robards is an Australian actor, chiropractor, model, and television personality. Robards worked as a chiropractor for seven years, before he was cast in the first season of The Bachelor Australia. He chose Anna Heinrich in the finale. The couple later appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2015. Robards took part in the fifteenth season of Dancing with the Stars and appeared on Australian Ninja Warrior. In 2018, Robards had a guest role in soap opera Neighbours as Pierce Greyson, which led to him joining the regular cast in 2019. Outside of television, Robards has worked as a model, and has developed a fitness program called The Robards Method.
Chloe Brennan is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by April Rose Pengilly. Pengilly auditioned for the role without knowing anything about the character. Not long after she made plans to move to Los Angeles, Pengilly was invited for a screen test and she was offered the part of Chloe a week later. Neighbours marks her first regular television role, and she made her debut during the episode broadcast on 27 March 2018. Chloe is the sister of the established Brennan brothers, and had often been mentioned on-screen by her family prior to her arrival. Chloe is portrayed as "well-meaning", "carefree" and "fun-loving". She wants to get along with everyone and live her life to the fullest. However, she also suffers from intimacy and "daddy issues", due to her upbringing which saw her raised by her mother following her parents' separation.
Dipika 'Dipi' Rebecchi is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Sharon Johal. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 April 2017. Johal originally auditioned for the role of Dipi's younger sister Mishti Sharma. Actress Scarlett Vas secured the role and producers changed Dipi to better suit Johal. Dipi is part of the extended Rebecchi family introduced into Neighbours, joining established regular character Toadfish Rebecchi. She is married to Shane Rebecchi and they move to Erinsborough with their two daughters Yashvi and Kirsha Rebecchi. She soon becomes the new owner of Harold's café.
Hendrix Greyson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Ben Turland. Turland's manager did not tell him that he was not what the producers were looking for when he submitted a self-tape. However, he received an audition a week later and was flown to Melbourne from Sydney for a chemistry read with members of the cast. Three days later, he was informed that he had been cast as Hendrix. He joined the main cast in his first ongoing television role. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 13 September 2019. Hendrix was introduced as the estranged son of Pierce Greyson. His arrival led to further exploration of Pierce's backstory and established a new family unit in the serial.
Nicolette Stone is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Charlotte Chimes and Hannah Monson. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 15 July 2020. Chimes auditioned for the role at a time she felt creatively fulfilled owing to her work on another series. Despite her nonchalant approach, Chimes was invited to a second audition, which the then Sydney based actress had to perform over video-tape due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions imposed in Australia. Chimes was successful and assumed the role of Nicolette, who writers created as the daughter of the heritage character, Jane Harris. From her introduction, Nicolette was portrayed as "straight talking" and "brash", unafraid to hurt other character's feelings. Nicolette is a lesbian and is confident with being open about her sexuality. Writers often used Nicolette's characterisation in her storylines. Writers created a fractured backstory between Nicolette and Jane, owed to Jane's request that Nicolette conceal her sexuality from her opinionated grandmother. Nicolette's early stories commonly featured her and Jane's journey to reconciliation. Writers further explored Nicolette's backstory with the introduction of her friend Audrey Hamilton, who had helped Nicolette commit fraud.
Mavournee Hazel 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.
