Piper Willis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Mavournee Hazel. The actress went through a long casting process, which involved her travelling to Melbourne to audition three times. Months later, she was offered the role. Hazel then relocated to the city from Sydney within three days, so she was available for fittings and filming the following week. Ahead of her first episode, Piper was introduced to viewers in a four-part webisode series called Hey Piper. She made her first appearance in the main show during the episode broadcast on 16 September 2015. Hazel chose to leave her role to pursue further acting opportunities, and her final scenes aired on 3 April 2019.
Piper is the youngest child of Brad (Kip Gamblin) and Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou). Upon her family's arrival in 2013, Piper was often mentioned and said to be living in Canada on an exchange program. Producers held back her introduction to give her parents "a second chapter" ahead of her siblings' departures. Piper is portrayed as being a typical teenager, who is independent, mature, quick witted and loves technology. Hazel did not find the character much of a challenge to portray, as they are so similar to one another. She was also pleased to be playing a character that teenage viewers would be able to relate to.
The character's early storylines revolved around her finding her place within her family, her parents' separation, and her part in a fire at the local high school. Piper has been involved in an on-off relationship with her older neighbour Tyler Brennan (Travis Burns). The pairing has proven popular with viewers, who refer to them by the portmanteau "Typer". Writers have put several obstacles in the couple's way, including Tyler's casual relationship with Piper's half-sister Paige Smith (Olympia Valance). Other storylines have seen Piper bullied by her English teacher Elly Conway (Jodi Anasta), and have a one-night stand with her friend Angus Beaumont-Hannay (Jai Waetford).
Casting The character had often been mentioned and referred to by her on-screen family since their arrival in May 2013, but she did not appear. Piper was said to be living and studying in Canada as part of a school exchange program. Executive producer Jason Herbison explained that Piper's introduction was held back for when her on-screen parents needed "a second chapter", should her siblings leave the show. Piper's arrival and Mavournee Hazel's casting was announced on 18 August 2015. Of joining the permanent cast, Hazel commented "It's a great feeling to be rewarded with the role of Piper after years of hard work, especially when I fell in love with the character after my first audition."
Hazel flew to Melbourne from her home in Sydney to meet with the casting director and audition for the role. This was followed by two more rounds of auditioning and a waiting period spread over a few months, until she was given the role. Hazel's biggest challenge during the auditioning process was the financial cost of getting to Melbourne, as she was a university student with a small budget. But she was confident that she would secure the role, saying "something just felt right about the whole situation". Hazel relocated to Melbourne within three days to be available for fittings and filming the following week. She told Anthony Graetz of CLIQUE Mag that she wanted to be with Neighbours for a few years, but had plans to relocate to Los Angeles or the UK for further acting work. Hazel made her debut as Piper on 16 September 2015.
Development Characterisation
During the casting process, Hazel and the producers shared a similar vision of what they wanted the character to be and Hazel was "so grateful" that they trusted her to bring Piper's quirkiness and storylines to life. Hazel shares some of the same personality traits with Piper and found that the character was not much of a challenge to portray, as she felt that she "knew this girl, knew what she was about." The actress also found that being so similar to Piper meant that she took criticism of her personally. Hazel wished she had been similar to Piper when she was her age, and she felt that she was slowly growing up to be like Piper.
In an interview with Carena Crawford from All About Soap, Hazel described Piper as having typical traits of a teenager, saying she was "technology-loving, free-thinking, liberated". She also said Piper was mature and intelligent, with "a quick wit and dry sense of humour." In an interview published on the official website, Hazel also described Piper as being fun, having a "cool approach to life" and someone who can be herself "unapologetically". Hazel enjoyed playing a character with a rebellious personality, but pointed out that for all of Piper's maturity and intelligence, she "doesn't have a filter when it comes to her actions."
During an interview for the show's official website, Hazel believed Piper's dream job would be a journalist at BuzzFeed or somewhere similar. She would enjoy voicing her opinions in "a very 21st century environment." Hazel did not think Piper was the type of person who finished high school, instead she would just apply for internships in the industry she wanted to work in. Hazel told Tim Falk of TV Soap that getting to live in Piper's Doc Martens, and the opportunity she got as an actor were the best things about playing Piper. She said that future storylines would see different aspects of Piper's personality. She continued, "There's lots of mischief, some deceit and guilt in store for Piper." Hazel added that viewers would get to see Piper's vulnerable side, as she lets her guard down.
Piper struggled growing up in her elder siblings' Imogen (Ariel Kaplan) and Josh's (Harley Bonner) shadows. Imogen was academic, while Josh excelled at sports, so Piper did not have a strong identity within the family until she went to Canada, where she built up an identity for herself. Unlike Imogen, Piper prefers to discover things for herself instead of learning from a book. Herbison called Piper the "anti-Imogen", as she tries to be different from her family. But Piper does have "the Willis temper", and like her mother, she is very independent. She also shares a strong bond with her father. When Piper meets Paige for the first time, they get along well. Hazel stated, "They both have this sort of sparky, sassy assertion about their character."
Piper was conceived as bisexual, with the character making reference to previous girlfriends on-screen. In 2017. Hazel discussed the positive responses from fans to mentions of this, despite there being no plans to explore the character's sexuality further.
Piper becomes good friends with her neighbour Xanthe Canning (Lilly Van der Meer). Hazel initially thought Piper would not be friends with someone like Xanthe, but she realised that Xanthe brings out Piper's "girlie side", while Piper is always there for Xanthe. Hazel and Van der Meer are also friends in real life. Hazel said their scenes together are fun to film, as all the screaming and laughing comes naturally to them. When asked if Piper could end up dating Xanthe's boyfriend Ben, if they ever broke up, Hazel replied "Even when Xanthe wasn't in the picture Ben and Piper were just mates."
Webisodes and introduction Ahead of her first appearance in the main show, the character was featured in a series of webisodes titled Hey Piper, which see her talking to various family members via online video calls. The first episode saw Piper introduced to her half-sister Paige Smith (Olympia Valance), shortly after the Erinsborough tornado. Their first interaction is "very awkward", as Paige mentions several family events that Piper does not know about. In the second episode, Piper calls her grandfather Doug Willis (Terence Donovan) to catch-up with him and go over new ideas for her blog. The third and fourth episodes feature Piper's father, Brad Willis (Kip Gamblin) informing her that he has separated from her mother and has begun a relationship with Lauren Carpenter (Kate Kendall). He later tries to comfort an upset Piper.
Piper arrived home to find her parents in the middle of an argument, which Hazel likened to "something from Jerry Springer!" The actress explained that Piper's siblings had told her about the fights the family had been having, which prompted her return from Canada. Piper believed that she might be "the glue that holds them all together." Hazel also said that Piper did not want to be forced into taking sides in her parents' separation and tried to view things objectively. She just wanted to find her place within the family again, but it was hard due to everything that was happening between Brad and Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou). While she is out filming for her vlog, Piper meets Brad's new partner, Lauren. She is initially unaware of who Lauren is and finds her to be nice and kind. When Paige later introduced them, Piper was "torn" as she had planned on hating Lauren for breaking up her family.
Piper did not like Terese's attitude towards her marriage, as she thought Brad would be less likely to work through their issues if she kept pushing him away. However, the more time Piper spent with her mother, she began to understand her more. As Piper continues to film her vlog around Erinsborough, she befriends Ben Kirk (Felix Mallard). They have a platonic lunch together and discuss their mutual tastes in music. They later unintentionally caused some trouble at the local car garage. Hazel said that Piper notices that Ben is not like their peers and they form a "really great friendship". The actress added that they are not necessary the best influence on each other. While she continued to settle in, Piper began receiving text messages from her former boyfriend Brodie "Chas" Chaswick (Matt Testro). Hazel explained that Piper ended the relationship shortly before coming home to Australia, but Chas believed the distance was not a problem for them, so they stayed in touch.
Erinsborough High fire One of the character's early storylines involved her in a fire stunt at the local high school. During a charity sleep out at Erinsborough High, Piper encourages her new friend Ben to light a piece of paper on fire and set off the sprinkler system. However, it soon causes a "devastating fire" that leaves Piper's mother Terese with burns to her body. Both Ben and Piper are "guilt-ridden" by their actions, and she urges him to keep quiet about their involvement. However, Ben soon confesses everything to his grandparents and the police. As he faces a charge of reckless conduct, Piper struggles with her guilt, especially as she knows that her mother is suffering. While Ben keeps quiet about her role in the incident, Piper eventually tells Lauren that she shares some of the responsibility and Lauren urges her to tell the truth. Instead, Piper suggests to Ben that they run away and he agrees. They initially sleep rough in Erinsborough, before fleeing to Glenrowan, where they get jobs as fruit pickers. Ben begins to struggle with pain from his fractured ribs, which he sustained in an earlier accident, and later collapses.
As Piper prepares to return to her classes for the first time since the fire, she is nervous about the reaction of the other students, leading her to confide in neighbour Tyler Brennan (Travis Burns), who gives her reassurance that she will probably be seen as a hero. Upon her arrival at the school, Piper receives a mixed reaction from her peers. Some of them laud her part in the fire, while others are wary and scared. Piper "swiftly retreats home", where Tyler suggests that she could ask her parents not to send her back to school. When she does return, Piper is given a lighter, which she uses to threaten the students who try to get in her way. Piper's threats are overheard by Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne).
Relationship with Tyler Brennan