Bonnie Piesse Escaped the Cult NXIVM. Now, She’s Back In The Star Wars Universe.

In 2017, the woman some knew only as Beru Lars—aunt to Luke Skywalker—escaped a cult. Bonnie Piesse, who’d played Beru in the Star Wars prequel films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, had joined the self-help organization known as NXIVM (pronounced “nexium”) in pursuit of insight, perhaps even healing, during a lull in her music and film career. Within the organization’s ESP, or Executive Success Programs, she met her future husband, Mark Vicente. In the years to follow, they’d transform into two of NXIVM’s most prominent whistleblowers, peeling back the curtain on what the media would soon refer to as the infamous “sex cult.”

In The Vow, an HBO documentary directed by their friends Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer and released in 2020, Piesse’s part in the tale plays out slowly. She was one of the first to recognize that something was off in what seemed, otherwise, like an eccentric but innocuous community, and that its charismatic leader, Keith Raniere—referred to as “Vanguard” amongst members—was no Deepak Chopra.

Although the man claimed to be capable of Messianic, though “science-based” miracles, it became clear to Piesse that a so-called “sisterhood” within Raniere’s organization was operating as a front to abuse women. Known as The Vow or D.O.S., so named after the Latin phrase Dominus Obsequious Sororium, translating roughly to “lord over the obedient female companions,” members were assigned as “slaves” and to recruit “slaves,” so as to be branded and, in some cases, directed to have sex with Raniere. Numerous women were caught in the web of D.O.S., including India Oxenberg, daughter of actress Catherine Oxenberg, as well as the actress Allison Mack, who would eventually be sentenced to three years in prison for her involvement in racketeering and conspiracy on behalf of NXIVM.

Throughout The Vow, we see Piesse address the evidence carefully, citing how the group allegedly used sleep deprivation, calorie restriction, and other tools to control its members, all in the name of self-improvement. (For instance, Piesse claims Raniere once forced her to drink from a puddle.) She was concerned for Mack’s health; she pushed Vicente to get answers from Raniere about D.O.S; she reached out to Catherine Oxenberg to share her worries over India’s well-being. Eventually, Piesse left the organization in 2017—in her words, she “escaped” or “woke up”—and soon convinced Vicente, once a high-ranking member of NXIVM, to follow her.

In 2017, a story about D.O.S’s branding practices was published in the New York Times, and an investigation launched that would lead to Raniere’s arrest and conviction, as well as the sentencing of Mack, Raniere’s right-hand Nancy Salzman, and the American heiress Clare Bronfman, among others. In the meantime, Piesse and Vicente moved to Europe, where they could safely “lay low” as the case played out.

It wasn’t until Piesse received a message from Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow that she finally decided to make her Hollywood comeback. Still processing her PTSD from NXIVM, she hadn’t been trying to pursue acting; in fact, when she first received Chow’s request to chat, she didn’t recognize it as having anything to do with work. Subsequently, she ignored the message for almost a week until she realized, as Piesse puts it, “Oh. Casting thing.” She then decided to join a call from Portugal, and the director convinced her to return to the role she’d left behind in 2005—and to the greater Star Wars universe.

As Obi-Wan Kenobi gears up to premiere on Disney+ on May 27, Piesse discussed her return to Beru with ELLE. “I know you know what I’ve been through,” she says at the start of the conversation. “I’ve been through quite the wringer.” Below, Piesse shares what it was like to step foot again on Tatooine—and how she’s healed in the wake of The Vow.

Was returning to Star Wars an automatic yes for you?

Yeah. I really loved watching what they’ve done with the new Star Wars. I really loved Force Awakens; I was so into it. So I kind of became a fan in a whole new way. I guess, after all these years of meeting fans and seeing what it means to people and starting to really appreciate that and learning more about Star Wars myself, it means so much more to me now than it did back then. I love the Force and all these magical-type things in the story, too. It means a lot. Especially at this point in my life.

I know that the plot of Obi-Wan Kenobi is under intense wraps, but what can you tell me about your role as Beru in this series versus in the prequel films? What’s different this time around?

I will say, I got to embody Beru in a whole—in a different way. To bring different things to it. Basically, she’s now taking care of Luke, so we get to see a glimpse into that. Beru, at this point in her life, is in between when she was a young girl, like just starting to be a mother as she receives baby Luke, and later on when Sheila Fraser played the older version. It’s kind of a middle space to get to see.

What is it like to return to this role, after so many years and obviously after so much has gone on in your life? Was it difficult to come back?

So some roles are an easier fit than others. And this one just fits so easily that I didn’t feel I had to try too hard to embody her. The main way to prepare was just—after everything I’d been through, I was still recovering from PTSD. So I did a lot to heal and nourish myself and strengthen myself to make sure that I had all the energy that I needed to be on set. So it was more supporting myself.

And this is your first role since leaving NXIVM, correct?

Yep. First one. Oh, actually, sorry, I had done a friend’s short film right after I left. Like, literally, as my husband was just escaping, and we were being chased and stalked and everything, I did a short film. But yeah, this is my first one back into the industry in a bigger way.

How has your experience with your fans shifted in recent years? You were already part of the Star Wars universe, which brings automatic fans. And then you have this really public, traumatic thing that happens to you, and you have a new audience from that who are interested in what took place. Now you’re going back into the Star Wars universe again. I’m curious how you’ve thus processed your relationship with your audience, both as an actress and a documentary subject.

I think, if anything, I feel that people maybe have connected with me more from seeing The Vow. So some Star Wars fans who I’ve been in contact with for years…some people that I already knew now feel they know me even better, and they reached out and were really supportive. I was really scared when The Vow was coming out because I had no idea how it would be received. It was really nice to get some of those messages from Star Wars fans and feel that they were really supportive. They weren’t shaming or anything like that. Then some of them shared their stories, and it was just a new way to connect.

Why did you agree to be part of The Vow in the first place?

It was one of those things where it didn’t even feel like a decision. Even though it was. But it happened so naturally, even though it was a mess of a situation. I had just escaped from—I call it ESP, but I know everyone calls it NXVIM—in, I guess, January 2017, and my husband and I were at Sundance and he actually hadn’t fully woken up yet. So we were at Sundance and hanging out with our friend Jehane [Noujaim], who’s the director of The Vow, and she had actually taken the [NXIVM] courses, too, and loved them. And I was doing a voiceover project for her then, and trying to hide my PTSD from her because I didn’t know how to handle anything. And so once my husband woke up, we landed on her couch in Venice, and just started crying and telling her everything as a friend.

And she started rolling camera right then. She said, “You don’t have to; this is your choice. You don’t have to use this footage, but I’m going to roll camera because I think it’s important. And then you can decide.” And that’s how it started. Because she was one of our best friends.

How has The Vow‘s reception continued to impact you, even after you left NXIVM? It seems it might still feel like a significant part of your life, even after you’ve escaped and the documentary has aired.

I actually forget, often, what we went through because I feel like I’m in another chapter now, which is really nice. That feels really good. But I definitely do get messages from people all the time, like many, many, many, I would say daily, from people who have seen it and are reaching out to just send their support or people who have also escaped from situations like that or are just waking up. We hear from a lot of people that our story helped them, helped people wake up and get out of bad situations and realize what was happening to them. We still get a lot of contact in that way, but other than that, it’s been really nice to move on because we were filming The Vow for pretty much two years straight.

It was a lot, as we were going through like the worst, messiest, most awful time. So it’s nice to not have a camera in my face all the time and just move on.

So then, are you involved at all with The Vow‘s second season?

So I guess I can’t really say anything about it. It’s another under-wraps thing, but yeah, they are doing that.

I’d seen on your Instagram that you now practice intuitive tarot. I’m curious, how has that factored into the next step of your spiritual journey, as you heal from your time with NXIVM?

Actually, the way that I woke up from ESP was I had—I guess you could call it, like, a spiritual awakening. That allowed me to actually experience real joy and see what was in front of me with ESP, and that it wasn’t good. My eyes were opened. So that’s where that started and just really, really listening to my intuition and honing that and respecting it in a way that I had been taught not to in ESP.

From there, I mean, my mom has been a tarot reader most of my life, so that was kind of in my history. I just felt like picking up the tarot cards in 2017 for myself, actually out of despair—of, like, Help. So I started doing a lot of tarot for me and Mark and everyone as we were going through it. And then, naturally, I started offering readings to some close people and friends and that just expanded out. I think I’ll probably launch it in a bigger way sometime soon, but I’ve been doing a minimal amount of readings at the moment. But yeah, I love it. I’m not sure where that will lead in the future.

Do you hope to continue acting in the Star Wars universe? Of course there’s no season 2 of Obi-Wan confirmed yet, but if that were an opportunity—or an adjacent film—is that something you’d want to do?

Yeah, absolutely. Of course. Especially because I really am excited about the things that they’re producing now. I’d be very hard-pressed to say no if they offered it.

What are you wanting next out of your film career, your television career? You’re in a much healthier place in your life now, comparatively, so what are you hoping for?

Yeah, I really would love to keep acting. After we wrapped Obi-Wan, I actually went right on to do another film: My Favorite Girlfriend. I mean, when they offered me that role, I really wasn’t sure if I could do it because it’s such a challenging role. I played seven different characters. So I definitely had self-doubt around that, but it’s one of those things: When those doors open, it just feels not right to say no. So that stretched me in a way that was so exciting, and it really got me back into acting, and I realized that I love it and I really want to do more. I know there’s a lot of challenging roles, but [My Favorite Girlfriend] felt like it was so challenging that the next thing, I think, couldn’t feel as challenging.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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