Biography

Petra grew up in Switzerland. When she was seven years old, she started to train and perform with the local youth Circus.

At age thirteen, the troupe was invited to Istanbul, Turkey, to unveil its annual representation. The engagement was a success and after this experience, Petra's interest in traveling and meeting different cultures was set in stone.

She focused on studying languages; French, English and Italian, followed by a two-year professional Movement & Theatre education at "Com-Art", a private school located in Zürich, Switzerland, which is modeled after Jacques Lecoq; Europe's Best- loved and most influential theatre teacher. Petra learned how to "package" her skills with diverse forms of visual expression, which proved to be key, when she continued her formation in Montréal, Canada, at the internationally renowned "L'Écôle Nationale de Cirque" - A Pioneer School for Circus Artists!

She specialized in "Cloudswing." With the assistance of her Russian coach she created an astounding and fearless act and was chosen to compete at the "International Acrobatic Festival of Wuqiao", in China, where she won the Bronze Lion.

Soon thereafter she was approached by talent scouts of "Cirque du Soleil" and was then signed for the three-year North American tour of "Quidam" with her Solo high-flying, gravity-defying Cloudswing act. Petra performed over one thousand shows.

Looking for a new challenge, Petra decided to move to Los Angeles and become a stuntwoman. Her debut in stunts was in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002) starring Tom Cruise, when she's received a call from Stunt Coordinator and Second Unit Director Brian Smrz and was hired to perform in all scenes involving the giant flying truss; a 400-feet-long hydraulic traveling rig, set up on the Warner Brothers back lot.

Her stunt gear not yet unloaded from the trunk of her car, she interviewed for The Time Machine (2002) and booked her first role as a stunt actor; succeeding with embodying further parts requiring special skills, featured on a variety of television series and on the big screen.

Petra is equally enthusiastic when she is assigned to a stunt doubling undertaking! On Æon Flux (2005), for instance, Petra's regular "Day at the Office" consisted of being thrown through ladders onto walls or jumping from balconies and the likes, representing the character "Freya", portrayed by actress Caroline Chikezie. Additionally, before filming in Berlin began, Petra was hand- picked as a trainings partner for Charlize Theron to work on flexibility and Cirque-style fight choreography.

In 2009, Petra was honored by the "Taurus World Stunt Awards" with two nominations; "Best High Work" and "Best Overall Stunt By a Woman", stunt doubling for Rosario Dawson on Eagle Eye (2008).

Subsequently, The Celebrity and Stuntwomen's Awards "Diamond in the Raw" also simply known as "Action Icon Awards", selected her as a finalist in the "Stuntwoman of the Year" category!

In between working for Film and Television, Petra's passion for the Circus is still alive! Shows on the Cloudswing include the Spiderman Movie Premiere, Detroit's Auto Show headlining for Chrysler/ Jeep/ Dodge and at the Microsoft Global Sales Meeting at the Super-Dome in New Orleans, Petra soars above the crowd at a height of approximately 200 feet.

In 2019, a whole new type of position arises where all past job and life experience are put together: Petra accepts to be an international expert judge representing her native country Switzerland on Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell's first-of-its-kind global talent competition reality TV series The World's Best (2019), which was hosted by James Corden. The American judges were Drew Barrymore, Faith Hill and RuPaul.

In early 2025 - as if out of the Blue - Petra started subbing as an intimacy coordinator on several micro-dramas. She enjoyed this type of work so much that she eventually elisted in the 1-year long professional IC training program.

Petra is an independent stuntwoman, actor, freelance performance artist and international intimacy coordinator. Based in Los Angeles, she's on a quest to pursue new forms of visual and emotional expression.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous