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Cliff Curtis

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For the baseballer, see Cliff Curtis (baseball).

Cliff Curtis
Curtis in 2018
Born
Rotorua, New Zealand
Alma materToi Whakaari (1989)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • Producer
Years active1991–present
Children4
RelativesToby Curtis (uncle)[1]

Cliff Curtis is a New Zealand actor and film producer. After working in theatre, he made his film debut in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning film The Piano (1993), followed by a breakout role in the drama Once Were Warriors (1994). He has won four New Zealand Film Awards, Best Actor for Jubilee (2000) and The Dark Horse (2014) - which also earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award - and Best Supporting Actor for Desperate Remedies (1993) and Whale Rider (2002).

Curtis' international film credits include Three Kings, Bringing Out the Dead (both 1999), Blow , Training Day (both 2001), Collateral Damage (2002), Sunshine, Live Free or Die Hard (both 2007), Push, Crossing Over (both 2009), Colombiana (2011), and Doctor Sleep (2019), also portraying James "Mac" Mackreides in The Meg (2018) and Meg 2: The Trench (2023) and Tonowari in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).

He had television series roles on NBC's Trauma and ABC's Body of Proof and Missing. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed Travis Manawa on the AMC horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead.[2] Curtis is also the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.

Early life

Curtis was born in Rotorua, Rotorua Lakes District on the North Island of New Zealand. He is one of eight children born to George Curtis, an amateur dancer.[3] He is of Māori descent; his tribal affiliations are Te Arawa[4] and Ngāti Hauiti. His uncle was Toby Curtis KNZM, a prominent Māori educator and leader.

As a boy he studied mau rākau, a traditional Māori form of taiaha fighting, with Māori elder Mita Mohi on Mokoia Island,[5] which nurtured his abilities as a performer in kapa haka. Curtis later performed as a breakdancer and competitively in rock 'n' roll dance competitions.[6] He received his secondary education at Edmund Rice College, Rotorua. Curtis graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989 with a Diploma in Acting.[7]

Career

New Zealand

Curtis started acting in amateur productions of musicals Fiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha with the Kapiti Players and the Mantis Cooperative Theatre Company, before attending the New Zealand Drama School and Teatro Dimitri Scuola in Switzerland. He worked at a number of New Zealand theatre companies, including Downstage, Mercury Theatre, Bats Theatre, and Centre Point. His stage roles include Happy End, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, The Cherry Orchard, Porgy and Bess, Weeds, Macbeth, Serious Money, and The End of the Golden Weather.

Curtis at the 2011 MIPCOM, in Cannes

His first feature film role was a small part in the Oscar-nominated Jane Campion film The Piano. He went on to win attention in Once Were Warriors, one of the most successful films released on New Zealand screens; the line "Uncle fucken Bully" referring to Curtis's character spoken by "Jake the Muss", played by Temuera Morrison, became one of New Zealand film's most memorable and quoted lines, as well as being part of the "Kiwiana" trend. He played Kahu in the short-film Kahu & Maia, a contemporary depiction of a Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Rongomaiwahine legend. He played a seducer in the melodrama Desperate Remedies. In 2000 Curtis starred as family man Billy Williams in Jubilee,[8] before playing father to the lead character in the international hit Whale Rider.

In 2004 with producer Ainsley Gardiner, Curtis formed independent film production company Whenua Films.[9] The goals of the company are to support the growth of the New Zealand indigenous film-making scene, and support local short filmmakers. He and Gardiner were appointed to manage the development and production of films for the Short Films Fund for 2005–06 by the New Zealand Film Commission. They have produced several shorts under the new company banner, notably Two Cars, One Night, which received an Academy Award nomination in 2005, and Hawaikii by director Mike Jonathan in 2006. Both short films circulated through many of the prestigious international film festivals like the Berlinale.

At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miramax Films bought US distribution rights to relationship comedy Eagle vs Shark, the first feature film directed by Taika Waititi. Waititi's follow-up feature Boy, also from Whenua Films, went on to become the highest grossing New Zealand film released.[10]

In 2014, Curtis played the lead role in The Dark Horse, which the National Radio review called "one of the greatest New Zealand films ever made."[11] The New Zealand Herald praised him for his "towering performance"[12] as real-life Gisborne speed chess player and coach Genesis Potini, who died in 2011. Curtis studied chess and deliberately put on weight for the role.

International

Curtis at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con

Curtis has appeared in the films Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Three Kings (1999), the drug drama Blow (2001) with Johnny Depp, Training Day (2001), Collateral Damage (2002) with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Sunshine (2007), Push (2009), “10,000 B.C.” (2008) the re-make, and Colombiana (2011). In M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (2010), he played the main villain, Fire Lord Ozai.[13] Curtis portrayed Lt. Cortez in the film Last Knights (2015) and Jesus Christ in the film Risen (2016).[14]

In the NBC TV drama Trauma,[15] he played daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck.[16] Curtis was cast as Travis Manawa, a leading male role of the AMC TV series Fear the Walking Dead,[17] the spin-off of The Walking Dead.[18]

In 2017, Curtis was cast as Tonowari and is set to appear in the four sequels to Avatar, including Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash.[19]

In 2019, he played Jonah Hobbs, the brother of Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw; their characters are Samoan.[20]

Curtis stars in True Spirit alongside Teagan Croft and Anna Paquin. It began airing on Netflix on 3 February 2023. The movie is based on the journey of Jessica Watson, a 16-year-old Australian sailor attempting a solo global circumnavigation. In 2024, Curtis starred in the Netflix series Kaos in the role of the Greek God Poseidon.

Personal life

He was married in late 2009[21] in a private ceremony at his home, and has four children. He is Roman Catholic.[22]

When asked about being an "all-purpose ethnic" actor, he said, "It's been a real advantage, I love being ethnic, I love the color of my skin. There are limitations in the business, that's a reality, but I've been given such wonderful opportunities."[23]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Piano Mana
Desperate Remedies Fraser
1994 Kahu & Maia Kahu
Once Were Warriors Uncle Bully
Rapa Nui Short Ears
1996 Chicken Zeke
Mananui Mana
1998 Deep Rising Mamooli
Six Days, Seven Nights Kip
1999 Virus Hiko
Three Kings Amir Abdulah
Bringing Out the Dead Cy Coates
The Insider Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Credited as 'Clifford Curtis'
2000 Jubilee Billy Williams
2001 Blow Pablo Escobar
Training Day "Smiley"
The Majestic The Evil But Handsome Prince Khalid
2002 Collateral Damage Claudio "El Lobo" Perrini
Whale Rider Porourangi
2003 Runaway Jury Frank Herrera
2004 Fracture Detective Franklin
Spooked Mort Whitman
Heinous Crime Pizza Delivery Man
2005 The Pool Husband
River Queen Wiremu
2006 The Fountain Captain Ariel
2007 Sunshine Searle
Fracture Detective Flores
Live Free or Die Hard FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman
2008 10,000 BC Tic'Tic
2009 Push Hook Waters
Crossing Over Hamid Baraheri
2010 The Last Airbender Fire Lord Ozai
2011 Colombiana Emilio Restrepo
2012 A Thousand Words Dr. Sinja
2014 The Dark Horse Genesis Potini
2015 Last Knights Lieutenant Cortez
2016 Risen Yeshua
2018 The Meg James "Mac" Mackreides
2019 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Jonah Hobbs
Doctor Sleep Billy Freeman
2021 Reminiscence Cyrus Boothe
Murina Javier
2022 Muru Sergent "Taffy" Tawharau
Avatar: The Way of Water Tonowari
2023 True Spirit Ben Bryant
Meg 2: The Trench James "Mac" Mackreides
2024 Ka Whawhai Tonu Wi Toka [24]
2025 Avatar: Fire and Ash † Tonowari Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Under Cover Zip Television film
1994 Hercules in the Underworld Nessus
1995 Mysterious Island Peter 2 episodes
1996 City Life Daniel Freeman 4 episodes
1998 The Chosen Father Tahere Television film
2002 Point of Origin Mike Camello
2004 Traffic Adam Kadyrov 3 episodes
2004–09 bro'Town Himself 2 episodes
2009–10 Trauma Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuk 20 episodes
2011 Body of Proof FBI Agent Derek Ames 2 episodes
2012 Missing Agent Dax Miller 10 episodes
2014 Gang Related Javier Acosta 13 episodes
2015–17 Fear the Walking Dead Travis Manawa 21 episodes
2016–17 Talking Dead Himself 3 episodes
2023 Invincible Paul (voice) Season 2 [25]
2024 Swift Street Robert 8 episodes
TBA Chief of War Keōua Upcoming miniseries

References

  1. ^ Nicholas, Jill (8 December 2013). "Our people: Toby Curtis". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  2. ^ "AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' Begins Production in Vancouver" (Press release). AMC. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  3. ^ Haines, Leah (12 February 2006). "Cliff Curtis, the megastar with a mortgage". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  4. ^ ""Don't cry for me, Waititi" says Pita Sharples". Scoop. 25 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 January 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. ^ Parahi, Carmen (15 December 2014). "Cliff Curtis: My real life tragedy, violence and triumph". Marae TV. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "The Dark Horse: Cliff's Edge". The NZ Herald. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Graduate". toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  8. ^ "...a funny, warm-hearted comedy set in heartland New Zealand..." Archived 5 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, New Zealand Film Commission
  9. ^ "Whenua Films". Whenua Films. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Wellington director's feature to be the highest-grossing NZ production". Wellington.scoop.co.nz. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Film review with Dan Slevin". Radio New Zealand National. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  12. ^ Baillie, Russell (31 July 2014). "Movie review: The Dark Horse". The New Zealand Herald.
  13. ^ Hibberd, James (4 December 2014). "'Walking Dead' spinoff casts male lead". Entertainment Weekly.
  14. ^ Moore, Debi (29 March 2015). "News: See the First Teaser for AMC's Fear the Walking Dead". Dread Central. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Cliff Curtis starred as daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck..." NBC. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  16. ^ Prudom, Laura (2014). "The Walking Dead' Companion Series Casts Cliff Curtis as Male Lead". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  17. ^ Ross, Dalton (11 August 2015). "Cliff Curtis explains why Fear the Walking Dead is more than a zombie show". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  18. ^ MrDisgusting (29 March 2015). "'Fear The Walking Dead' Trailer: Get Your Flu Shot!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  19. ^ "'Fear the Walking Dead' Star Cast in All Four 'Avatar' Sequels". Entertainment Weekly. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  20. ^ Davis, Brandon (27 January 2019). "'Hobbs And Shaw' Casts Cliff Curtis As A Hobbs, More Brothers Revealed". ComicBook. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Cliff Curtis' NZ wedding". The New Zealand Herald. 3 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  22. ^ "Cliff Curtis discusses playing Jesus in new film Risen". Stuff (company). 14 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  23. ^ Beale, Lewis (1 April 2016). "'Fear the Walking Dead's' Cliff Curtis talks ethnic roles". Newsday. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Ka Whawhai Tonu". New Zealand Film Commission. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Invincible Season 2: Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More". Retrieved 11 September 2023.
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