Cliff Curtis
Cliff Curtis | |
---|---|
Born | 1968 or 1969 (age 55–56) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1991–present |
Spouse |
Unnamed wife (m. 2009) |
Children | 4 |
Relatives | Toby Curtis (uncle)[1] |
Cliff Curtis (born 1968 or 1969) is a New Zealand actor. His film credits include
He is the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.
Early life
Curtis is one of eight children, the son of an amateur dancer.[3] Curtis is of Māori descent; his tribal affiliations are Te Arawa[4] and Ngāti Hauiti.
As a boy he studied
Career
New Zealand
Curtis started acting in amateur productions of musicals
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
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 has appeared in the films
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 3.[19]
In 2019, he played Jonah Hobbs, the brother of
Curtis stars in
Personal life
He was married in late 2009
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
† | 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 | Sheikh Fadlallah (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 (Jesus) of Nazareth | |
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 | ||
2025 | Avatar 3 † | 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 |
2004–2009 | bro'Town | Himself | 2 episodes |
2009–2010 | 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 |
2015–2017 | Fear the Walking Dead | Travis Manawa
|
21 episodes |
2016–2017 | Talking Dead | Himself | 3 episodes |
2023 | Invincible | Paul (voice) | Season 2 [24] |
TBA | Chief of War | Keōua | Upcoming miniseries |
References
- ^ Nicholas, Jill (8 December 2013). "Our people: Toby Curtis". Rotorua Daily Post. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' Begins Production in Vancouver" (Press release). AMC. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ""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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "The Dark Horse: Cliff's Edge". The NZ Herald. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ^ "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ "...a funny, warm-hearted comedy set in heartland New Zealand..." Archived 5 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, New Zealand Film Commission
- ^ "Whenua Films". Whenua Films. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Film review with Dan Slevin". Radio New Zealand National. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- ^ Baillie, Russell (31 July 2014). "Movie review: The Dark Horse". The New Zealand Herald.
- ^ Hibberd, James (4 December 2014). "'Walking Dead' spinoff casts male lead". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "'Fear the Walking Dead' Star Cast in All Four 'Avatar' Sequels". Entertainment Weekly. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Cliff Curtis' NZ wedding". The New Zealand Herald. 3 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Invincible Season 2: Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More". Retrieved 11 September 2023.