Cliff Curtis

Early life and education

Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis was born in Rotorua in 1968. He is one of eight children born to George Curtis, an amateur dancer. He is of Māori descent; his tribal affiliations are Te Arawa and Ngāti Hauiti. His uncle was Toby Curtis, 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, which nurtured his abilities as a performer in kapa haka. Curtis later performed as a breakdancer and competitively in rock 'n' roll dance competitions.

He received his secondary education at Edmund Rice College, Rotorua. Curtis graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989 with a diploma in acting.

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.

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, 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. 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.

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." The New Zealand Herald praised him for his "towering performance" 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 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.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2014/12/04/walking-dead-casts/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|title='Walking Dead' spinoff casts male lead

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

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.

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

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 in a private ceremony at his home, and has four children. He is Roman Catholic.

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

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Curtis, Clifford Vivian Devon, 1968–".
2. Haines. (12 February 2006). "Cliff Curtis, the megastar with a mortgage". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
3. (25 January 2007). ""Don't cry for me, Waititi" says Pita Sharples".
4. Michael Cugley. (24 November 2022). "Māori and indigenous cultures shine in Avatar sequel".
5. Nicholas, Jill. (8 December 2013). "Our people: Toby Curtis". Rotorua Daily Post.
6. Parahi, Carmen. (15 December 2014). "Cliff Curtis: My real life tragedy, violence and triumph". Marae TV.
7. (26 July 2014). "The Dark Horse: Cliff's Edge". The NZ Herald.
8. "Graduate".
9. [http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/film/jubilee "...a funny, warm-hearted comedy set in heartland New Zealand..."] {{Webarchive. link. (5 September 2017, New Zealand Film Commission)
10. "Whenua Films".
11. "Wellington director's feature to be the highest-grossing NZ production". Wellington.scoop.co.nz.
12. (24 July 2014). "Film review with Dan Slevin". Radio New Zealand National.
13. Baillie, Russell. (31 July 2014). "Movie review: The Dark Horse". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
14. Moore, Debi. (29 March 2015). "News: See the First Teaser for AMC's Fear the Walking Dead".
15. (14 July 2010). "Cliff Curtis starred as daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck...".
16. Prudom, Laura. (2014). "The Walking Dead' Companion Series Casts Cliff Curtis as Male Lead". Variety.
17. Ross, Dalton. (11 August 2015). "Cliff Curtis explains why Fear the Walking Dead is more than a zombie show".
18. (11 May 2015). "AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' Begins Production in Vancouver". AMC.
19. MrDisgusting. (29 March 2015). "'Fear The Walking Dead' Trailer: Get Your Flu Shot!".
20. (9 May 2017). "'Fear the Walking Dead' Star Cast in All Four 'Avatar' Sequels".
21. (27 January 2019). "'Hobbs And Shaw' Casts Cliff Curtis As A Hobbs, More Brothers Revealed".
22. (3 January 2010). "Cliff Curtis' NZ wedding". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
23. (14 March 2016). "Cliff Curtis discusses playing Jesus in new film Risen". Stuff (company).
24. Beale, Lewis. (1 April 2016). "'Fear the Walking Dead's' Cliff Curtis talks ethnic roles".
25. "Ka Whawhai Tonu". [[New Zealand Film Commission]].