Rhys Darby

Early life

Darby was born on 21 March 1974 in Auckland and was brought up in the suburb of Pakuranga. He attended Edgewater College. A former soldier, he left the New Zealand Army in 1994 and began studies at the University of Canterbury. In 1996 he formed a comedy duo, Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban. After winning an open mic contest at Southern Blues Bar in Christchurch, the duo began performing at local venues.

Career

Rhys appeared in "Night Groovers" – 3rd collection of rADz – (radical art Haiku films by Yeti Productions) in 2000. Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving back to Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience. After performing his first solo show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further.

In 2004, he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band's manager Brian Nesbit alongside comedy stars such as Rob Brydon, Andy Parsons and Jimmy Carr. Darby's character was renamed to Murray Hewitt, the band's manager, for the Flight of the Conchords TV show. He provided vocals for the track "Leggy Blonde" on their self-titled first album and also in the second series of the show on the track "Rejected" during the episode "A Good Opportunity" alongside tenor Andrew Drost.

Darby played the role of Norman, the boss of Jim Carrey's character in Yes Man. In July 2008 he appeared in a Nike advertisement featuring Roger Federer; he played an impostor posing as Federer's coach.

He appeared on a British children's television programme The Slammer during its first series. He also appeared in several advertisements for New Zealand mobile phone company 2degrees. He appeared on Soccer AM on 18 October 2008 and on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on 23 October.

Darby performed his stand-up show It's Rhys Darby Night at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 6–15 August 2009, at The Bloomsbury Theatre in London from 27 July to 1 August, and toured around New Zealand with in October and November that year.

Darby played the role of Angus in the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked released in the UK on 1 April 2009. This film was released in some countries in November 2009 under the name Pirate Radio.

In 2009, while home in New Zealand, he began filming TV ads for NZ's new mobile network 2degrees and appearing in NZ shows Rocked the Nation 2, Jaquie Brown Diaries and Intrepid Journeys. He has also branched out into producing live comedy with his wife and their company Awesomeness International. At the NZ International Comedy Festival they produced shows for local comedians. Darby became a climate ambassador for Greenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign and published a poem and video in support of the campaign.

In 2009 Darby became a part of the New Zealand TV ONE series Intrepid Journeys, Season 5, touring Rwanda. On 10 August 2010, Entertainment Weekly claimed that Darby was in consideration for a role in the television series The Office after Steve Carell left at the end of the 2011 season; however, this did not materialise.

In May 2011, he also filmed a pilot for a Channel 4 sitcom in the UK, The Fun Police. The pilot was broadcast on 16 September. In 2011, Darby and family moved to the US for Darby to take a role in the CBS sitcom How to Be a Gentleman. Darby's second DVD It's Rhys Darby Night! was released in NZ on 12 December 2011.

He wrote a self-described "autobiographical space novel" entitled This Way to Spaceship, which was released on 12 April 2012. On 20 May 2012, Darby was awarded the Fred Award by the New Zealand International Comedy Festival for his show of the same name as his book.

In 2013, he was responsible for flying 'Cornish rappers' Hedluv + Passman to New Zealand for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. This was followed by an appearance on Seven Sharp, where he introduced 'his rappers' to the New Zealand public.

From 2013 to 2025, Darby co-hosted the cryptozoology-focused podcast The Cryptid Factor with Dan Schreiber, David Farrier and Leon 'Buttons' Kirkbeck. The podcast recorded its final episode at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2025.

Darby climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2013 as part of a World Vision team of celebrities that included Olympian Mahé Drysdale and musician Boh Runga. On 8 November 2013, Darby made an appearance and performed some standup comedy in his capacity as second guest on the Late Show with David Letterman. He portrayed Anton in the 2014 release comedy horror film What We Do in the Shadows.

In February 2016, he played Guy Mann in the third episode ("Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster") of season 10 of The X-Files. Darby, a long-time fan of the show, was thrilled by his experience on set. He saw this as an opportunity that only comes around every so often and said he'd return to the set the first chance he received.

In 2018, Darby participated in a video together with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern as part of a tourism campaign for the country in which they discussed why New Zealand was being excluded from world maps so frequently.

Darby played the role of Nigel Billingsley in the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and the 2019 sequel Jumanji: The Next Level. In 2025, it was announced that Darby would be reprising his role in the newest Jumanji installment.

From 2022 to 2023, Darby starred in the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death as pirate captain Stede Bonnet. The series received critical acclaim for its LGBTQ representation, in part due to the romantic relationship between Bonnet and Blackbeard, played by co-star Taika Waititi. Critics also praised Darby’s portrayal of Bonnet, calling it his “career-best” work and one of the best TV performances of 2022. His performance earned several award nominations, including Peabody, Hollywood Critics Association and Astra Award nods. Darby has referred to Our Flag Means Death as “the best thing I’ve ever done” and his favourite TV project,{{cite web|title='It made me who I am': The TV series that changed Rhys Darby's life

Darby was tapped to host the 51st International Emmy Awards in November 2023. He later presented at the 75th Creative Arts Emmy Awards in January 2024 and the Art Directors Guild Awards in February 2024.

In June 2024, Darby starred as the Interim Deputy Director of “Turalism” in a series of promotional videos for the fifth expansion of "Final Fantasy XIV", Dawntrail, taking the form of a tourism advertisement for the expansion's central setting, the continent of Tural.

In November 2024, Darby announced he would be returning to stand-up comedy after nearly a decade long hiatus with a new show called The Legend Returns. The show toured throughout New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Ireland from May to August 2025. The show is set to debut in America in May 2026 as part of the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival.

Personal life

Darby is the youngest of five children and was raised by a single mother. He was particularly close with his sister Linda, who helped raise him after his father left.

He met his future wife and manager, Rosie Carnahan, while performing stand-up comedy at her café in Christchurch. The couple married in 2004 and have two sons together. As of July 2014, Darby and his family reside in Los Angeles, California.

Darby has described himself as being on the spectrum and having ADHD.

Filmography

Film

Television

Television appearances as himself

Comedy specials

• Imagine That! (2008)
• It's Rhys Darby Night! (2011)
• This Way to Spaceship (2012)
• I'm a Fighter Jet (2017)
• Mystic Time Bird (2021)

Video games

Accolades, awards and nominations

References

References

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2. Hunkin, Joanna. (10 October 2008). "Roll call: Rhys Darby". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
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5. "Radio 2 Comedy". BBC.
6. Pulliam-Moore, Charles. (15 April 2022). "How Our Flag Means Death's creator made a period romance disguised as a pirate comedy". The Verge.
7. (12 May 2012). "Global star recalls roots". Howick and Pakuranga Times.
8. (February 2022). "Performance in University Comedy Show".
9. (2 April 2008). ""Mrs Whippy" song by Rhysently Granted".
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11. Barry Thomas. (2021-12-10). "rADz collection # 3 – 2000".
12. (2 September 2008). "May 2000 Stand-up Performance".
13. [http://rhysdarby.com/download/Rhys_Darby_Biography.pdf Rhys Darby profile] {{webarchive. link. (6 August 2009)
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29. (12 August 2025). "It was the best of times, it was the weirdest of times but all great things must come to an end. Thanks everybody for joining us on our journey to bring joy and light into the world of the unknown! Cryptid Factor Forever x".
30. (7 July 2014). "What We Do in Shadows stars FOTC's Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, and Jackie Van Beek". [[Absolute Radio]].
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32. Ainge Roy, Eleanor. (2 May 2018). "Jacinda Ardern asks why New Zealand is left off world maps in new tourism campaign". [[The Guardian]].
33. (14 November 2025). "Nick Jonas, Rhys Darby, Danny DeVito, Lamorne Morris Returning for Sony’s New ‘Jumanji’ Movie (Exclusive)".
34. (23 March 2022). "''Our Flag Means Death'' Might Just Be the Best Queer Show of the Year".
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42. (5 December 2023). "Rhys Darby of 'Our Flag Means Death' On the Most Challenging Role of His Career".
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44. (2 January 2024). "First Group of Creative Arts Presenters Announced".
45. (10 February 2024). "The 28th Annual ADG Awards".
46. (26 June 2024). "FINAL FANTASY XIV on X: "Interim Deputy Director of Turalism here! If you're planning a trip to Tural, visit our website for all your travel needs! Adventure awaits – FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail is available July 2.".
47. (14 November 2024). "Rhys Darby announces comedy comeback after nearly a decade away".
48. "Kiwi icon Rhys Darby returns to the stage in The Legend Returns, a brand new stand-up show for 2025.".
49. (21 January 2026). "Netflix Is A Joke 2026: Rhys Darby".
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53. (5 November 2024). "Photo of Rosie and their son Finn (to vote)". The Press, Christchurch.
54. (October 25, 2022). "Rhys Darby on how to keep mental health in good shape - Runners Only! Podcast with Dom Harvey".
55. (7 February 2025). "Rhys Darby and DJ Javerbaum on Substack".
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68. [https://telltaletv.com/2024/06/the-2024-tell-tale-tv-awards-results-ghosts-station-19-and-good-omens-among-winners/ "The 2024 Tell-Tale TV Awards: Results! ‘Ghosts,’ ‘Station 19,’ and ‘Good Omens’ Among Winners"]. ''Tell-Tale TV.'' Retrieved 17 June 2024.
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