Temuera Morrison

Early life

Morrison was born on 26 December 1960 in the town of Rotorua, on the North Island of New Zealand. He is the son of Hana Morrison (née Stafford), and musician Laurie Morrison. He is Māori, of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue) and Tainui (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rarua) whakapapa, and also has Scottish and Irish ancestry. His sister was performer Taini Morrison and his uncle was musician Sir Howard Morrison. His secondary education took place at Wesley College, Auckland, and Western Heights High School, Rotorua.

Career

1973–2014: Film and music

Morrison's film debut is the 1973 film Rangi's Catch, playing the title character. He trained in drama under the New Zealand Special Performing Arts Training Scheme. One of his earliest starring roles was in the 1988 film Never Say Die, opposite Lisa Eilbacher. After this he played Dr. Hone Ropata on the television soap opera Shortland Street from 1992 to 1995.

In 1994, he received attention for his role as the violently abusive Māori husband Jake "The Muss" Heke in Once Were Warriors, a film adaptation of Alan Duff's novel Once Were Warriors. The film became the most successful local release in New Zealand, and sold to many countries. The role won him international acclaim and he received the award for best male performance in a dramatic role at the 1994 New Zealand Film and Television Awards. He reprised the role in the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, for which he received the Best Actor award from the New Zealand Film Awards. Morrison said in 2010 that he felt typecast by the role, to the point that it was "a millstone round my neck". In 1996, he appeared in the Pamela Anderson film Barb Wire.

He has appeared in supporting roles in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Beautiful Country (2004). In 2005, Morrison became the host of the talk show The Tem Show on New Zealand television.

In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to drama.

He started writing an autobiography in 2009, which he hoped would inspire others to "reach for the stars".

He released his debut album, Tem, through Sony Music Entertainment NZ in late November 2014. It consists of covers of songs that his father, and uncle Sir Howard Morrison, had performed at local venues when he was growing up.

2002–2023: ''Star Wars'' films, video games and television

Morrison became widely known outside of New Zealand with his role as bounty hunter Jango Fett in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Part of the plot involves an army of clones created with Jango's DNA, so Morrison also provided the voice acting for the clones. He reappeared as several clones in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and re-recorded the lines of the character Boba Fett (Jango's clone "son") in the 2004 DVD re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, replacing the voice of Jason Wingreen.

Morrison has since portrayed Jango Fett and his clones in several Star Wars video games, all produced by LucasArts. He played the clone commando "Boss" in Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005), voiced all the troopers in Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), and voiced both Jango and Boba Fett in its sequel, Battlefront II (2005). Morrison reprised his role as Jango in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (2002), a game centered around the character, and LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (2005), along with his clones, but was uncredited in the latter. He voiced Boba in the 2006 game Star Wars: Empire at War, and DICE's Star Wars Battlefront (2015) and Battlefront II (2017), the latter of which were produced by EA.

Morrison physically portrayed Boba Fett for the first time in the second season of The Mandalorian (2020). In the show, Morrison portrays an aged, weathered version of the character. Morrison's Fett has heavy scars on his face, and wears dark robes before reclaiming and restoring his armor. Morrison says that with the physically worn appearance, he adjusted his voice to be more gravelly, as if Boba's vocal cords were affected by his past traumas. With the role, Morrison was also able to bring a bit of his own Māori culture to Fett's portrayal. In an interview with The New York Times, he said that he "wanted to bring that kind of spirit and energy, which we call wairua, [to the role]" and used that influence in his on-screen fight scenes, both in the hand-to-hand combat and while wielding weapons.

In 2020, a spinoff of the series The Mandalorian was announced, titled The Book of Boba Fett. following Fett's life after the events of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. The series premiered on 29 December 2021.

In 2022, Morrison made a cameo appearance as a homeless veteran clone trooper in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. In 2023, he voiced Rex and other clones in an episode of the first season of Ahsoka.

2008–present: Other roles

Morrison returned to Shortland Street for six weeks in June and July 2008 to reprise the role of Dr. Hone Ropata.

In 2008, he appeared on New Zealand skit comedy television show Pulp Sport, in a sketch that made fun of him being cloned.

Morrison has appeared in several DC Comics-related films. In the 2011 film Green Lantern, he portrayed Abin Sur. In 2018 he played lighthouse keeper Tom Curry, the father of the title character, in Aquaman. Morrison reprised the role in The Flash, released in 2023, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which released in December 2023.

Morrison also provided the voice of Moana's father, Chief Tui, in the 2016 animated Disney film of the same name. He reprised the role in the 2024 sequel, and also provided Tui's singing voice instead of Christopher Jackson.

He portrayed Kahekili in the 2025 Hawaiian period drama miniseries Chief of War executively produced and co-starred by Jason Momoa for Apple TV+.

Personal life

Morrison lives in New Zealand, and divides his time between filming there, Australia, and the United States. He has an adult son from a relationship in the late-1980s with singer Kim Willoughby from the all-girl group When the Cat's Away; and a daughter with Peata Melbourne. Morrison's partner is Ashlee Howden-Sadlier, who is of Māori heritage.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

References

1. (10 July 2024). "Temuera Morrison". Eyes on New Zealand.
2. Spratt, Amanda. (23 October 2005). "Howard Morrison a knight in full voice". [[The New Zealand Herald#Herald on Sunday.
3. (9 September 2018). "Our People: Temuera Morrison".
4. (19 August 2014). "Once were Warriors star Jake a millstone". [[Stuff (website).
5. Gleiberman, Owen. (10 May 1996). "Barb Wire".
6. (3 June 1996). "Queen's Birthday honours list 1996". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
7. (19 August 2014). "Once Were Warriors star hits write note". [[Stuff (website).
8. (9 November 2014). "Temuera Morrison – 'Tem'". [[Radio New Zealand]].
9. Capps, Kriston. (28 November 2014). "Of Course There Are Black Stormtroopers in ''Star Wars''". [[The Atlantic]].
10. (8 May 2020). "'The Mandalorian': Temuera Morrison Returns to 'Star Wars' Universe to Play Boba Fett (Exclusive)". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
11. Itzkoff, Dave. (7 December 2020). "Being Boba Fett: Temuera Morrison Discusses 'The Mandalorian'". The New York Times.
12. Hibberd, James. (16 December 2021). "How 'The Book of Boba Fett' Will Shake Up 'Star Wars'". The Hollywood Reporter.
13. Porter, Rick. (29 September 2021). "'Mandalorian' Spinoff 'Book of Boba Fett' Gets December Date on Disney+".
14. Kit, Borys. (15 March 2010). "Two kiwi actors join "Green Lantern"". Reuters.
15. Crumlish, Callum. (13 June 2021). "Aquaman 2: Temuera Morrison on returning to DC Comics series in The Lost Kingdom".
16. Hodges, Jake. (2025-08-07). "Temuera Morrison Reveals the Brutal Sequence He Fought to Change in ‘Chief of War’: "I Can't Imagine Why You Would Do That"".
17. (31 October 2013). "TV picks of the week: Morrison reality check". [[New Zealand Herald]].
18. "Clone Troopers". [[Lucasfilm]].
19. (July 2002). "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones – Love and War". [[Cinefex]].
20. Wiseman, Andreas. (17 September 2020). "Tribeca Genre Pic Gets U.S. Deal; Jason Isaacs Joins Sci-Fi Film 'Rainfall'; Sales Firm Motus Nabs Colombian Drama — Global Briefs". Deadline Hollywood.
21. "Ka Whawhai Tonu". [[New Zealand Film Commission]].
22. "Temuera Morrison – 18 Character Images".
23. (17 August 2021). "Stunning New Star Wars: Visions Trailer Debuts".
24. Young, Bryan. (February 2, 2022). "The Book Of Boba Fett Delivers Expected Surprises In 'From The Desert Comes A Stranger'".
25. (27 May 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi's sneaky cameo is more important than you realise".
26. Joey Clift. (May 3, 2023). "Spirit Rangers Season 2 comes out May 8th and we just announced a bunch of our voice cast!! It was so fun working with all of these Native and Indigenous superstars and I can't wait for ya'll to hear them in the new episodes! #SpiritRangers".