Bret McKenzie ONZM
McKenzie at theMuppets Most Wanted premiere on 11 March 2014
Background information
Also known as	Rhymenoceros
Born	Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (1976-06-29)29 June 1976 (age 49) Wellington, New Zealand
Genres	Comedy folk acoustic
Occupations	Musician songwriter comedian actor music supervisor
Instruments	Guitar keyboard bass guitar drums vocals ukulele
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Sub Pop
Member of	Flight of the Conchords
Relatives	Deirdre Tarrant (mother) Peter McKenzie (father)

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzieONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian,music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duoFlight of the Conchords along withJemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of aBBC radio series and then an oft-laudedAmerican television series, which aired for two seasons onHBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special,Live in London, in 2018.

Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for twoMuppet films,The Muppets(2011) andMuppets Most Wanted(2014), the former of which won him anAcademy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion bandThe Black Seeds andWellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material. His debut albumSongs Without Jokes was released in August 2022.

As an actor, he portrayed elves inPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings andThe Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming himFigwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy'sfan community. He later appears inThe Hobbit asLindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book ofThe Fellowship of the Ring.

McKenzie was born inWellington toPeter McKenzie, a part-time actor, andDeirdre Tarrant, a contemporary dance teacher. He was raised inKelburn with his brothers Justin and Jonny.^[1] McKenzie attended Clifton Terrace Model School between 1982 and 1987^[2] ("model" refers to a standard school for training teachers as opposed tomodelling).^[1] His classmates at the school includedAntonia Prebble andAge Pryor.^[1]

McKenzie then went on toWellington College where he was aprefect and won the Wellington regional heats of theSmokefree Rockquest with his jazz and funk band, The Blue Samanthas.^[1]

While studying atVictoria University of Wellington, McKenzie metJemaine Clement, a fellow student who was also studying film and theatre. They didn't complete their degrees but ended up living together and first were members ofSo You're a Man, and then later formingFlight of the Conchords.^[1]

As Flight of the Conchords they have toured internationally and released four CDs:Folk the World Tour in 2002,The Distant Future (which won theGrammy Award for Best Comedy Album) in 2007,^[1] the Grammy nominatedFlight of the Conchords in 2008, andI Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. The Conchords produced a six-part improvisational comedy radio programme for theBBC^[1] and have appeared onLate Night with Conan O'Brien, theLate Show with David Letterman^[1] andThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

After a successful appearance in 2005 onHBOsOne Night Stand,^[1] the Conchords were offered their own 12-part HBO seriesFlight of the Conchords. Its first season ran from June to September 2007, and its second season premiered on HBO 18 January 2009. Along with Clement, McKenzie was featured as 2007Salon "Sexiest Man Living"^[3][4] and 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazineWho.^[5] More recently, the duo toured in 2012, 2016, and 2018.

McKenzie has acted periodically since making his professional acting debut in 2000, a small role in the UK seriesDark Knight which was filmed in Wellington. Outside the Flight of the Conchords television adaption, he is most notable for his appearances in the first and third films inPeter Jackson'sThe Lord of the Rings trilogy. His silent role in the first film asFigwit achieved some minor internet fame,^[1] which led to Jackson giving him a line in the third film.^[1] His fatherPeter McKenzie played the role ofElendil inLord of the Rings.^[6] In April 2011, McKenzie was cast as the elfLindir forThe Hobbit.^[7]

McKenzie, together with Australian comedianHamish Blake, starred in a New Zealand feature film,Two Little Boys, finished in late 2011 and released in New Zealand in March 2012.^[8] He had a supporting role in the 2013 filmAustenland.

Guest starring roles include him and fellow Conchord Clement as a pair of camp counselors in "Elementary School Musical", the season premiere of the22nd season ofThe Simpsons, which aired on 26 September 2010, and other comedies.^[9]

McKenzie has contributed to a number of projects outside of Flight of the Conchords. In the late 1990s, McKenzie joined the reggae fusion groupThe Black Seeds; he put out four albums with band before leaving around 2007.^[10] The Black Seeds had some minor radio hits during his tenure, and continue to be regionally successful.^[11] In the mid-2000s, he released music under the name The Video Kid, including his albumPrototype.^[12] In 2005, he helped form theWellington International Ukulele Orchestra which was active into the 2010s.^[1][13]

In the late 2010s, he began writing and recording solo material again, and later toured New Zealand in 2018 with a collective that included musiciansAge Pryor andNigel Collins.^[14]

During the summer of 2010, McKenzie flew to Los Angeles to serve as the music supervisor forThe Muppets.^[15] He went on to write four of the five original songs from the film's soundtrack including "Man or Muppet" and "Life's a Happy Song" both of which were nominated forBroadcast Film Critics Association Awards andSatellite Awards for Best Original Song.^[16] At the84th Academy Awards in 2012 his song, "Man or Muppet", won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.^[1]

McKenzie then wrote the original songs for the 2014 movieMuppets Most Wanted,^[17] as well as songs for other children's films likeThe Pirates! Band of Misfits andDora and the Lost City of Gold. Other credits include the 2016Sainsbury's Christmas advert featuringJames Corden on vocals.^[18] He has written songs for The Simpsons on numerous occasions.

McKenzie released his debut solo album,Songs Without Jokes, onSub Pop in August 2022. The release will be followed with an extensive tour in New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, and North America.^[19] The album is inspired by the songwriting ofSteely Dan,Randy Newman, andHarry Nilsson.^[19]

He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke^[20][21] and currently maintains residences inLos Angeles,New York City, andWellington. They have three children and mainly live in Wellington.^[22]

In the2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, McKenzie was appointed anOfficer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and film.^[23]

• Prototype (2004) (as The Video Kid)
• Songs Without Jokes (2022) – No. 40 New Zealand^[32]
• Freak Out City (2025)

The Black Seeds

• Keep On Pushing (2001)
• On the Sun (2004)
• Into the Dojo (2006)
• Sometimes Enough EP (2007)

Flight of the Conchords

• Folk the World Tour (2002)
• The Distant Future (2007)
• Flight of the Conchords (2008)
• I Told You I Was Freaky (2009)
• Live in London (2019)

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

• The Heartache EP (2007)
• A Little Bit Wonderful EP (2008)
• The Dreaming EP (2009)
• I Love You... EP (2010)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBret McKenzie.

• Bret McKenzie atIMDb
• Flight of the Conchords Official Site
• What The Folk! Flight of the Conchords fan site
• BBC Radio 2
• Flight of the Conchords Official MySpace

• 1976 births
• Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songwriters
• Grammy Award winners
• Flight of the Conchords members
• People educated at Wellington College, Wellington
• Living people
• New Zealand male comedians
• Musicians from Wellington City
• New Zealand male television actors
• Male actors from Wellington City
• Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
• 21st-century New Zealand male actors
• 21st-century New Zealand male singers
• New Zealand male film actors
• New Zealand comedy musicians
• 20th-century New Zealand comedians
• 21st-century New Zealand comedians
• New Zealand sketch comedians
• Television show creators

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