Cliff Curtis | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Curtis in 2025 | |
| Born | Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (1968-07-27)July 27, 1968 (age 57) Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Education | Toi Whakaari (BFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Toby Curtis (uncle) |
Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born July 27, 1968) is a New Zealand actor and film producer. After working in theatre, he made his film debut inJane Campion'sOscar-winning filmThe Piano (1993), followed by a breakout role in the dramaOnce Were Warriors (1994). He has won fourNew Zealand Film Awards, Best Actor forJubilee (2000) andThe Dark Horse (2014) - which also earned him theAsia Pacific Screen Award - and Best Supporting Actor forDesperate Remedies (1993) andWhale Rider (2002).
Curtis' international film credits includeThree Kings,Bringing Out the Dead (both 1999),Blow,Training Day (both 2001),Collateral Damage (2002),Sunshine,Live Free or Die Hard (both 2007),Push,Crossing Over (both 2009),Colombiana (2011),Hobbs & Shaw, andDoctor Sleep (both 2019), also portraying James "Mac" Mackreides inThe Meg (2018) andMeg 2: The Trench (2023) and Tonowari in theAvatar series (2022–present).
He had television series roles onNBC'sTrauma andABC'sBody of Proof andMissing. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayedTravis Manawa on theAMC horror drama seriesFear the Walking Dead. Curtis is also the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.
Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis was born inRotorua in 1968.[1] He is one of eight children born to George Curtis, an amateur dancer.[2] He is ofMāori descent; his tribal affiliations areTe Arawa[3] andNgāti Hauiti.[4] His uncle wasToby Curtis, a prominent Māori educator and leader.[5]
As a boy he studiedmau rākau, a traditional Māori form oftaiaha fighting, with Māori elderMita Mohi onMokoia Island,[6] which nurtured his abilities as a performer inkapa haka. Curtis later performed as abreakdancer and competitively in rock 'n' roll dance competitions.[7]
He received his secondary education atEdmund Rice College, Rotorua. Curtis graduated fromToi Whakaari in 1989 with a diploma in acting.[8]
Curtis started acting in amateur productions of musicalsFiddler on the Roof andMan of La Mancha with the Kapiti Players and the Mantis Cooperative Theatre Company, before attending the New Zealand Drama School and Teatro Dimitri Scuola inSwitzerland. He worked at a number of New Zealand theatre companies, includingDownstage,Mercury Theatre,Bats Theatre, and Centre Point. His stage roles includeHappy End,The Merry Wives of Windsor,Othello,The Cherry Orchard,Porgy and Bess,Weeds,Macbeth,Serious Money, andThe End of the Golden Weather.
His first feature film role was a small part in the Oscar-nominatedJane Campion filmThe Piano. He went on to win attention inOnce 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 byTemuera 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-filmKahu & Maia, a contemporary depiction of aNgāti Kahungunu andNgāti Rongomaiwahine legend. He played a seducer in the melodramaDesperate Remedies. In 2000 Curtis starred as family man Billy Williams inJubilee,[9] before playing father to the lead character in the international hitWhale Rider.
In 2004 with producerAinsley Gardiner, Curtis formed independent film production company Whenua Films.[10] 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, notablyTwo Cars, One Night, which received an Academy Award nomination in 2005, andHawaikii by director Mike Jonathan in 2006. Both short films circulated through many of the prestigious international film festivals like theBerlinale.
At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miramax Films bought US distribution rights to relationship comedyEagle vs Shark, the first feature film directed byTaika Waititi. Waititi's follow-up featureBoy, also from Whenua Films, went on to become the highest grossing New Zealand film released.[11]
In 2014, Curtis played the lead role inThe Dark Horse, which the National Radio review called "one of the greatest New Zealand films ever made."[12] TheNew Zealand Herald praised him for his "towering performance"[13] as real-life Gisborne speed chess player and coachGenesis Potini, who died in 2011. Curtis studied chess and deliberately put on weight for the role.
Curtis has appeared in the filmsMartin Scorsese'sBringing Out the Dead (1999),Three Kings (1999), the drug dramaBlow (2001) withJohnny Depp,Training Day (2001),Collateral Damage (2002) withArnold Schwarzenegger,Live Free or Die Hard (2007),Sunshine (2007),Push (2009), “10,000 B.C.” (2008) the re-make, andColombiana (2011). InM. Night Shyamalan'sThe Last Airbender (2010), he played the main villain, Fire Lord Ozai.[14] Curtis portrayed Lt. Cortez in the filmLast Knights (2015) andJesus Christ in the filmRisen (2016).[15]
In the NBC TV dramaTrauma,[16] he played daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck.[17] Curtis was cast as Travis Manawa, a leading male role of theAMC TV seriesFear the Walking Dead,[18][19] the spin-off ofThe Walking Dead.[20]
In 2017, Curtis was cast as Tonowari and is set to appear in the four sequels toAvatar, includingAvatar: The Way of Water andAvatar: Fire and Ash.[21]
In 2019, he played Jonah Hobbs, the brother ofLuke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) inFast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw; their characters are Samoan.[22]
Curtis stars inTrue Spirit alongsideTeagan Croft andAnna Paquin. It began airing on Netflix on 3 February 2023. The movie is based on the journey ofJessica Watson, a 16-year-old Australian sailor attempting a solo globalcircumnavigation. In 2024, Curtis starred in theNetflix seriesKaos in the role of theGreek GodPoseidon.
He was married in late 2009[23] in a private ceremony at his home, and has four children. He isRoman Catholic.[24]
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."[25]
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| 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 | Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah | Credited 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 | |
| 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 | ||
| 2024 | Ka Whawhai Tonu | Wi Toka | [26] |
| 2025 | Last Breath | Andre Jenson | |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash | Tonowari |
| 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 |
| 2004–09 | bro'Town | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2009–10 | 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 |
| 2015–17 | Fear the Walking Dead | Travis Manawa | 21 episodes |
| 2016–17 | Talking Dead | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2023–present | Invincible | Paul (voice) | 8 episodes |
| 2024 | Swift Street | Robert | 8 episodes |
| 2024 | Kaos | Poseidon | 8 episodes |
| 2025 | Chief of War | Keōua | 3 episodes (current release) |
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