Oscar Kightley | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kightley in 2025 | |
| Born | Oscar Vai To'elau Kightley 1969 (age 56–57) |
| Alma mater | Rutherford College |
| Occupations | Actor, presenter, writer, director, comedian |
| Political party | Labour |
Oscar Vai To'elau KightleyMNZM (born 1969) is a Samoan-New Zealand actor, television presenter, writer, journalist, director, and comedian. He acted in and co-wrote the successful 2006 filmSione's Wedding.
Oscar Vai To'elau Kightley was born in 1969 inApia, Samoa, the youngest of eight children, and was raised in his father's village of Faleatiu.[1] He went to New Zealand after the death of his father, when he was 4 years old and was adopted by his aunt and uncle, who lived inWest Auckland.[citation needed]
He attendedRutherford College, where writing was his favourite subject.[citation needed]
After leaving school, Kightley was a cadet at theAuckland Star, and worked as a journalist for four years.[1] "I thought that was going to be me until I retired."[2] He moved toChristchurch in 1991 to be a presenter for the children's television showLife in the Fridge Exists (L.I.F.E), where he metTanya and Mishelle Muagututi'a,Erolia Ifopo, andSimon Small.[1]
Small had written his first full-length play,Horizons, about the Samoan experience in New Zealand, and invited Kightley to perform in it in his first acting role, along with Muagututi'a and Ifopo.Horizons opened the Performing Arts Theatre on 19 October 1991 in a production directed by Christina Stachurski. The play was re-workshopped and recast (but still with Kightley) and in August–September it played at Galaxy Theatre in Auckland,Taki Rua Depot, and the Castle Theatre at theUniversity of Otago before returning to Christchurch.[1]
The success ofHorizons inspired Kightley to formPacific Underground theatre company in Christchurch alongside Small, Muagututi'a, Ifopo, and Michael Hodgson, a mixture of people frompalagi and Pacific Island identities. In just two months Kightley and Small (who wrote as Francis Serra) had written the playFresh off the Boat.[2] The play was workshopped byPlaymarket, and directed byNathaniel Lees withDavid Fane as the lead. The play opened at theRolleston Ave Theatre in Christchurch in November 1993, toured to theNew Zealand Fringe Festival in Wellington in 1994, and also played for three weeks atDownstage in 1995. It later went toAuckland,Apia, andBrisbane. It won a Media Peace Award and was published in 2005.[1]
As well as Pacific Underground, Kightley co-founded the Island Players theatre company. He won theBruce Mason Playwriting Award in 1998[3] and has worked as a performer and writer for a number of television shows includingSkitz, Telly Laughs, The Panel, Sportzah, and TV3's rugby coverage. His plays includeDawn Raids, Island Girls,A Frigate Bird Sings (co-written withDave Fane andNathaniel Lees), andNiu Sila (co-written withDave Armstrong).Dawn Raids was reissued in 2018 byPlaymarket.[4] Kightley also co-wrote and took a lead role in the highly successfulSione’s Wedding movies.[5]
He was a breakfast announcer onNiu FM until January 2007.[6] He has also been onRNZ National/Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa National as a guest, as well as guest-hostingKim Hill's Saturday Morning show during Summer 2007–2008. In 2006 he received a Laureate Award from theArts Foundation of New Zealand.[7] He is a member of the comedy group theNaked Samoans, who together wrote the animated television seriesbro'Town.[7]
In 2013, Kightley played the title character in the police dramaHarry, which he also co-wrote. He directedMadeleine Sami'sTV3 comedySuper City, and co-directed a US pilot of it withTaika Waititi.[8]
In 2019, Kightley led a panel forAuckland Council on why people should vote in local-body elections.[9][10] At the2022 local-body elections, Kightley was elected to theHenderson-Massey local board, representing theLabour Party.[9][11] Kightley was re-elected in2025.[12]
Kightley made his directorial debut in 2021 with the documentaryDawn Raid, which told the story ofDawn Raid Entertainment, a hip-hop record label founded in South Auckland by Tanielu Leaosavai'i and Andy Murnane.[13]
In the2009 New Year Honours, Kightley was appointed aMember of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to television and the theatre.[14] In 2016, he was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award withDave Fane at the Creative New ZealandArts Pasifka Awards.[15]
In 2019, Kightley received theFulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer's Residency, "a unique opportunity for a New Zealand writer of Pacific heritage to work on a creative writing project exploring Pacific identify, culture, or history."[2] The significance of this award is the place it has in the development of contemporary Maori and Pacifica culture, and of Kightley's stature within the history of that development. The Residency, located at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa,[2] was inaugurated by film director, writer, and educatorSima Urale in 2004; other film and theatre artists who have received the award includeVictor Rodger (2006),Toa Fraser (2009), andMakerita Urale (2010).[16] The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is also whereMerata Mita "developed [the] Academy for Creative Media’s indigenous filmmaking program.[17]
In October 2019, Kightley was presented with a Scroll of Honour from theVariety Artists Club of New Zealand for his contribution to New Zealand entertainment.
In November 2020, Kightley was named one of the best dressed men in show business onDavid Hartnell's best-dressed list.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Sione's Wedding | Albert | ||
| 2012 | Sione's 2: Unfinished Business | Albert | ||
| 2013 | Harry | Harry Anglesea | ||
| 2016 | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Andy | ||
| 2016 | Moana | Fisherman (voice) | ||
| 2021 | Dawn Raid | Director | ||
| 2022 | Duck Rockers | Director/Writer/Isaac | [19] | |
| 2023 | Next Goal Wins | Tavita |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
