Rhys Darby
Darby in 2024
Born	Rhys Montague Darby (1974-03-21)21 March 1974 (age 51) Auckland,New Zealand
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	1996–present
Spouse	Rosie Carnahan (m. 2004)
Children	2
Website	rhysdarby.com

Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974)^[1][2] is a New Zealand actor and comedian. He is known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied withmime, and sound effects^[3] of things such as machinery and animals.^[4] He was nominated for theBilly T Award in 2001 and 2002^[5] and won the 2012Fred (Dagg) Award for best NZ show at theNew Zealand International Comedy Festival.^[6]

Darby is best known for playingMurray Hewitt, the band manager ofFlight of the Conchords in thetelevision series, a role he originally played in theBBC radio series under the name Brian Nesbit.^[7] He has appeared in films such asYes Man (2008),The Boat That Rocked (2009),Love Birds (2011),What We Do in the Shadows (2014),Trolls (2016),Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017),Guns Akimbo (2019),Relax, I'm from the Future (2022),Uproar (2023) andNext Goal Wins (2023). From March 2022 to October 2023, he starred asStede Bonnet alongsideTaika Waititi in theHBO Max period romantic comedy seriesOur Flag Means Death.^[8]

Darby was born on 21 March 1974 inAuckland and was brought up in the suburb ofPakuranga. He attended Edgewater College.^[9] A former soldier, he left theNew Zealand Army in 1994 and began studies at theUniversity of Canterbury.^[10] In 1996 he formed a comedy duo, Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban.^[11] After winning an open mic contest at Southern Blues Bar inChristchurch, the duo began performing at local venues.^[12]

Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving back toAuckland to seek more solo stand-up experience.^[13] After performing his first solo show at the2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further.^[5]

In 2004, he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band's manager Brian Nesbit alongside comedy stars such asRob Brydon,Andy Parsons andJimmy Carr.^[7] Darby's character was renamed to Murray Hewitt, the band's manager, for theFlight of the Conchords TV show. He provided vocals for the track "Leggy Blonde" on theirself-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.^[14]

Darby played the role of Norman, the boss ofJim Carrey's character inYes Man.^[15] In July 2008 he appeared in aNike advertisement featuringRoger Federer; he played an impostor posing as Federer's coach.^[16][17]

He appeared on a British children's television programmeThe Slammer during its first series. He also appeared in several advertisements for New Zealand mobile phone company2degrees. He appeared onSoccer AM on 18 October 2008 and onNever Mind The Buzzcocks on 23 October.

Rhys Darby's hair colour is self-described asElectric Copper in the episode ofFlight of the Conchords entitledMurray Takes It to the Next Level. He refers to this in his stand-up showIt's Rhys Darby Night which he performed at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe from 6–15 August 2009,^[18] The Bloomsbury Theatre in London from 27 July – 1 August and toured around New Zealand with in October and November that year.

Darby played the role of Angus in theRichard Curtis filmThe Boat That Rocked^[19] released in the UK on 1 April 2009. This film was released in some countries in November 2009 under the namePirate Radio.^[20]

In 2009, while home in New Zealand, he began filming TV ads for NZ's new mobile network2degrees and appearing in NZ showsRocked the Nation 2,Jaquie Brown Diaries andIntrepid Journeys. He has also branched out into producing live comedy with his wife and their companyAwesomeness International. At the NZ International Comedy Festival they produced shows for local comedians. Darby became a climate ambassador forGreenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign^[21] and published a poem and video in support of the campaign.^[22]

In 2009 Darby became a part of the New ZealandTV ONE seriesIntrepid Journeys, Season 5, touringRwanda. On 10 August 2010,Entertainment Weekly claimed that Darby was in consideration for a role in the television seriesThe Office afterSteve Carell left at the end of the 2011 season; however, this did not materialise.^[23]

In May 2011, he also filmed a pilot for aChannel 4 sitcom in the UK,The Fun Police.^[24] 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 sitcomHow to Be a Gentleman.^[25] Darby's second DVDIt's Rhys Darby Night! was released in NZ on 12 December 2011.^[20]

He wrote a self-described "autobiographical space novel" entitledThis Way to Spaceship, which was released on 12 April 2012. On 20 May 2012, Darby was awarded the Fred Award by theNew Zealand International Comedy Festival for his show of the same name as his book.^[6]

In 2013, he was responsible for flying 'Cornish rappers'Hedluv + Passman to New Zealand for theNew Zealand International Comedy Festival.^[26] This was followed by an appearance onSeven Sharp, where he introduced 'his rappers'^[26] to the New Zealand public.^[27]

Since 2013, Darby has co-hosted thecryptozoology-focused podcastThe Cryptid Factor withDan Schreiber andDavid Farrier.^[28]

Darby climbed to the summit ofMount Kilimanjaro in July 2013 as part of a World Vision team of celebrities that included OlympianMahé Drysdale and musicianBoh Runga. On 8 November 2013, Darby made an appearance and performed some standup comedy in his capacity as second guest on theLate Show with David Letterman. He portrayed Anton in the 2014 release comedy horror filmWhat We Do in the Shadows.^[29]

In February 2016, he played Guy Mann in the third episode ("Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster") ofseason 10 ofThe 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.^[30]

In 2018, Darby participated in a video together withPrime Minister of New ZealandJacinda Ardern as part of a tourism campaign for the country in which they discussed why New Zealandwas being excluded from world maps so frequently.^[31] Darby appeared on the panel showPatriot Brains in 2021.

From 2022 to 2023, he starred in theHBO Max showOur Flag Means Death as pirate captainStede Bonnet. The series received critical acclaim for itsLGBTQ representation,^[32] in part due to the romantic relationship between Bonnet andBlackbeard, played by co-starTaika Waititi.^[33] Critics also praised Darby’s performance, calling it his “career-best” work.^[34]IndieWire included Darby's portrayal of Bonnet in their list of the best TV performances of 2022.^[35] His performance earned several award nominations, includingPeabody,^[36]Hollywood Critics Association^[37] andAstra Award^[38] nods. Darby referred toOur Flag Means Death as “the best thing I’ve ever done”^[39] and his favorite TV project ever,^[40] with the role of Bonnet being the “most challenging” and “complex” of his career.^[41]

Darby hosted the51st International Emmy Awards in November 2023.^[42] He later presented at the75th Creative Arts Emmy Awards in January 2024^[43] and theArt Directors Guild Awards in February 2024.^[44]

In June 2024, Darby starred as the Interim Deputy Director of “Turalism” in a promotional video for the launch of the fifth expansion for "Final Fantasy XIV",Dawntrail, taking the form of a tourism advertisement for the expansion's central setting, the continent of Tural.^[45]

In November 2024, Darby announced he would be returning to stand-up comedy with a new show calledThe Legend Returns. The show is scheduled to tour in 2025.^[46]

Darby is the youngest of five children and was raised by a single mother. He had a close relationship with his sister Linda, who helped raise him after his father left.^[47]

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.^[48] As of July 2014, Darby and his family reside inLos Angeles, California.^[49][50]

Darby has described himself as being on thespectrum and havingADHD.^[51][52]

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRhys Darby.

• Official website
• Interview in The ApiaryArchived 5 May 2014 at theWayback Machine
• Interview on The Rock radio stationArchived 17 June 2011 at theWayback Machine
• Rhys Darby atIMDb

|}

• 1974 births
• Living people
• Comedians from Auckland
• New Zealand Army personnel
• New Zealand expatriate male actors in the United States
• New Zealand male comedians
• New Zealand male film actors
• New Zealand male television actors
• New Zealand male voice actors
• New Zealand people of Welsh descent
• New Zealand podcasters
• New Zealand stand-up comedians
• University of Canterbury alumni
• 20th-century New Zealand comedians
• 21st-century New Zealand comedians

• Webarchive template wayback links
• All articles with dead YouTube links
• Articles with dead YouTube links from February 2022
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from August 2023
• CS1 maint: url-status
• CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use New Zealand English from December 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English
• Use dmy dates from January 2023
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Place of birth missing (living people)