Cliff Curtis

{{Infobox person

| image = Cliff Curtis (cropped).jpg

| caption = Curtis in 2018

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|07|27}}

| birth_place = Rotorua, New Zealand

| death_date =

| birthname = Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis

| othername =

| alma_mater = Toi Whakaari (1989)

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|Producer}}

| yearsactive = 1991–present

| children = 4

| relatives = Toby Curtis (uncle){{Cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/our-people-toby-curtis/VRD4XIXT7ZR62IGXJ75NKHDKTY/ |title=Our people: Toby Curtis |date=8 December 2013 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |first=Jill |last=Nicholas |access-date=5 November 2020}}

}}

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 in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning film The Piano (1993), followed by a breakout role in the drama Once Were Warriors (1994). He has won four New Zealand Film Awards, Best Actor for Jubilee (2000) and The Dark Horse (2014) - which also earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award - and Best Supporting Actor for Desperate Remedies (1993) and Whale Rider (2002).

Curtis' international film credits include Three 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), and Doctor Sleep (2019), also portraying James "Mac" Mackreides in The Meg (2018) and Meg 2: The Trench (2023) and Tonowari in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).

He had television series roles on NBC's Trauma and ABC's Body of Proof and Missing. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed Travis Manawa on the AMC horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead.{{cite press release |url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2015/05/11/amcs-fear-the-walking-dead-begins-production-in-vancouver-307311/20150511amc01/ |title=AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' Begins Production in Vancouver |publisher=AMC |date=11 May 2015 |access-date=12 May 2015}} Curtis is also the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.

Early life

Curtis was born in Rotorua in 1968.{{cite web |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22583191 |title=Curtis, Clifford Vivian Devon, 1968– |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=1 October 2024}} He is one of eight children born to George Curtis, an amateur dancer.{{cite news |author=Haines |first=Leah |date=12 February 2006 |title=Cliff Curtis, the megastar with a mortgage |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/cliff-curtis-the-megastar-with-a-mortgage/7TCJLQGMI7ZYCCLMZDVZHTX6ME/ |url-status=live |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015075355/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10367921 |archive-date=15 October 2012}} He is of Māori descent; his tribal affiliations are Te Arawa{{cite web |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0701/S00155.htm |title="Don't cry for me, Waititi" says Pita Sharples |website=Scoop |date=25 January 2007 |access-date=3 December 2011 |archive-date=27 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127173153/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0701/S00155.htm |url-status=live}} and Ngāti Hauiti. His uncle was Toby Curtis, a prominent Māori educator and leader.

As a boy he studied mau rākau, a traditional Māori form of taiaha fighting, with Māori elder Mita Mohi on Mokoia Island,{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Xg-PV1UlE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/e7Xg-PV1UlE |archive-date=22 December 2021 |url-status=live|title= Cliff Curtis: My real life tragedy, violence and triumph |last=Parahi |first=Carmen |publisher= Marae TV|via=YouTube|date=15 December 2014}}{{cbignore}} which nurtured his abilities as a performer in kapa haka. Curtis later performed as a breakdancer and competitively in rock 'n' roll dance competitions.{{cite news|url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/canvas-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=532&objectid=11297915|title= The Dark Horse: Cliff's Edge|date= 26 July 2014|work= The NZ Herald|access-date= 18 June 2015|archive-date= 26 October 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191026113328/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/canvas-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=532&objectid=11297915|url-status= live}} He received his secondary education at Edmund Rice College, Rotorua. Curtis graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989 with a Diploma in Acting.{{Cite web|title=Graduate|url=https://www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/graduate|access-date=9 August 2021|website=toiwhakaari.ac.nz|archive-date=10 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710042217/https://www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz/graduate|url-status=live}}

Career

=New Zealand=

Curtis started acting in amateur productions of musicals Fiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha with the Kapiti Players and the Mantis Cooperative Theatre Company, before attending the New Zealand Drama School and Teatro Dimitri Scuola in Switzerland. He worked at a number of New Zealand theatre companies, including Downstage, Mercury Theatre, Bats Theatre, and Centre Point. His stage roles include Happy End, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, The Cherry Orchard, Porgy and Bess, Weeds, Macbeth, Serious Money, and The End of the Golden Weather.

File:Cliff Curtis.jpg

His first feature film role was a small part in the Oscar-nominated Jane Campion film The Piano. He went on to win attention in Once 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 by Temuera 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-film Kahu & Maia, a contemporary depiction of a Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Rongomaiwahine legend. He played a seducer in the melodrama Desperate Remedies. In 2000 Curtis starred as family man Billy Williams in Jubilee,[http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/film/jubilee "...a funny, warm-hearted comedy set in heartland New Zealand..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905225623/http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/film/jubilee |date=5 September 2017}}, New Zealand Film Commission before playing father to the lead character in the international hit Whale Rider.

In 2004 with producer Ainsley Gardiner, Curtis formed independent film production company Whenua Films.{{cite web|url=http://www.whenuafilms.co.nz/|title=Whenua Films|website=Whenua Films|access-date=3 December 2011|archive-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204201804/http://www.whenuafilms.co.nz/|url-status=dead}} 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, notably Two Cars, One Night, which received an Academy Award nomination in 2005, and Hawaikii by director Mike Jonathan in 2006. Both short films circulated through many of the prestigious international film festivals like the Berlinale.

At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miramax Films bought US distribution rights to relationship comedy Eagle vs Shark, the first feature film directed by Taika Waititi. Waititi's follow-up feature Boy, also from Whenua Films, went on to become the highest grossing New Zealand film released.{{cite web |url=http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=25272 |title=Wellington director's feature to be the highest-grossing NZ production |publisher=Wellington.scoop.co.nz |access-date=3 December 2011 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104020/http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=25272 |url-status=live}}

In 2014, Curtis played the lead role in The Dark Horse, which the National Radio review called "one of the greatest New Zealand films ever made."{{cite web |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20142914/film-review-with-dan-slevin |title=Film review with Dan Slevin |date=24 July 2014 |work=Radio New Zealand National |access-date=24 December 2014 |archive-date=27 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227060623/https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20142914/film-review-with-dan-slevin |url-status=live}} The New Zealand Herald praised him for his "towering performance"{{cite news|title=Movie review: The Dark Horse |author=Baillie, Russell |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11301466 |date=31 July 2014 |work=The New Zealand Herald}} as real-life Gisborne speed chess player and coach Genesis Potini, who died in 2011. Curtis studied chess and deliberately put on weight for the role.

=International=

File:Cliff Curtis by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

Curtis has appeared in the films Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Three Kings (1999), the drug drama Blow (2001) with Johnny Depp, Training Day (2001), Collateral Damage (2002) with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Sunshine (2007), Push (2009), “10,000 B.C.” (2008) the re-make, and Colombiana (2011). In M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (2010), he played the main villain, Fire Lord Ozai.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2014/12/04/walking-dead-casts/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|title='Walking Dead' spinoff casts male lead

|last=Hibberd|first=James |date=4 December 2014}} Curtis portrayed Lt. Cortez in the film Last Knights (2015) and Jesus Christ in the film Risen (2016).{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/95032/see-the-first-teaser-for-amcs-fear-the-walking-dead/|title=News: See the First Teaser for AMC's Fear the Walking Dead|date=29 March 2015|last=Moore|first=Debi|website=Dread Central|access-date=30 March 2015|archive-date=1 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401173111/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/95032/see-the-first-teaser-for-amcs-fear-the-walking-dead/|url-status=live}}

In the NBC TV drama Trauma,{{cite web |url=http://www.nbc.com/trauma/bios/ |title=Cliff Curtis starred as daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck... |website=NBC |date=14 July 2010 |access-date=3 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209150257/http://www.nbc.com/trauma/bios/ |archive-date=9 December 2011}} he played daredevil flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck.{{cite news|work=Variety|year=2014|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/walking-dead-spinoff-cliff-curtis-male-lead-1201371013/|title=The Walking Dead' Companion Series Casts Cliff Curtis as Male Lead|last=Prudom|first=Laura|access-date=9 December 2017|archive-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026002449/http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/walking-dead-spinoff-cliff-curtis-male-lead-1201371013/|url-status=live}} Curtis was cast as Travis Manawa, a leading male role of the AMC TV series Fear the Walking Dead,{{cite magazine|title=Cliff Curtis explains why Fear the Walking Dead is more than a zombie show|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/11/fear-the-walking-dead-cliff-curtis-zombie|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|first=Dalton|last=Ross|date=11 August 2015|access-date=10 December 2019}} the spin-off of The Walking Dead.{{cite web|url=http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3337957/fear-walking-dead-trailer/|title='Fear The Walking Dead' Trailer: Get Your Flu Shot!|author=MrDisgusting|date=29 March 2015|website=Bloody Disgusting|access-date=30 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135519/http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3337957/fear-walking-dead-trailer/|url-status=live}}

In 2017, Curtis was cast as Tonowari and is set to appear in the four sequels to Avatar, including Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash.{{cite magazine|title='Fear the Walking Dead' Star Cast in All Four 'Avatar' Sequels|url=http://ew.com/movies/2017/05/08/avatar-sequels-cliff-curtis-fear-walking-dead/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=29 June 2017|date=9 May 2017}}

In 2019, he played Jonah Hobbs, the brother of Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw; their characters are Samoan.{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Brandon |title='Hobbs And Shaw' Casts Cliff Curtis As A Hobbs, More Brothers Revealed |url=https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/01/28/hobbs-and-shaw-cliff-curtis-cast-brothers-roman-reigns/ |website=ComicBook |access-date=10 December 2019 |date=27 January 2019 |archive-date=17 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517171157/https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/01/28/hobbs-and-shaw-cliff-curtis-cast-brothers-roman-reigns/ |url-status=live}}

Curtis stars in True Spirit alongside Teagan Croft and Anna Paquin. It began airing on Netflix on 3 February 2023. The movie is based on the journey of Jessica Watson, a 16-year-old Australian sailor attempting a solo global circumnavigation. In 2024, Curtis starred in the Netflix series Kaos in the role of the Greek God Poseidon.

Personal life

He was married in late 2009{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10618176 |title=Cliff Curtis' NZ wedding |date=3 January 2010 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022000222/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10618176 |url-status=live}} in a private ceremony at his home, and has four children. He is Roman Catholic.{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/77848985/cliff-curtis-discusses-playing-jesus-in-new-film-risen |title=Cliff Curtis discusses playing Jesus in new film Risen |date=14 March 2016 |work=Stuff (company) |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716175941/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/77848985/cliff-curtis-discusses-playing-jesus-in-new-film-risen |url-status=live}}

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."{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-s-cliff-curtis-talks-ethnic-roles-1.11643317|title='Fear the Walking Dead's' Cliff Curtis talks ethnic roles|website=Newsday|last=Beale|first=Lewis|date=1 April 2016|access-date=10 March 2021|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107135432/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-s-cliff-curtis-talks-ethnic-roles-1.11643317|url-status=live}}

Filmography

class="wikitable"

|+Key

| style="background:#FFFFCC;"| {{dagger|alt=Not yet released}}

|Denotes works that have not yet been released

=Film=

class = "wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class = "unsortable" \| Notes
rowspan="2"\|1993 \| The Piano \| Mana \|
Desperate Remedies \| Fraser \|
rowspan="3"\|1994 \| Kahu & Maia \| Kahu \|
Once Were Warriors \| Uncle Bully \|
Rapa Nui \| Short Ears \|
rowspan="2"\|1996 \| Chicken \| Zeke \|
Mananui \| Mana \|
rowspan="2"\|1998 \| Deep Rising \| Mamooli \|
Six Days, Seven Nights \| Kip \|
rowspan="4"\|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 \|
rowspan="3"\|2001 \| Blow \| Pablo Escobar \|
Training Day \| "Smiley" \|
The Majestic \| The Evil But Handsome Prince Khalid \|
rowspan="2"\|2002 \| Collateral Damage \| Claudio "El Lobo" Perrini \|
Whale Rider \| Porourangi \|
2003 \| Runaway Jury \| Frank Herrera \|
rowspan="3"\|2004 \| Fracture \| Detective Franklin \|
Spooked \| Mort Whitman \|
Heinous Crime \| Pizza Delivery Man \|
rowspan="2"\|2005 \| The Pool \| Husband \|
River Queen \| Wiremu \|
2006 \| The Fountain \| Captain Ariel \|
rowspan="3"\|2007 \| Sunshine \| Searle \|
Fracture \| Detective Flores \|
Live Free or Die Hard \| FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman \|
2008 \| 10,000 BC \| Tic'Tic \|
rowspan="2"\|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 \|
rowspan="2"\|2019 \| Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw \| Jonah Hobbs \|
Doctor Sleep \| Billy Freeman \|
rowspan="2"\|2021 \| Reminiscence \| Cyrus Boothe \|
Murina \| Javier \|
rowspan="2"\|2022 \| Muru \| Sergent "Taffy" Tawharau \|
Avatar: The Way of Water \| Tonowari \|
rowspan="2"\|2023 \| True Spirit \| Ben Bryant \|
Meg 2: The Trench \| James "Mac" Mackreides \|
2024 \| Ka Whawhai Tonu \| Wi Toka \| {{cite web \|title=Ka Whawhai Tonu \|url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/ka-whawhai-tonu \|publisher=New Zealand Film Commission \|access-date=27 June 2024 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409164429/https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/ka-whawhai-tonu \|archive-date=9 April 2024 \|url-status=live}}
rowspan=2\| 2025 \| Last Breath \| Andre Jenson \|
style="background:#FFFFCC;"\| Avatar: Fire and Ash {{dagger\|alt=Not yet released}} \| Tonowari \| Post-production

class = "wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class = "unsortable" | Notes

rowspan="2"|1993

| The Piano

| Mana

Desperate Remedies

| Fraser

rowspan="3"|1994

| Kahu & Maia

| Kahu

Once Were Warriors

| Uncle Bully

Rapa Nui

| Short Ears

rowspan="2"|1996

| Chicken

| Zeke

Mananui

| Mana

rowspan="2"|1998

| Deep Rising

| Mamooli

Six Days, Seven Nights

| Kip

rowspan="4"|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

rowspan="3"|2001

| Blow

| Pablo Escobar

Training Day

| "Smiley"

The Majestic

| The Evil But Handsome Prince Khalid

rowspan="2"|2002

| Collateral Damage

| Claudio "El Lobo" Perrini

Whale Rider

| Porourangi

2003

| Runaway Jury

| Frank Herrera

rowspan="3"|2004

| Fracture

| Detective Franklin

Spooked

| Mort Whitman

Heinous Crime

| Pizza Delivery Man

rowspan="2"|2005

| The Pool

| Husband

River Queen

| Wiremu

2006

| The Fountain

| Captain Ariel

rowspan="3"|2007

| Sunshine

| Searle

Fracture

| Detective Flores

Live Free or Die Hard

| FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman

2008

| 10,000 BC

| Tic'Tic

rowspan="2"|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

rowspan="2"|2019

| Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

| Jonah Hobbs

Doctor Sleep

| Billy Freeman

rowspan="2"|2021

| Reminiscence

| Cyrus Boothe

Murina

| Javier

rowspan="2"|2022

| Muru

| Sergent "Taffy" Tawharau

Avatar: The Way of Water

| Tonowari

rowspan="2"|2023

| True Spirit

| Ben Bryant

Meg 2: The Trench

| James "Mac" Mackreides

2024

| Ka Whawhai Tonu

| Wi Toka

| {{cite web |title=Ka Whawhai Tonu |url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/ka-whawhai-tonu |publisher=New Zealand Film Commission |access-date=27 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409164429/https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/ka-whawhai-tonu |archive-date=9 April 2024 |url-status=live}}

rowspan=2| 2025

| Last Breath

| Andre Jenson

style="background:#FFFFCC;"| Avatar: Fire and Ash {{dagger|alt=Not yet released}}

| Tonowari

| Post-production

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1991 \| Under Cover \| Zip \| rowspan="2"\|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 \| rowspan="2"\|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 \| Upcoming miniseries

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1991

| Under Cover

| Zip

| rowspan="2"|Television film

1994

| Hercules in the Underworld

| Nessus