Manu Bennett
{{short description|Australian-New Zealand actor (born 1969)}}
{{for|the bishop|Manuhuia Bennett}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Manu Bennett
| image = Manu Bennett by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
| caption = Bennett at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018
| birth_name = Jonathan Manu Bennett
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|10|10|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Rotorua, New Zealand
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1993–present
| alias = Jon Bennett
| website =
| partner = Mickie James (2006)
| children = 3
}}
Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is an Australian-New Zealand{{Cite web |url=http://i.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/8508352/The-fall-and-rise-of-Manu-Bennett |title=The fall and rise of Manu Bennett |last=Croot |first=James |date=6 April 2013 |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand}} actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series Spartacus, Allanon in The Shannara Chronicles, Slade Wilson / Deathstroke in Arrow, and Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit trilogy.
Early life
Bennett was born in New Zealand in 1969. His mother Jean Bennett was an Australian bikini model and father Ted Bennett a New Zealand singer. The family moved to Australia when Bennett was a few months old. Bennett's father is of Māori (specifically Te Arawa and Ngāti Kahungunu) descent. His mother is of Scottish descent. He was raised mostly between Sydney and Newcastle in Australia, where he attended Merewether High School.{{cite news |last1=Proudman |first1=Dan |title=Newcastle-raised actor, Manu Bennett charged in Texas with assault |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1714084913 |access-date=9 July 2022 |work=Newcastle Herald |publisher=Australian Community Media |date=20 September 2015|id={{ProQuest|1714084913}} }} In 1986, Bennett returned to New Zealand to attend Te Aute College, where he played for the 1st XV. Upon returning to Australia, Bennett was chosen in the New South Wales Schoolboys Rugby Union Team. Interested in modern dancing, classical ballet, and piano, Bennett quit rugby to attend university to study dance and drama, then traveled to Los Angeles on a scholarship to attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. In an audience Q&A in Boston, Bennett talked about the car accident he experienced at a young age that killed his mother and brother and put him in a two-week coma. At that time, his girlfriend was a ballet dancer, which got him into acting; he found it to be the medium into which he wanted to direct his emotions, saying, "Acting was my route to survival."{{cite web|last=Poghosyan |first=Astghik Cin |title=Super Megafest 2013: Manu Bennett Panel |url=https://emertainmentmonthly.org/2013/11/24/super-megafest-2013-manu-bennett-panel/ |publisher=Emertainment Monthly |date=24 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311005102/http://emertainmentmonthly.com/2013/11/24/super-megafest-2013-manu-bennett-panel/ |archive-date=11 March 2016 |url-status=live }}
Career
Bennett's professional acting career began in 1993 in the teen soap Paradise Beach. He then played guest roles in other Australian TV dramas, including Water Rats, All Saints, and Beastmaster. Bennett then starred alongside Claudia Karvan in the miniseries The Violent Earth, produced by French company Gaumont. In 1996, Bennett participated in theatre. In an open-air production of Lady Chatterley's Lover, based on D. H. Lawrence's novel, directed by Australian film/theatre director Robert Chuter, he played the title role, the gamekeeper Oliver Mellors in which he met model/actor Darlene Rada Ford from Bondi Beach who encouraged him to pursue more serious acting roles abroad.
In 1999, Bennett landed his first leading role in a feature film named Tomoko, shot on location in Tokyo, starring opposite Rumiko Koyanagi. In 2000, Bennett guest starred in Xena: Warrior Princess as Marc Antony, then played a role opposite Without a Trace star Anthony LaPaglia, where Bennett displayed his dancing skills as a salsa dance teacher in the award-winning Australian film, Lantana.
Bennett returned to New Zealand in 2000 to appear in the popular television drama, Shortland Street, then went on to play a cop turned lawyer in Street Legal before working with his director cousin Michael Bennett on the Māori Twilight Zone-styled series Mataku before working with Richard Taylor from the Academy Award-winning firm Weta Workshop on Creature Quest.
In August 2002, Bennett landed a screen test opposite Angelina Jolie for a part in the Tomb Raider sequel The Cradle of Life. Actor Gerard Butler ended up beating him for the role.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2349957 |title=Butler beats Manu Bennett |date=16 August 2002 |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=12 April 2016}}
File:Manu Bennett by Gage Skidmore.jpg
In 2003, Bennett hosted Going Straight, a New Zealand reality show.
In 2006, Bennett was cast in The Marine alongside WWE wrestling star John Cena and Robert Patrick. In 2007, Bennett was cast as one of ten convicts alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones in The Condemned. In 2006, Bennett was cast opposite Josh Hartnett to play Deputy Billy Kitka in the US film 30 Days of Night.
From 2010 to 2013, Bennett co-starred in the new American television series Spartacus, about the defiant gladiator Spartacus. Bennett played the key role of Crixus, Champion of Capua. He was the only cast member of the series who starred on all four seasons, as well as starring in the most episodes of this series.{{cite web|title=Manu Bennett in Spartacus: Blood and Sand |url=http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/cast/Crixus/ManuBennett/Pages/ManuBennett.aspx |access-date=31 January 2010 |publisher=Starz |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717232942/http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/cast/Crixus/ManuBennett/Pages/ManuBennett.aspx |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}
In 2012, he played the villain Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and continued to portray the character in the sequels. In November 2012, Bennett was cast in the first season of Arrow as Slade Wilson, and in March 2013, he was promoted to series regular for the second season. He then made several guest appearances in subsequent seasons.
In May 2014, Bennett revealed he had lost two roles in Stargate Atlantis and the 2011 film Conan the Barbarian to actor Jason Momoa.{{cite web|title=2014: Dallas Comic Con; Manu Bennett Panel|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6DsjAEIE0I|via=YouTube}}
In December 2014, Manu was cast as the druid Allanon in MTV's television series The Shannara Chronicles.{{cite magazine |title=Manu Bennett joins cast of MTV's Shannara |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2014/12/18/manu-bennett-joins-mtv-shannara |first=Jonathon |last=Dornbush |date=18 December 2014 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=18 December 2014}}
Personal life
Manu Bennett and Karin Horen have three children.{{cite web |url= https://nz.lifestyle.yahoo.com/new-idea/star-watch/article/-/16971685/brave-mother-s-new-battle-i-ll-fight-the-cancer-again/ |title=Brave Mother's new battle: I'll fight the cancer – again |first=Kasia |last=Jillings |work=Yahoo New Zealand Lifestyle |date=2 May 2013 |access-date=4 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306022626/https://nz.lifestyle.yahoo.com/new-idea/star-watch/article/-/16971685/brave-mother-s-new-battle-i-ll-fight-the-cancer-again/ |archive-date=6 March 2016}} The couple confirmed their split in 2017.{{cite web|last1=Simich|first1=Ricardo|title=Spartacus star Manu Bennett confirms split|url=http://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/spartacus-star-manu-bennett-confirms-split/|website=The New Zealand Herald|access-date=12 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226092134/http://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/spartacus-star-manu-bennett-confirms-split/ |archive-date=26 February 2018}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of performances in film |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2001
| Lantana | Steve Veldez | |
| 2006
| Bennett | |
| 2006
| The Bridge |p| Short film; | |
| 2007
| Paco | |
| 2007
| Deputy Billy Kitka | |
| 2011
| Sinbad | Television film |
| 2012
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |rowspan=3| Azog the Defiler | |
| 2013
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | |
| 2014
| The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | |
| 2016
| Orson Creed | |
| 2017
| Direct to video |
| 2022
| Muru | Kimiora | |
| 2023
| Möbius' Trip | Mission Command (voice) | Short film |
| 2023
| Pente 5 Five | Aran | |
| 2023
| Perfect Addiction |Julian | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of performances on television |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" width=100| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1993–1994
| Kirk Barsby | 254 episodes |
| 1994
| Mark Davies | Episode: "The First Stone" |
| 1996–97
| Joseph Lipinski | 3 episodes |
| 1998
| Wanatcha DuValier | 3 episodes |
| 1998
| Darren | Episode: "Body and Soul" |
| 1999
| Terron Leader | Episode: "The Legend Continues" |
| 2000
| David Legeure | Episode: "Fast Company" |
| 2000
| Episode: "Antony and Cleopatra" |
| 2000–01
| 7 episodes |
| 2001
| Dom | Episode: "He Ain't Heavy" |
| 2002–03
| Matt Urlich | 12 episodes |
| 2002
| Mataku | John | Episode: "Going to War" |
| 2003
| Himself / Host | |
| 2008
| Brandon Bell | Episode: "Episode Thirteen" |
| 2010–13
| Crixus | 37 episodes |
| 2012
| Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms | Raymond "Sunshine" Kucler | 4 episodes |
| 2013–2020
| Arrow | Main role (season 2); recurring role (season 1); special guest star (seasons 3, 5–6, 8) |
| 2016–2017
| 20 episodes |
| 2016
| Patrucio | Episode: "Roots" |
| 2019
| Pandora | Leone Vokk | 2 episodes |
| 2023
| The Gone | Tamati Davidson | 6 episodes |
| 2023
| Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Hotel clerk | Episode: "Das Hotel des Grauens" |
| 2024
| Himself | Main role (host) |
=Audio=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" width=100| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2022
| Broken Road | Arlin Frey | 6 episodes |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!width=100| Title ! Voice role !width=100 class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2014
| Azog the Defiler | |
References
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0071847}}
- {{Twitter}}
- {{instagram|manubennett|Manu Bennett}}
- [http://www.facebook.com/manubennett Official Facebook]
- [http://www.facebook.com/manu.bennett16 Personal Facebook]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Manu}}
Category:Australian male television actors
Category:Australian male film actors
Category:Australian people of Māori descent
Category:New Zealand male Māori actors
Category:People educated at Te Aute College