About
| Birth Notes: | 27 July 1968, Rotorua, New Zealand |
| Height: | 6' 0 1/2" |
| Biography: | Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, Aotearoa, New Zealand, on July 27, 1968. Of New Zealand Maori descent (Ngati Hauiti, Te Arawa) he spent time when young learning the traditional Maori fighting styles of mau rakau. He enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland. After returning to Aotearoa New Zealand from Europe, he was cast in The Piano (1993). Subsequent roles in New Zealand include the camp melodrama Desperate Remedies (1993), the gruelling urban drama Once Were Warriors (1994), and the lighthearted comedy Jubilee (2000). In Hollywood, Curtis has played a range of different roles and ethnicities in films. He plays a Colombian in Blow (2001), an Arab in Three Kings (1999) and The Insider (1999), a Latino in Training Day (2001) and Runaway Jury (2003), and a drug dealer of ambiguous ethnicity in Bringing Out the Dead (1999). However, he is probably best known for his role as Paikea's father Porourangi, in Whale Rider (2002). |
Filmography
| 10,000 BC (2008) as Tic'Tic |
| Collateral Damage (2002) as Claudio Perrini |
| Crossing Over (2009) as Hamid Baraheri |
| Fracture (2007) as Detective Flores |
| Live Free or Die Hard (2007) as FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman |
| Once Were Warriors (1994) as Bully |
| Push (2009) as Hook Waters |
| Six Days Seven Nights (1998) as Kip |
| Sunshine (2007) as Searle |
| The Fountain (2006) as Captain Ariel |
| The Insider (1999) as Sheikh Fadlallah |
| The Last Airbender (2010) as Fire Lord Ozai |
| The Piano (1993) as Mana |
| Three Kings (1999) as Amir Abdulah |
| Training Day (2001) as Smiley |
| Virus (1999) as Hiko |
| A Thousand Words (2011) as Dr. Sinja |
| Blow (2001) as Pablo Escobar |
| Bringing Out the Dead (1999) as Cy Coates |
| Chicken (1996) as Zeke |
| Deep Rising (1998) as Mamooli |
| Desperate Remedies (1993) as Fraser |
| Fracture (2004) as Detective Franklin |
| Heinous Crime (2004) as Pizza delivery man |
| Journey to Sundance (2009) as Himself |
| Jubilee (2000) as Billy Williams |
| Kahu & Maia (1994) |
| Mananui (1996) |
| Rapa Nui (1994) as Short Ears |
| River Queen (2005) as Wiremu |
| Runaway Jury (2003) as Frank Herrera |
| Spooked (2004) as Mort Whitman |
| The Majestic (2001) as The Evil But Handsome Prince Khalid |
| The Pool (2005) as Husband |
| Whale Rider (2002) as Porourangi |
Trivia
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* Though he's Maori, he's only played a Maori in a couple of movies. He has been cast as nearly any other dark-skinned nationality having played, among others, Mexican-Americans, Colombians, Arabs, Persians, and Chechens. * Almost missed his flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Los Angeles en route to Mexico to film Blow (2001). * While filming Whale Rider (2002) he would approach Rawiri Paratene in the mornings and annoy him in order to keep them both in character. * Is in two separate films entitled "Fracture," playing a detective in both. * Filmed his part as Pablo Escobar in Blow in just three days. * Is one of nine children. |
Quotes
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* (On Whale Rider) I've been waiting for this film for a long time. It's fun to go off and put on a disguise and pretend to be someone else, but to be able to get back to myself and my culture, that was just more than really nice, y'know - it was vital. * As an actor ... at some point you've got to forget that the crew's there in order to do your job. |
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