Morrison, Temuera

Two of Temuera Morrison’s most noteworthy career milestones have truly come from opposite ends of the galaxy. 1994’s Once Were Warriors was a painfully truthful examination of urban Maori life that continues to cast a long shadow across New Zealand film and culture. And his first Star Wars appearance in 2002 sparked a unique character arc that placed him at the centre of his own Disney+ series in 2021, as Boba Fett.

Always a multi-faceted entertainer, Temuera has long been something of a national cultural icon. Not only as one of New Zealand’s foremost actors, with his international film and television career, but as a leading proponent of Maori culture and performance. Born in Rotorua, of Te Arawa and Ngati Maniapoto Ngati Rarua descent, Temuera’s membership of a famous entertainment family ensured an early interest in performance art. At age 11 he had his first film part - the title character in children’s film Rangi’s Catch. A performance art training course in his teens cemented the acting passion, leading to his first high profile role, playing Dr Ropata for three years in Shortland Street, New Zealand’s enduring medical soap (to which he returned many years later for the 4,000th episode).

The breakthrough film performance, at home and internationally, came in 1994 as the tough, violent Jake “The Muss” Heke in the groundbreaking movie Once Were Warriors, and its follow-up What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, for which he gained a Best Actor award. A diverse variety of international parts followed.

Mahana (2016) reunited Tem with Once Were Warriors director Lee Tamahori and producer Robin Scholes, earning him a NZ Best Actor nomination.

Since his first appearance, as the bounty hunter Jango Fett in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Temuera Morrison has traced a unique path through the Star Wars universe, becoming a fan favourite along the way. Part of the film's plot involves an army of clones created with Jango's DNA; Morrison also provided the voice acting for the clones. He reappeared as a number of clones in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and re-recorded the lines of the character Boba Fett (Jango's "son") and another clone in the 2004 DVD re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, replacing the voice of Jason Wingreen.

Thus the arrival of the Disney+ streaming platform, and its blockbuster The Mandalorian, prompted much speculation. Fans were rewarded with the appearance of Boba Fett in season two and the announcement of The Book of Boba Fett, due in late 2021.

Other recent international roles have seen Tem playing Peter Bartlett in Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall, Tom Curry in Aquaman, fabled rugby coach Eddie Jones in The Brighton Miracle and Powell in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. He voiced the father in Disney’s Moana, and Warfield in Mosley. Aquaman 2 has been announced for 2022.

Back home, the 2013 reality television debut in The Life and Times of Temuera Morrison, won him a large and supportive local audience with his humour and candour. In 2014 he hosted an old-style variety show called Happy Hour. Another first was the release of his first album, - Tem - reflecting a lifelong involvement with music and Maori entertainment. The album consists of covers of songs that his father, and uncle Sir Howard Morrison, used to perform at local venues when he was growing up.

In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to drama.

From rba.management

Actor a trained journalist

Press, 6 September 1988

Temuera Morrison is a trained journalist who says he would much rather be acting than writing — but this year it seems he cannot shake off his reporting persona.

In the second series of TVNZ’s supersoap, "Gloss,” the former "Koha” and “Waka Huia” reporter joined the glitzy offices of “Gloss” magazine as Sean Mitchell, a renowned sports journalist recently returned to New Zealand after a successful overseas career. Mitchell is a good-look-ing, world-weary, and disarmingly honest character, with a tragic secret.

Morrison came to “Gloss” fresh from two other roles as a press man. Earlier in the year he starred as a journalist in Geoff Murphy’s action film “Never Say Die,” and had a small part as a television interviewer in the mini-series “The Rainbow Warrior Affair.”

Morrison trained as a broadcasting journalist at a course run jointly by the Auckland Technical Institute and TVNZ, and went on to a position in TVNZ’s Maori Programmes last year. Because of his commitment there he turned down an invitation to audition for a part in the first series of "Gloss.”

He eventually left TVNZ to take on the “Never Say Die” role and will be appearing on the big screen when the film is released at the end of the year.

Morrison, 28, comes from a talented Rotorua family (his uncle is the singer Howard Morrison) and he began performing in his grandmother’s Māori cultural group when he was 10.

He is a fluent Māori speaker and over the years has belonged to a variety of Maori cultural groups, performing in Hawaii, the United States, Canada, Australia and at numerous Polynesian festivals.

Before his dual careers as journalist and actor, Morrison worked for several years in the community services section of the Māori Affairs Department, and he was later seconded to the Justice Department’s probation service.

His first acting job was in 1973, when he played Rangi in the feature film “Rangi's Catch.” Ten years later he joined a performing arts education scheme run by TVNZ, the Labour Department and Maori Affairs.

The course provided training for 20 young people with talent in some area of the performing arts, giving them a grounding in music, dance, drama, vocal training, stuntwork, make-up and modelling. “It provided the opening a lot of us needed,” says Morrison. “We worked at the television studios as extras, and then things really opened up.” Morrison won a part as a Rastafarian in an episode of “Mortimer’s Patch” and then went on to play Tony in the feature film “Other Halves.”

“I enjoyed it so much that I got an agent before going home to Rotorua,” says Morrison. This led to a part in "Seekers” and a bigger part as Maru in the TVNZ series “Adventurers.”

Morrison considers himself lucky to have won so many roles with so little formal training. ‘I’ve learned my craft on the job,” he says. And after “Gloss”?

Morrison declares a strong commitment to the development of Māori radio and Māori theatre, and is also interested in directing television drama.

He uses spare moments on the “Gloss” set to keep a keen eye on the directors — laying the groundwork for yet another career.

“It’s fascinating to watch them. If the opportunity came up to go on a directors’ course, I’d like to be in a position to take advantage of it.”