Cliff Curtis
Biography
Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, on July 27, 1968.
He is of New Zealand Maori descent (with Ngati Hauiti and Te Arawa tribal affiliations). He enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland.
After returning to New Zealand from Europe, he was cast in The Piano (1993). Subsequent roles in New Zealand include the camp melodrama Desperate Remedies (1993), the grueling 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).
Family
No info available
Trivia
Though he's Maori, he's only played a Maori in a couple of movies, including Whale Rider (2002). He has been cast as many other dark-skinned ethnicities, 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.
Member of the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) since 2016.
Personal Quotes
[on Whale Rider (2002)] 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.
