Cliff Curtis can make a small supporting part matter to the story. We rate him more highly than several of his blockbusters suggest, and his New Zealand dramas offer a better place to start.
Fi1m perspective
In Meg 2: The Trench (2023), Cliff Curtis returns as Mac while a mining conspiracy keeps the giant-shark fun waiting. Ben Wheatley gives Page Kennedy the early laughs and saves the cheerful silliness for the last half hour. It is the sort of supporting assignment Curtis frequently gets in action films and science fiction. We value his ability to make a small role matter to the story, but there is a limit to what that can repair. This is a poor place to start with him.
His first film role was Mana in Jane Campion's The Piano (1993), followed by his breakthrough as Bully in Once Were Warriors (1994). We found the domestic violence in Lee Tamahori's family drama hard to watch. Rena Owen is the chief reason we recommend it, and Tamahori sometimes piles on more misery than he needs. Curtis's breakthrough is worth seeing, but not simply to complete a list of his early appearances.
From the late 1990s, Curtis took Hollywood supporting roles while returning regularly to New Zealand films. Early in his career, he also turned down stereotypical parts, including terrorists, to avoid being typecast. His Smiley in Training Day (2001) offers a better use of a supporting actor: a smaller role that matters to the story. Niki Caro's Whale Rider (2002), with Curtis as Porourangi, continued the work at home, while The Dark Horse (2014) gave him the lead as chess coach Genesis Potini. We prefer the New Zealand work, where complicated characters give him more to do.
James Cameron cast him as Tonowari in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and he returns in Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). We found the latter beautifully built but repetitive, despite Oona Chaplin's forceful villain Varang. Our interest in Curtis is no reason to excuse Cameron repeating himself for well over three hours. Nor should those sequels become the only measure of an actor who has carried a New Zealand drama. Try The Dark Horse before another trip to Pandora.
Biography
Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis, also credited as Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis, is a New Zealand actor born on 27 July 1968 in Rotorua. Of Māori descent with Te Arawa and Ngāti Hauiti affiliations, he trained at Toi Whakaari and the Teatro Dimitri Scuola in Switzerland. He began in theatre before making his film debut in The Piano (1993) and gaining early recognition in Once Were Warriors (1994).
Curtis has appeared in international films including Training Day (2001), Whale Rider (2002), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), The Meg (2018), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), Doctor Sleep (2019) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). He portrays Tonowari in the Avatar series, including Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025), and reprises the role of Mac in Meg 2: The Trench (2023). On television he played Travis Manawa in Fear the Walking Dead (2015–2017).
He is co-owner of the New Zealand production company Whenua Films. Curtis has won four New Zealand Film Awards and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor for The Dark Horse (2014).
