21 Facts About Cliff Curtis

Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis was born on July 27,1968 and is a New Zealand actor and film producer.

Cliff Curtis has won four New Zealand Film Awards, Best Actor for Jubilee and The Dark Horse - which earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award - and Best Supporting Actor for Desperate Remedies and Whale Rider.

Cliff Curtis had television series roles on NBC's Trauma and ABC's Body of Proof and Missing.

Cliff Curtis is the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.

Cliff Curtis is one of eight children born to George Curtis, an amateur dancer.

Cliff Curtis is of Maori descent; his tribal affiliations are Te Arawa and Ngati Hauiti.

Cliff Curtis's uncle was Toby Curtis, a prominent Maori educator and leader.

Cliff Curtis later performed as a breakdancer and competitively in rock 'n' roll dance competitions.

Cliff Curtis received his secondary education at Edmund Rice College, Rotorua.

Cliff Curtis graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989 with a Diploma in Acting.

Cliff Curtis started acting in amateur productions of musicals Fiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha with the Kapiti Players and the Mantis Cooperative Theatre Company, before attending the New Zealand Drama School and Teatro Dimitri Scuola in Switzerland.

Cliff Curtis worked at a number of New Zealand theatre companies, including Downstage, Mercury Theatre, Bats Theatre, and Centre Point.

Cliff Curtis's first feature film role was a small part in the Oscar-nominated Jane Campion film The Piano.

Cliff Curtis played a seducer in the melodrama Desperate Remedies.

In 2000 Cliff Curtis starred as family man Billy Williams in Jubilee, before playing father to the lead character in the international hit Whale Rider.

In 2004 with producer Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis formed independent film production company Whenua Films.

Cliff Curtis studied chess and deliberately put on weight for the role.

Cliff Curtis was cast as Travis Manawa, a leading male role of the AMC TV series Fear the Walking Dead, the spin-off of The Walking Dead.

In 2017, Cliff Curtis was cast as Tonowari and is set to appear in the four sequels to Avatar, including Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash.

In 2024, Cliff Curtis starred in the Netflix series Kaos in the role of the Greek God Poseidon.

Cliff Curtis was married in late 2009 in a private ceremony at his home, and has four children.