33 Facts About Rhys Darby

Rhys Montague Darby was born on 21 March 1974 and is a New Zealand actor and comedian.

Rhys Darby is known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime, and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals.

Rhys Darby was nominated for the Billy T Award in 2001 and 2002 and won the 2012 Fred Award for best NZ show at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

Rhys Darby has appeared in films such as Yes Man, The Boat That Rocked, Love Birds, What We Do in the Shadows, Trolls, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Guns Akimbo, Relax, I'm from the Future, Uproar and Next Goal Wins.

Rhys Darby was born on 21 March 1974 in Auckland and was brought up in the suburb of Pakuranga.

Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving back to Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience.

Rhys Darby's character was renamed to Murray Hewitt, the band's manager, for the Flight of the Conchords TV show.

Rhys Darby played the role of Norman, the boss of Jim Carrey's character in Yes Man.

Rhys Darby appeared on a British children's television programme The Slammer during its first series.

Rhys Darby appeared in several advertisements for New Zealand mobile phone company 2degrees.

Rhys Darby appeared on Soccer AM on 18 October 2008 and on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on 23 October.

Rhys Darby played the role of Angus in the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked released in the UK on 1 April 2009.

Rhys Darby has branched out into producing live comedy with his wife and their company Awesomeness International.

Rhys Darby became a climate ambassador for Greenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign and published a poem and video in support of the campaign.

In 2009 Rhys Darby became a part of the New Zealand TV ONE series Intrepid Journeys, Season 5, touring Rwanda.

On 10 August 2010, Entertainment Weekly claimed that Rhys Darby was in consideration for a role in the television series The Office after Steve Carell left at the end of the 2011 season; however, this did not materialise.

Rhys Darby wrote a self-described "autobiographical space novel" entitled This Way to Spaceship, which was released on 12 April 2012.

On 20 May 2012, Rhys Darby was awarded the Fred Award by the New Zealand International Comedy Festival for his show of the same name as his book.

Since 2013, Rhys Darby has co-hosted the cryptozoology-focused podcast The Cryptid Factor with Dan Schreiber and David Farrier.

Rhys Darby climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2013 as part of a World Vision team of celebrities that included Olympian Mahe Drysdale and musician Boh Runga.

On 8 November 2013, Rhys Darby made an appearance and performed some standup comedy in his capacity as second guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Rhys Darby portrayed Anton in the 2014 release comedy horror film What We Do in the Shadows.

Rhys Darby saw this as an opportunity that only comes around every so often and said he'd return to the set the first chance he received.

In 2018, Rhys Darby participated in a video together with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern as part of a tourism campaign for the country in which they discussed why New Zealand was being excluded from world maps so frequently.

From 2022 to 2023, Rhys Darby starred in the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death as pirate captain Stede Bonnet.

Rhys Darby's performance earned several award nominations, including Peabody, Hollywood Critics Association and Astra Award nods.

Rhys Darby hosted the 51st International Emmy Awards in November 2023.

Rhys Darby later presented at the 75th Creative Arts Emmy Awards in January 2024 and the Art Directors Guild Awards in February 2024.

In November 2024, Rhys Darby announced he would be returning to stand-up comedy with a new show called The Legend Returns.

Rhys Darby is the youngest of five children and was raised by a single mother.

Rhys Darby had a close relationship with his sister Linda, who helped raise him after his father left.

Rhys Darby met his future wife and manager, Rosie Carnahan, while performing stand-up comedy at her cafe in Christchurch.

Rhys Darby has described himself as being on the spectrum and having ADHD.