| Temuera Morrison | |
|---|---|
Temuera Morrison, August 2007 |
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| Born | Temuera Derek Morrison 26 December 1960 Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1972–present |
Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series. He also voiced Boba Fett in the 2004 special edition of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
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Morrison was born in the town of Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand, the son of Hana (née Stafford) and Laurie Morrison, a musician.[1] He is of Māori, Scottish, and Irish descent.[2] His sister was performer Taini Morrison and his uncle was musician Sir Howard Morrison. His secondary education took place at Wesley College, Auckland. Morrison lives in New Zealand, and divides his time filming there and in Australia and the United States. He has an adult son, James, from a relationship in the late 1980s with singer Kim Willoughby from the all-girl group When The Cat's Away.
Trained in drama under the New Zealand Special Performing Arts Training Scheme, one of his earliest roles was in the 1988 film Never Say Die, opposite Lisa Eilbacher. Before this he played Dr. Hone Ropata on the television soap opera Shortland Street from 1992–1995; he was immortalized when another character rebuked him with the line "You're not in Guatemala now, Dr. Ropata!"
In 1994 he received attention as the violent and abusive Māori husband Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors, a film adaptation of Alan Duff's novel of the same name. The role won him international acclaim, and he received the 1994 award for best male performance in a dramatic role from the New Zealand Film and TV Awards. He reprised the role in the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, for which he received the Best Actor award from the New Zealand Film Awards. He has appeared in supporting roles in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Beautiful Country (2004). In 2005, Morrison became the host of the talk show The Tem Show on New Zealand television.
In recent years, Morrison has received much popularity from his role as the bounty hunter Jango Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Part of the film's plot involves an army of clones created with Jango's DNA; Morrison also provided acting and voice work for the soldiers. He reappeared as a number of clones in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the final film of the series, and rerecorded 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.
He has since portrayed Jango Fett and his clones in a number of Star Wars video games, all produced by LucasArts. He played the commando "Boss" in Star Wars: Republic Commando, voiced all the troopers in Star Wars: Battlefront, and returned again to voice the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Boba Fett in Star Wars: Battlefront II. He played Jango again in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, which reveals the origins of Jango Fett, and played Boba Fett in the 2006 game Star Wars: Empire at War. He also reprised his roles uncredited as Jango Fett, Boba Fett, and the clones in the video games Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron and Lego Star Wars The Video Game.
Temuera returned to Shortland Street for six weeks in June/July 2008 as Dr Hone Ropata.
In 2008, Morrison also appeared on New Zealand skit comedy television show Pulp Sport where he appeared in a sketch that made fun of him being cloned.
Morrison portrayed Abin Sur in the 2011 superhero film Green Lantern.[3]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Rangi's Catch | Rangi | |
| 1984 | Other Halves | Tony | |
| 1986 | Seekers | Selwyn Broadhead | 10 episodes |
| 1987 | Gloss | Sean | TV series |
| 1987 | Adventurer | Maru | TV series |
| 1988 | Mauri | Young Cop | |
| 1990 | The Grasscutter | Det. Sgt. Harris | |
| 1990 | Shark in the Park | Mason, Mark | Episode: "Ten-Zero, Dingo" |
| 1990 | Never Say Die | Alf Winters | |
| 1992 | Shortland Street | Dr. Hone Ropata | 1992–1995, 2008 |
| 1994 | Once Were Warriors | Jake "the Muss" Heke | |
| 1996 | Whipping Boy | Jack | |
| 1996 | Barb Wire | Axel | |
| 1996 | The Island of Dr. Moreau | Azazello | |
| 1996 | Broken English | Manu | |
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | Juliano | |
| 1998 | Six Days Seven Nights | Jager | |
| 1999 | Little White Lies | Tim | |
| 1999 | What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? | Jake Heke | |
| 1999 | From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter | The Hangman | Video |
| 2000 | Vertical Limit | Major Rasul | |
| 2001 | Crooked Earth | Will Bastion | |
| 2001 | Ihaka: Blunt Instrument | Tito Ihaka | TV movie |
| 2002 | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones | Jango Fett | |
| 2004 | The Beautiful Country | Snakehead | |
| 2004 | Blueberry | Runi | AKA, Renegade |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith | Commander Cody & all clone troopers | |
| 2005 | River Queen | Te Kai Po | |
| 2008 | Rain of the Children | Rua Kenana | |
| 2009 | The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake | Don Sandovate | TV movie |
| 2009 | Couples Retreat | Briggs | |
| 2009 | The Marine 2 | Damo | Video |
| 2010 | Tracker | Kereama | |
| 2011 | Spartacus: Gods of the Arena | Doctore | Episode: "Past Transgressions" Episode: "Missio" |
| 2011 | Green Lantern | Abin Sur | |
| 2012 | The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption | King Rasmusan |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Star Wars: Bounty Hunter | Jango Fett |
| 2004 | Star Wars: Battlefront | Republic Infantry / Republic Officer |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Republic Commando | Delta 38 |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Battlefront II | Boba Fett / Jango Fett / Republic Officer 1 / Retired Clone Trooper |
| 2006 | Star Wars: Empire at War | Boba Fett |