The Most Famous

ACTORS from New Zealand

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This page contains a list of the greatest New Zealander Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 41 of which were born in New Zealand. This makes New Zealand the birth place of the 24th most number of Actors behind Austria, and Denmark.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary New Zealander Actors of all time. This list of famous New Zealander Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of New Zealander Actors.

Photo of Russell Crowe

1. Russell Crowe (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 69.03, Russell Crowe is the most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 112 different languages on wikipedia.

Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is a New Zealand-born actor. He was born in Wellington, spending 10 years of his childhood in Australia and residing there permanently by age 21. His work on screen has earned him various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a British Academy Film Award. Crowe began acting in Australia and had his breakout role in the drama Romper Stomper (1992). He gained international recognition for his starring roles as a police detective in the thriller L.A. Confidential (1997) and Jeffrey Wigand in the drama The Insider (1999). Crowe gained wider stardom for playing the title role in the period film Gladiator (2000), winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. Further acclaim came for portraying mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in the biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001). He then starred in the war film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), the sports drama Cinderella Man (2005), the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007), the crime drama American Gangster (2007), the thriller State of Play (2009), and the action film Robin Hood (2010). Crowe has since appeared as Javert in the film adaptation of Les Misérables (2012), Jor-El in the superhero film Man of Steel (2013), Noah in the biblical drama Noah (2014), and Zeus in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). In 2014, he made his directorial debut with the drama The Water Diviner, in which he also starred. He has been the co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006.

Photo of Lucy Lawless

2. Lucy Lawless (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 57.73, Lucy Lawless is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Lucille Frances Lawless (née Ryan; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and associated series. Since 2019, she has starred as Alexa in the television series My Life Is Murder. Lawless had recurring roles as Diane Lewis-Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2012–2014), and as Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg on the WGN America supernatural series Salem (2015). She also starred as Ruby on the Starz horror-comedy series Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018).

Photo of Karl Urban

3. Karl Urban (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 56.71, Karl Urban is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and television series such as Xena: Warrior Princess. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has starred in many high-profile movies, including as Éomer in the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Vaako in the second and third installments of the Riddick film series, Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series, Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), John "Reaper" Grimm in Doom (2005), Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Gavin Magary in Pete's Dragon (2016), and Skurge in Marvel Studios' Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series Almost Human. Since 2019, he has starred as Billy Butcher in Amazon Prime Video's superhero streaming television series The Boys.

Photo of Bruce Spence

4. Bruce Spence (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 56.21, Bruce Spence is the 4th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre.

Photo of Marton Csokas

5. Marton Csokas (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 55.45, Marton Csokas is the 5th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Marton Paul Csokas (, Hungarian: Csókás Márton Pál; born 30 June 1966) is a New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with his native country, and often portrays villainous roles. His notable roles include Celeborn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Yorgi in XXX (2002), Guy de Lusignan in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Trevor Goodchild in Æon Flux (2005), Hora in Romulus, My Father (2007), Nico in Dead Europe (2012), Jack Barts in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Nicolai Itchenko A.K.A. Teddy Rensen in The Equalizer (2014), and Quinn on the U.S. television series Into the Badlands. Earlier in his career, he played Leonard Dodds on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. Csokas is a three-time AACTA Award nominee, winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Romulus My Father. He was also nominated for Best Male Actor in a Play at the 2008 Helpmann Awards, for his portrayal of George in Belvoir's revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Photo of Cliff Curtis

6. Cliff Curtis (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 53.42, Cliff Curtis is the 6th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born July 27, 1968) is a New Zealand actor and film producer. After working in theatre, he made his film debut in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning film The Piano (1993), followed by a breakout role in the drama Once Were Warriors (1994). He has won four New Zealand Film Awards, Best Actor for Jubilee (2000) and The Dark Horse (2014) - which also earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award - and Best Supporting Actor for Desperate Remedies (1993) and Whale Rider (2002). Curtis' international film credits include Three Kings, Bringing Out the Dead (both 1999), Blow , Training Day (both 2001), Collateral Damage (2002), Sunshine, Live Free or Die Hard (both 2007), Push, Crossing Over (both 2009), Colombiana (2011), and Doctor Sleep (2019), also portraying James "Mac" Mackreides in The Meg (2018) and Meg 2: The Trench (2023) and Tonowari in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). He had television series roles on NBC's Trauma and ABC's Body of Proof and Missing. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed Travis Manawa on the AMC horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead. Curtis is also the co-owner of the independent New Zealand production company Whenua Films.

Photo of Temuera Morrison

7. Temuera Morrison (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 53.37, Temuera Morrison is the 7th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor who first gained recognition in his home country for playing Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera Shortland Street. He garnered critical acclaim for starring as Jake "The Muss" Heke in the 1994 film Once Were Warriors and its 1999 sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?. Outside of New Zealand, Morrison is best known for his work in the Star Wars multimedia franchise, playing the roles of Jango Fett and his many genetic clones, including the clone troopers and Jango's clone son Boba Fett. He originated the role of Jango in the 2002 film Attack of the Clones. Morrison voiced Boba Fett in the 2004 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, various Star Wars video games, and portrayed Boba fully in the second season of The Mandalorian (2019–present) and the spin-off show The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022). In 2022, he had a recurring role in the black ops thriller series Echo 3. Morrison is known for voicing Chief Tui, the father of the Moana in Disney's Moana (2016), and for playing Arthur Curry's father Tom Curry in the DCEU films Aquaman (2018), The Flash (2023), and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).

Photo of Alan Dale

8. Alan Dale (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 53.26, Alan Dale is the 8th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor, known for his early long-running role as Jim Robinson in Australian tv soap opera Neighbours, American series' The O.C. (as Caleb Nichol) and Ugly Betty (as Bradford Meade), as well as recurring and guest roles in Lost, 24, NCIS, ER, The West Wing, The X-Files, Entourage, Once Upon a Time and Dynasty as Joseph Anders.

Photo of Manu Bennett

9. Manu Bennett (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 51.30, Manu Bennett is the 9th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is an Australian-New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series Spartacus, Allanon in The Shannara Chronicles, Slade Wilson / Deathstroke in Arrow, and Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit trilogy.

Photo of Clive Revill

10. Clive Revill (b. 1930)

With an HPI of 51.18, Clive Revill is the 10th most famous New Zealander Actor.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Clive Selsby Revill (born 18 April 1930) is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. He is a two-time Tony Award nominee; Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Irma La Douce and Best Actor in a Musical for Oliver! He was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Billy Wilder's Avanti! (1972). His roles also include voicing the Emperor in the original theatrical edition of The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

People

Pantheon has 44 people classified as New Zealander actors born between 1930 and 2002. Of these 44, 42 (95.45%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living New Zealander actors include Russell Crowe, Lucy Lawless, and Karl Urban. The most famous deceased New Zealander actors include Kevin Smith, and Terence Bayler. As of April 2024, 3 new New Zealander actors have been added to Pantheon including Anna-Louise Plowman, Daniel Logan, and Julian Dennison.

Living New Zealander Actors

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Deceased New Zealander Actors

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Newly Added New Zealander Actors (2024)

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