Born on July 27, 1968 in Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Cliff Curtis is an actor who is perhaps best known for his role in the Oscar-nominated New Zealand film The Piano. He has also starred in Once Were Warriors, Desperate Remedies, River Queen, and Whale Rider, which saw his fame rise to international levels in 2003. The son of an amateur dancer and of Maori descent, Curtis is adept in playing a wide range of ethnicities onscreen, including Latinos and Arab characters.
Curtis started off acting in amateur theater productions on the musical Fiddler on the Root with the Mantis Cooperative Theater School. He went on to attend The New Zealand Drama School and subsequently Teatro Dimitri Scoula in Switzerland. He launched his acting career with his first feature film role in The Piano. The following year, he formed the independent film production outfit with producer Ainsley Gardiner in order to support the local indigenous filmmaking scene in New Zealand. In 2009, he was cast on the NBC drama Trauma, a series about a group of paramedics in San Francisco, California. When it was cancelled the next year, he moved on to play the Fire Lord Ozai in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. He later landed a guest spot on the series Body of Proof, and was cast in the 2012 ABC series Missing, as Agent Dax Miller.
2012: Missing (TV series) - Agent Dax Miller
2012: A Thousand Words - Dr. Sinja
2011: Colombiana - Emilio Restrepo
2011: Body of Proof (TV series) - Agent Derek Ames
2010: The Last Airbender - Fire Lord Ozai
2009-2010: Trauma (TV series) - Reuben 'Rabbit' Palchuk
2009: Crossing Over - Hamid Baraheri
2009: Push - Hook Waters
2008: 10,000 BC - Tic'Tic
2007: Live Free or Die Hard - FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman
2007: Fracture - Detective Flores
2007: Sunshine - Searle
2006: The Fountain - Captain Ariel
2005: River Queen - Wiremu
2005: The Pool (short) - Husband
2004: Heinous Crime (short) - Pizza delivery man
2004: Spooked - Mort Whitman
2004: Fracture - Detective Franklin
2004: Traffic (TV mini-series) - Adam Kadyrov
2003: Runaway Jury - Frank Herrera
2002: Whale Rider - Porourangi
2002: Point of Origin (TV movie) - Mike Camello
2002: Collateral Damage - Claudio Perrini
2001: The Majestic - The Evil But Handsome Prince Khalid
2001: Training Day - Smiley
2001: Blow - Pablo Escobar
2000: Jubilee - Billy Williams
1999: The Insider - Sheikh Fadlallah
1999: Bringing Out the Dead - Cy Coates
1999: Three Kings - Amir Abdulah
1999: Virus - Hiko
1998: Six Days Seven Nights - Kip
1998: Deep Rising - Mamooli
1998: The Chosen (TV movie) - Father Tahere
1996: City Life (TV series) - Daniel Freeman
1996: Mananui (short)
1996: Chicken - Zeke
1995: Mysterious Island (TV series) - Peter
1995: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (TV series) - Nemis
1994: Hercules in the Underworld (TV movie) - Nessus
1994: Once Were Warriors - Bully
1994: Rapa Nui - Short Ears
1994: Kahu & Maia
1993: Desperate Remedies - Fraser
1993: The Piano - Mana
1991: Undercover (TV movie) - Zip