ScreenTalk: Cliff Curtis
01 Dec 2014
From playing a dandy in Desperate Remedies and a hated villain in Once Were Warriors, actor Cliff Curtis has appeared in many of New Zealand’s most significant films.
From playing a human mule in The Piano, a dandy in Desperate Remedies and a hated villain in Once Were Warriors, actor Cliff Curtis has appeared in many of New Zealand’s most significant films. His most recent local role is as Genesis Potini in the acclaimed Dark Horse.
Curtis has also forged a successful international acting career; and moved into working as a producer, because of his desire to work on Maori stories.
In this ScreenTalk, Curtis talks about:
- The pros and cons of carrying a musical instrument in The Piano
- Being challenged by the sexuality of his character in Desperate Remedies
- Being unsure if he wanted the film Once Were Warriors to be made
- Detaching himself from the role of Bully in the movie
- Loving the romance of the film Whale Rider
- The “torturous” path of River Queen
- How The Dark Horse is the defining moment of his career
- Hating having to gain weight for the role
- The reason he became a film producer
This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.
NZ On Screen: Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside