Kiwi actors
Here are 10 famous Kiwi actors, but how many of them do you know? Famous New Zealand actors are turning up on screens all over the world, having learned their craft at home producing well-known Kiwi movies.
Some of the country's best-known performers who are in the 'famous Kiwi actors' club include:
Russell Crowe
Arguably the most famous Kiwi actor of all. Wellington-born Russell Crowe won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Actor for his lead role in Gladiator and has received two other Oscar nominations. His acting career began with roles on Australian television and in the film Romper Stomper. He is the owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league club.
Keisha Castle-Hughes
When she was 11, Castle-Hughes became the youngest ever Kiwi actor nominee for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut role as Paikea 'Pai' Apirana in the 2002 film Whale Rider. Since then, she's appeared in major films such as Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueberger (2008).
Sam Neill
Does he qualify as a famous Kiwi actor? Though born in Northern Ireland, Neill considers himself to be a Kiwi and currently runs a vineyard, The Two Paddocks winery, in Central Otago. Neill's acting roles include lead parts in television's Reilly, Ace of Spies and movies such as Omen III: The Final Conflict, Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, The Piano and The Hunt for Red October. He has declined a knighthood.
Lucy Lawless
The daughter of Mt Albert mayor Frank Ryan, Lawless is best known for her lead role in the cult television series Xena: Warrior Princess. She's also starred in the series Battlestar Gallactica and in the film Justice League: The New Frontier.
Anna Paquin
This famous Kiwi actor won Best Supporting Actress at the 1994 Academy Awards for her role as a child in the New Zealand-made film The Piano, making her the second youngest recipient as she was 11. She's now better known for her role as Rogue in the X-Men movies and for her part as Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood.
Robyn Malcolm
Though she has not become internationally known, Malcolm is one of New Zealand's most successful and popular local actors, mainly for her role as Cheryl West, the matriach of a criminal family living in Auckland in the television series Outrageous Fortune. She's won many awards for her pivotal role in the top-rating series.
Melanie Lynskey
New Plymouth-born Lynskey is best known for playing Rose on the United States television show Two and a Half Men. She's also appeared in films such as Flags of our Fathers, Sweet Home Alabama, Heavenly Creatures and Away We Go.
Cliff Curtis
After debuting in the Oscar-nominated New Zealand film The Piano, Curtis has acted in a long list of Kiwi and international films, usually in support roles. He's featured in movies such as Bring Out the Dead, Sunshine, Training Day, Three Kings, Blow and Whale Rider.
Alan Dale
Undoubtedly one of the most famous Kiwi actors on TV. Dunedin-born Dale achieved global fame as Jim Robinson in Australian television series Neighbours, a role he played for eight years. After moving to the United States, he has starred in television shows such as The O.C and Ugly Betty, as well as guest roles in Lost, 24, NCIS, ER, The West Wing and The X Files.
Temuera Morrison
The nephew of legendary New Zealand entertainer Sir Howard Morrison, Tem Morrison got his break as a heart-throb doctor on television soap Shortland Street. His big screen breakthrough came as the violent Jake Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors.