Lee Tamahori facts for kids

Warren Lee Tamahori (born 17 June 1950) is a famous film director from New Zealand. He is known for directing many different types of movies, both in his home country and in Hollywood, USA.

His first big movie as a director was Once Were Warriors in 1994. This film was a huge success and is still considered one of the best New Zealand movies ever made. After that, he directed many other popular films. These include the adventure movie The Edge (1997), the detective thriller Along Came a Spider (2001), and the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002). He also directed The Devil's Double (2011) and Mahana (2016).

Lee Tamahori won the New Zealand Film Award for Best Director for Once Were Warriors. He was also nominated for the same award for his film Mahana.

Early Life and Beginnings

Lee Tamahori was born in Wellington, New Zealand. His father was from the Māori community, and his mother was British. He grew up in a place called Tawa, which is a suburb of Wellington.

He went to Tawa School and Tawa College. Before he started working in films, he was a commercial artist and a photographer. This means he created art for advertisements and took professional pictures.

Filmmaking Career

Starting in Film

Lee Tamahori began his journey in the film industry in the late 1970s. He started by working for free, just to get his foot in the door. Later, he worked as a boom operator for Television New Zealand. A boom operator holds a microphone on a long pole to record sound during filming.

He also worked on several feature films in this role, including Skin Deep and Goodbye Pork Pie. In the early 1980s, he became an assistant director. This job involves helping the main director manage the set and schedule. He worked as a first assistant director on films like Utu and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence.

In 1986, Lee Tamahori helped start a company called Flying Fish. This company specialized in making television commercials. He became well-known for directing many successful commercials, and one of them was even named 'Commercial of the Decade'.

Directing Feature Films

Lee Tamahori had directed some shorter TV dramas before making his first full-length movie.

Once Were Warriors

His first big movie was Once Were Warriors, released in 1994. This film showed the tough life of a Māori family. It was hard to get money to make the movie, but once it was released, it became a huge hit in New Zealand. It broke box office records, meaning it earned a lot of money. The film was also sold to many countries around the world. It received great reviews from famous magazines like Time and Première, with some calling it one of the ten best films of the year.

Hollywood Success

After the success of Once Were Warriors, Lee Tamahori moved to Hollywood, USA. He directed a crime drama called Mulholland Falls in 1996. This movie did not do very well with critics or audiences.

However, his next film, The Edge (1997), was a success. It was an adventure movie set in the wilderness and starred famous actors Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin.

In 2002, he directed Die Another Day, which was the 20th James Bond film. At that time, it was the most successful James Bond movie ever made. He also directed an episode of the popular TV show The Sopranos and the thriller movie Along Came a Spider (2001).

Later Projects

Lee Tamahori's next film was XXX: State of the Union (2005), which was a sequel to the movie XXX. This film starred Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe. In 2007, he directed Next, a science fiction action movie based on a short story. It starred Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Biel.

In 2011, he directed the drama The Devil's Double. This movie was about a man who claimed he was forced to become a body double for Uday Hussein, the son of Saddam Hussein.

In 2015, Lee Tamahori returned to New Zealand to direct Mahana. This was his first movie made in New Zealand since Once Were Warriors. The film was based on a novel and starred Temuera Morrison, who had also been in Once Were Warriors. Mahana was released in New Zealand in March 2016, after being shown at the Berlin Film Festival.

His most recent film is the historical drama The Convert, released in 2022. It stars Guy Pearce.

Personal Life

Lee Tamahori has been married two times. He has two sons, one from each marriage.

Filmography

Film

• Thunderbox (1989, short film)
• Once Were Warriors (1994)
• Mulholland Falls (1996)
• The Edge (1997)
• Along Came a Spider (2001)
• Die Another Day (2002)
• XXX: State of the Union (2005)
• Next (2007)
• The Devil's Double (2011)
• Mahana (2016)
• Emperor (2017) (unreleased)
• The Convert (2023)

Television

• The Ray Bradbury Theater (1990-92, 3 episodes)
• Billions (2020, 1 episode)

See also

In Spanish: Lee Tamahori para niños