Temuera Morrison facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Temuera Morrison MNZM
Morrison in 2016
Born	Temuera Derek Morrison (1960-12-26) 26 December 1960 (age 64) Rotorua, New Zealand
Other names	Tem
Alma mater	Wesley College, Auckland Western Heights High School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–present
Known for	Jake "The Muss" Heke Dr. Hone Ropata Jango Fett Boba Fett Clone troopers
Partner(s)	Angela Dotchin (1997–2002)
Children	2
Relatives	Taini Morrison (sister) Sir Howard Morrison (uncle) Atareta Maxwell (aunt) Michael Ashton (cousin)

Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a famous actor from New Zealand. He is well-known for many roles, especially in the Star Wars movies and TV shows.

In New Zealand, he first became popular playing Dr. Hone Ropata in the TV show Shortland Street. He also received great praise for his role as Jake "The Muss" Heke in the 1994 film Once Were Warriors and its sequel.

Around the world, Temuera Morrison is best known for playing Jango Fett and his many clones in Star Wars. This includes Boba Fett, Jango's clone son. He first played Jango in the 2002 movie Attack of the Clones. He later played Boba Fett in The Mandalorian and his own show, The Book of Boba Fett.

He also voiced Chief Tui, Moana's father, in the Disney animated movie Moana. Plus, he played Aquaman's father, Tom Curry, in the movies Aquaman, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Early Life and Background

Temuera Morrison was born on December 26, 1960, in Rotorua, New Zealand. His mother was Hana Morrison and his father was Laurie Morrison, a musician.

He is from the Māori community, with family connections to the Te Arawa and Tainui tribes. He also has Scottish and Irish family roots. His sister was the performer Taini Morrison, and his uncle was the famous musician Sir Howard Morrison.

Temuera went to Wesley College, Auckland and Western Heights High School for his high school education.

Acting Career Highlights

Temuera Morrison's first movie role was in 1973, playing the main character in Rangi's Catch. He learned acting through a special training program in New Zealand.

One of his early big roles was in the 1988 film Never Say Die. After that, he joined the TV show Shortland Street as Dr. Hone Ropata from 1992 to 1995.

In 1994, he became very famous for his role as Jake "The Muss" Heke in Once Were Warriors. This movie was a huge success in New Zealand and was sold to many countries. Temuera won an award for best male performance for this role. He played the character again in the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, and won another award.

He also appeared in supporting roles in movies like Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Beautiful Country (2004). In 2005, he hosted his own talk show in New Zealand called The Tem Show.

In 1996, Temuera Morrison was honored with the New Zealand Order of Merit for his contributions to drama.

In 2014, he released his first music album, Tem. It featured cover songs that his father and uncle, Sir Howard Morrison, used to perform.

Star Wars Roles

Temuera Morrison became known worldwide when he played the bounty hunter Jango Fett in the 2002 movie Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. In the story, an army of clones is made from Jango's DNA, so Temuera also voiced all the clones.

He appeared as several clones in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He also re-recorded the voice for Boba Fett (Jango's clone son) in the 2004 DVD versions of the original Star Wars movies.

Temuera has voiced Jango Fett and his clones in many Star Wars video games. He played the clone commando "Boss" in Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005) and voiced troopers in Star Wars: Battlefront (2004). He also voiced both Jango and Boba Fett in Battlefront II (2005).

In 2020, Temuera physically played Boba Fett for the first time in the second season of The Mandalorian. In the show, Boba Fett is older and has scars. Temuera changed his voice to sound rougher, as if Boba's past experiences affected him. He also brought some of his own Māori culture to Boba's character, especially in the fight scenes.

A new show called The Book of Boba Fett was announced in 2020. Temuera Morrison returned as Boba Fett, showing what happened to him after the 1983 movie Return of the Jedi. The show started in December 2021.

In 2022, he had a small role as a veteran clone trooper in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. He also voiced Captain Rex and other clones in an episode of Ahsoka.

Other Notable Roles

Temuera Morrison returned to Shortland Street for six weeks in 2008 as Dr. Hone Ropata.

He has also appeared in several movies based on DC Comics. In the 2011 film Green Lantern, he played Abin Sur. In 2018, he played Tom Curry, the father of Aquaman, in the movie Aquaman. He played Tom Curry again in The Flash (2023) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).

Temuera also voiced Chief Tui, Moana's father, in the 2016 animated Disney movie Moana. He will voice him again in the 2024 sequel, Moana 2, and will also do Tui's singing voice this time.

Personal Life

Temuera Morrison lives in New Zealand. He travels between New Zealand, Australia, and the United States for his acting work.

He has an adult son from a past relationship and a daughter with Peata Melbourne. His partner is Ashlee Howden-Sadlier, who is also of Māori descent.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Rangi's Catch	Rangi
1984	Other Halves	Tony
1988	Never Say Die	Alf Winters
	Mauri	Young Cop
	The Grasscutter	Sergeant Harris	Television film
1994	Once Were Warriors	Jake 'The Muss' Heke
1996	Barb Wire	Axel Hood
	Island of Dr. Moreau, TheThe Island of Dr. Moreau	Azazello
	Broken English	Manu
	Little White Lies	Tim
	Whipping Boy	Jack	Television film
1997	Speed 2: Cruise Control	First Officer Juliano
1998	Six Days, Seven Nights	Jager
1999	What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?	Jake 'The Muss' Heke
	From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter	Mauricio / The Hangman	Direct-to-video
2000	Vertical Limit	Major Rasul
2001	Crooked Earth	Will Bastion
	Ihaka: Blunt Instrument	Tito Ihaka	Television film
2002	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	Jango Fett
		Clone troopers	Voice; performed by Bodie Taylor
2004	Beautiful Country, TheThe Beautiful Country	Snakehead
	Blueberry	Runi
	The Empire Strikes Back DVD Special Edition	Boba Fett	Voice; The original trilogy DVD version
2005	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	Commander Cody
		Clone troopers	Role shared with Bodie Taylor
	River Queen	Te Kai Po
	The Reluctant Hero	Narrator	TV documentary
2008	Rain of the Children	Rua Kenana	Documentary
2009	The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake	Don Sandovate	Television film
	Couples Retreat	Briggs
	Marine 2, TheThe Marine 2	Damo	Direct-to-video
2010	Tracker	Kereama
2011	Green Lantern	Abin Sur
2012	The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption	King Ramusan	Direct-to-video
	Fresh Meat	Hemi Crane
2013	Mt. Zion	Dad
2016	Mahana (The Patriarch)	Grandfather Mahana
	Hard Target 2	Madden	Direct-to-video
	The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One	Warden Mourdain
	Moana	Chief Tui	Voice
	Dawn	Wikkanak	Television film
2018	Occupation	Peter Bartlett
	Aquaman	Tom Curry
2019	The Brighton Miracle	Eddie Jones
	Dora and the Lost City of Gold	Powell
	Mosley	Warfield
2021	Occupation: Rainfall	Peter Bartlett
2023	The Flash	Tom Curry
	Sons of Summer	Frank
	Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	Tom Curry
2024	Ka Whawhai Tonu	Rewi Maniapoto	Feature film
	Moana 2	Chief Tui	Voice
TBA	The Bluff	0TBA	Post-production
	The Wrecking Crew	0TBA	Filming

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Video games

See also

In Spanish: Temuera Morrison para niños