Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, Aotearoa, New Zealand, on July 27, 1968. Cliff is of New Zealand Maori descent. In his youth he learned traditional Maori fighting styles and later enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland. Cliff was cast in
The Piano in 1993, but returned to New Zealand from Europe to star in the New Zealand films
Desperate Remedies (1993),
Once Were Warriors (1994), and
Jubilee in 2000. In Hollywood films, Cliff has played a variety of different roles and ethnicities. He has starred in films like
… More The Insider (1999), Blow (2001), Training Day (2001), Whale Rider (2002), Runaway Jury (2003), and most recently in Live Free or Die Hard and 10,000 B.C. 
