Michael Hurst O.N.Z.M.

As a teenager Michael attempted escape from his parents' troubled home life by going to the movies, where he would sometimes have fun practicing stunt fighting on the steps of the theatre's foyer.

Michael starred in the American movie B**** Slap along with his former Hercules and Xena co-stars Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor playing minor roles.

In 2006, Michael was invited to participate as a director in 24-Hour Deadline Theatre, which randomly assigned a writer, a director, and three actors to each of 8 teams. Each team was given the same mystery props and twenty-four hours in which to write, create, and rehearse a short play. All of the plays were then performed in front of a paying audience when the time had elapsed.

In late 2007, Michael starred with Oliver Driver in the play The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Silo Theatre. The production was named "Best Fun" by Listener magazine in its Best of NZ Theatre article, and, after a sold-out season with a one-week extension, the NZ Herald reported that it was a "100 per cent success which left many would-be punters frustrated, unable to buy tickets".

Michael had his first starring role in a tv series back in 1984 on a NZ series named Heroes. It was about a rock band; Michael played Dave Nelson, the drummer. Michael actually learned to play drums so he would be eligible for this role. After a one year absence, the series was brought back for a second season in 1986.

Michael had support roles in two New Zealand films released in 2007, The Tattooist and We're Here to Help.

In December 2007, Michael was named a New Zealand Entertainer of the Year by the New Zealand Herald.

In 2002, Michael starred in the NZ tv series Showstoppers on which he and co-host Stacey Daniels auditioned nearly a thousand would-be showstoppers throughout New Zealand and trained the final eight to perform in a variety show. Michael directed them all in a production that formed the final episode of the series.

In January of 2008, Michael and his wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand taught masterclasses for the Centre City Music Theatre Summer School, which is aimed at anyone interested in theatre from age 8 on up.

In 2003, Michael was picked by the New Zealand Listener as Auckland's "Best Actor" for his title role of Hamlet. He was also runner-up for best director for the same production. The New Zealand Herald also lauded the production, saying, "His performance was an unalloyed pleasure because he approached the text with such intelligence and sensitivity that even the famous soliloquies sounded as if we were hearing them for the first time. Dizzyingly exciting, it was unquestionably the best reading of a Shakespeare tragedy and possibly the best local Shakespeare ever."

Xena director of photography Dave Duncan said of Michael, "I really, really liked Michael's energy and enthusiasm. And nothing was ever a problem, and just he always just spurred you on to want to do your best work at all times. It was just great."

In the four episodes of Hercules in which he played The Widow Twanky, Michael is credited under the name "Edith Sidebottom" (correctly pronounced "Siddy-Betowm"). The name is a combination of Mrs. Sidebottom, the first pantomime character Michael ever played, and his own mother's first name, Edith. Michael's Widow Twanky is a broad impersonation of his mother, especially her English north country accent. He also plays a beggar under the pseudonym "Billy Wagstaff" in the Hercules episode "Greece is Burning".

While making the Hercules episode "Once a Hero", Michael hid a broken arm by wearing a leather strap designed by Ngila Dickson, the show's wardrobe designer. Although the producers of the show wanted him to wear a sling, Michael convinced them the strap would look more rugged.

Michael's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth pared away all of the psychosexual relationship of Macbeth's relationship with his wife in favor of telling the story of a man who has rightly or wrongly "declared war upon his mortal soul".

Michael's all time favorite movie is Ben Hur. He says he saw the movie fourteen times by age ten.

Michael got the news of fellow Hercules actor Kevin Smith's death while he was in Pasadena doing a convention. He was the one to break the news to the many fans at the convention of his passing.

Michael was one of the presenters for one episode of The Gibson Group's one hour documentary series Here to Stay (aka "Settlers") for New Zealand's TVOne. Here to Stay journeys back into New Zealand's colonial settler past as viewed through the eyes of six different migrant groups. Michael's episode was titled "The English".

Michael is trained in martial arts, and did many of his own fight scenes for Hercules.

Michael is a very versatile voice artist, and can do a great number of accents- American, German, French, various British dialects, and Australian.

One of Michael's pet peeves it text messaging, because he has to ask himself, "why can't people spell?"

In 2005, Michael wrote, directed, and starred as The Widow Twanky in the play Jack and the Beanstalk, which featured Morgan Reese Fairhead, Anna Hewlett, Grant Bridger, and Bruce Hopkins.

Michael is represented professionally by the firm of Johnson & Laird Management, as is his wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand.

One of the things that is always mentioned in terms of injuries on the set is the one where Michael hurt Kevin Sorbo. "It was nine stitches. I've seen the shot, well, it's actually been edited. I'm doing a reverse spin with the sword, and in those days they gave us real metal swords - idiots, you know, but anyway, he didn't duck quite far enough and my aim was off."

Michael's 2007 production of Tis Pity She's a Whore sold out for the entire season, and they added performances in response to the demand.

Instead of the usual division of labor of directing an tv episode using a second unit director to film noncritical footage, Michael did his own second unit directing on the Xena episodes "Who's Gurkhan?" and "To Helicon and Back".

Michael was extremely busy in the year after he finished filming Hercules. The day after his final day of shooting Hercules, he began preparations to direct the movie Jubilee. After that, he directed a number of episodes of Xena and Jack of All Trades, and directed the one-hour comedy Love Mussel for New Zealand television. He had guest starring roles in Xena, Jack of All Trades and Topp Twins, he performed in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, as well as doing some writing and taking several courses at university.

Whenever he's asked if he prefers acting or directing or TV or theatre, he always says, 'It's always one thing for me: it's telling stories. That's what I do. It doesn't matter how I do it.'

Michael wrote the screenplay and directed the 1994 short film I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, which was selected for competition at Cannes.

Sometimes being an actor as well as a director was helpful to those he was directing. Not only could he explain what he wanted more clearly, but he also passed on techniques to his actors. While directing the Xena episode "Who's Gurkhan?" he suggested to Renee O'Connor that she read Hamlet to help her find her character's motivation for revenge. Renee did it, and she found it extremely helpful.

Michael was awarded the 1997 Best Supporting Actor, Television, New Zealand Film and Television Awards, for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 'Iolaus'.

Michael won the 1999 Best Director, Comedy, Television, New Zealand TV Guide Awards, for the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode ". . . And Fancy Free". He also had a guest starring role in the episode, though he does so under the pseudonym Edith Sidebottom.

Michael was named the "Best New Zealand Actor", 2005 Metro Readers' Poll. His wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand won the "Best Actress" award in the same year.

Michael is the eldest of three brothers.

Michael thought that after his character Iolaus was killed in the beginning of the fifth season of Hercules that he was done with the show, so he cut his flowing blond locks. But a few months later he got a call from Rob Tapert asking him to come back to the show to play the alternate universe Iolaus 2, so he had to let his hair grow again.

Michael is an actor first, even when he's a director. While directing the Xena episode "Who's Gurkhan?" he held a "Frock Day", where all the crew (especially the men) put on their best dresses while they worked. Michael wore a simple blue dress that went very nicely with his eyes.

Michael wished they would have done a third Hercules episode using the Prisoner of Zenda theme, with him playing Iolaus, the ghost of King Orestes, and Orestes' wicked cousin (with black hair).

Michael is 5'5" (1.65 m), with blonde hair and blue-gray eyes.

Michael has been married to noted New Zealand actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand since 1988. They have 2 sons- Jack Louis Ward Hurst born January 25, 1997; and Cameron Lane Ward Hurst, born December 2, 1999

In 2006, Michael directed the Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night which received major year-end kudos from the New Zealand Herald and Metro and Listener magazines. Listener said, "For best production for the year, nothing could beat the Auckland Theatre Company's Twelfth Night, Michael Hurst's playful and dazzling take on Shakespeare's giddy, lovestruck comedy".

Michael has directed the play Mr. Marmalade at the Silo Theatre, Auckland New Zealand.

In 2005, Michael and his wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand co-starred in a production of the Edward Albee play, The Goat. It was voted "Best Play" in Metro magazine's annual Readers' Poll, and Listener magazine named 2005 "The Year of The Goat" in honor of the production: "No doubt about it, Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand gave the performances of the year, possibly of their lives . . . " This was the first time in close to a decade that Michael and Jennifer had appeared on stage together.

June 6, 2005 was a fantastic day for Michael. He was invested as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for "for service to film and the theatre". But he's not the only member of his family to receive this honor- a little over a year later his wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand was also made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.