As Boba Fett, Temuera Morrison is one of the most feared men in the galaxy.
But back home in New Zealand, why is he still overshadowed by
even more famous members of his own family? Keep watching to find out!
Temuera Morrison's artistic lineage can be traced to his uncle Howard Morrison,
a legendary musician in New Zealand whose success and voice was so wide-reaching that
he was knighted. Beyond his music, which was popular across the South Pacific and Asia,
Sir Howard dedicated his time and effort to fighting for civil rights. In particular,
he rallied for equal education and access for New Zealand's native Māori people.
Per NZ on Screen, Morrison recalled of his uncle,
"I remember as a young boy, growing up — we were always told to stand up and make a speech,
stand up and sing a song, do this and do that, and when I look back,
he was grooming us, training us for our journey."
However, according to a biography of Sir Howard written by his son Howie Jr.,
the relationship between uncle and nephew might not have always been smooth. According to the
Rotorua Daily Post, the book revealed that Sir Howard didn't want to share the limelight,
and criticized Temuera for his breakout role in the acclaimed film "Once Were Warriors."
During an interview with Stuff,
Temuera Morrison recounted that after being tapped to play famed Australian
rugby coach Eddie Jones in the 2019 film "The Brighton Miracle," he told director Max Mannix,
"Are you sure? I am a Māori from Rotorua, New Zealand."
The Māori are thought to have arrived in New Zealand about a thousand years
ago as members of the Polynesian peoples whose ocean-going exploits are epic. And as a Māori,
Morrison is part of a collection of successful Polynesian actors blowing open doors in Hollywood.
This list includes several A-listers working today. From action stars like
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to "Masked Singer" judge Nicole Scherzinger,
the rise of entertainers of Polynesian descent has been a great stride for inclusiveness.
Temuera Morrison is named after his grandfather,
who was a professional rugby player. Morrison told Rotorua Daily Post,
"My cousin Terry Tapsell was born a week after me,
whichever one was born first was going to be called Temuera after our Morrison grandfather."
Grandpa Morrison was a member of the New Zealand rugby squad All Blacks,
the perennial kings of the rugby pitch. But the team isn't without its controversies. Sir Howard,
with his group the Howard Morrison Quartet, memorialized one such incident involving his dad.
Their hit 1960 protest song, "My Old Man's an All Black" is about how the team wasn't
allowed to play its Māori members for a tournament in apartheid-era South Africa.
Plenty has changed since then, and the All Blacks have gained global fame for
performing a pregame haka, a traditional Māori dance focused on intimidating the opponent.
The average American filmgoer likely didn't have any idea who Temuera Morrison was
before he appeared as Jango Fett and then all of Jango's clones. However,
by the time he joined the Star Wars universe, he had already been nominated for several
awards and even won a few trophies for acting work in his native New Zealand.
His portrayal of Jake "The Muss" Heke in the 1994 Kiwi hit "Once Were Warriors" made him a household
name back home. But during an interview with Stuff, Morrison revealed that the fame he earned
through that project wasn't everything it was cracked up to be, describing the role as a, quote,
"millstone" around his neck, and expressing displeasure with the making of the film.
"It was a lot of hard work and emotional mayhem. [...] People go nutty doing movies like that.
It was full-on and [we] never knew how it was going to turn out."
The hard work paid off, however, as Morrison won a New Zealand Film and TV Award for "Best
Performance in a Dramatic Role" for "Once Were Warriors" and would later earn a "Best Actor" win
for his reprisal of Jake in the film's sequel, 1999's "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?"
The original "Star Wars" movies had a few instances where one actor filled
the suit while another voiced it. One of these was, of course,
Boba Fett, with Jeremy Bulloch wearing the suit and Jason Wingreen delivering
the voicework for Boba Fett's four lines in "The Empire Strikes Back."
After Temuera Morrison played Jango Fett in body and voice in 2002's "Attack of
the Clones," it made sense that he was tapped to play Boba Fett
in "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett," since Boba Fett is a clone of Jango.
That raised an issue though: Morrions's voice is obviously different from Wingreen's. So in 2004,
LucasFilm brought Morrison back to re-record all of Boba's lines
in "The Empire Strikes Back" for future releases.
At least there's only one Jango!
"There's only one Jango, and that's me!"
Temuera Morrison had long wanted to return to the Star Wars universe,
even saying in 2017 that he'd want to play an older Captain Rex,
another clone of Jango Fett who was introduced in the 2008 animated film "Clone Wars."
Of course, that led to wild speculation that
Morrison might actually be able to some day portray Boba Fett himself,
even though Fett seemingly died in "The Return of the Jedi." A pipe dream, right?
Well, that dream came true and Morrison brought the bounty hunter back to life
in "The Mandalorian," albeit as an older Boba Fett, one who survived escaping from
the giant stomach of the Sarlacc. After that ordeal and the ravages of time,
it was inevitable that the actor would have to shed his rugged good looks and
smooth voice in order to portray a scarred, battle-worn, older Boba.
Discussing his role in "The Mandalorian," Morrison told StarWars.com,
"I did rely a lot on the makeup. [...] I spent a lot of the time sitting in the makeup chair,
watching what was being applied, and then things just started to happen organically."
Regarding his vocal changes, Morrison said,
"I thought, every now and then he hit some tonal qualities where,
hey, he has been scarred. He has been affected internally, as well. So without
sounding too false I wanted to bring a little gravel in there to give it a bit of timbre."
The United Kingdom and its commonwealth nations, including New Zealand, still view
Queen Elizabeth II as their queen despite political independence. Along those lines,
titles and nobility are bestowed on New Zealand citizens just like in England. In New Zealand,
the nation's Royal Honours system gives titles and names people to various orders and honours.
As his bio explains, Temuera Morrison was named to the New Zealand Order of Merit for
services to drama in a 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours. While he was named as a Member,
there are further levels to achieve. At the top are the titles of Dame and Knight, the level
attained by his uncle Howard Morrison, therefore also known as Sir Howard. Perhaps Knighthood is
destined for Morrison if he continues to captivate audiences with his acting chops.
Plus, considering Boba Fett's signature helmet
looks like something worn by a medieval knight, it appears to be his destiny!
Temuera Morrison is an imposing guy. He earned accolades for playing the violent Jake "The Muss"
Heke and went on to play two of the most savage bounty hunters in the history of the galaxy.
But Morrison likes to also mix things up and show his softer side once in a while.
"It'll be nice to play just a nice man for a change without all the hullabalooey stuff."
Luckily, voice acting helps with that. Of course, he did voice Jango and Boba Fett,
both in the films and also in video games like the "Star Wars:
Battlefront" series. But he also voiced the more nurturing Chief Tui in "Moana,"
the Disney sensation with a cast list that features an all-star ensemble of the world's
biggest Polynesian actors and actresses. Morrison is joined by Dwayne Johnson,
Jemaine Clement, Auli'i Cravalho, and Nicole Scherzinger among others in the hit movie.
Given his distinctively tough voice,
we can only hope he continues to talk behind the camera as well as in front of it.
In 2009, Temuera Morrison penned his autobiography,
"From Haka to Hollywood." Morrison told the New Zealand Sunday News that he
hoped that his book "will inspire others to reach for the stars."
Like many celebrity autobiographies, it was ghost-written, in this case by Paul Little.
Morrison told the New Zealand Sunday News,
"I'm just going to talk a lot and Paul is going to try and make something out
of it. [...] Before moving to Auckland I used to perform professionally in my
Māori culture groups [...] I believe there's a formula to getting to the
top and by talking in this book I might reveal how the haka I got to Hollywood."
Temuera Morrison is a man of many talents. Acting and voice acting are just the tip of the iceberg.
While his uncle Sir Howard is one of New Zealand's most popular musicians of all time, Morrison's
father, Laurie, was a musician as well. So it's no surprise that in 2014 Morrison released his
own album, "Tem," which features covers of classic songs his dad and uncle liked and used to perform.
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Morrison explained how he used to listen to
his father's records. He also mentioned that when his dad came home from work,
he'd shine the old man's shoes before his father went to perform at a venue in Auckland.
It's fun to imagine the elder Morrisons jamming out to American classics, and it's impressive how
good Temuera covers songs ranging from "Midnight Special" to "It's Not Unusual" on the album.
Morrison also had another entertainment gig, hosting his own TV shows, one of
which he believes might have inspired his record deal. Morrison told Stuff,
"I think Sony must have seen my [TV variety show] 'Happy Hour' at 9:30
p.m. on TV One. They said: 'Why not do an album?'"
His hosting career may not have lasted long but he did get George Lucas to appear on his talk show,
"The Tem Show." Not bad for a simple man trying to make his way in the galaxy.
"Thank you also for cloning me! There's only me and a sheep called Dolly, I think!"
It's a common adage that being a child actor does not necessarily lead to a successful adult
career. Luckily Temuera Morrison, whose first onscreen appearance was at the tender age of 11,
bucked the trend. According to NZ On Screen, he was cast as a main character Rangi in 1973's
"Rangi's Catch" after director Michael Forlong spotted him performing for tourists in Rotorua.
In the movie, he plays a kid who, along with three others, pursues two escaped convicts.
Catherine de la Roche, who reviewed the film for "Dominion" said it was, quote,
"one of the best children's films ever made."
His next credit wasn't until 11 years later, at the age of 22, playing a Rasta street kid
on the New Zealand TV series "Mortimer's Patch." Two years later he would get recurring roles on
two other New Zealand TV series, "Seekers" and "Adventurer." From there, Morrison began
that long journey to playing Jango Fett and blasting onto movie screens all over the world.
Temuera Morrison's first character to reach a global audience was Jake in "Once Were Warriors."
And his performance impressed no less than legendary American film critic Roger Ebert.
In his review of the film, Ebert wrote,
"In Temuera Morrison, as Jake, the movie finds a leading actor as elemental,
charismatic and brutal as the young Marlon Brando; he has instinctive star power,
and it's his likability that makes the violence of his character so shocking."
Morrison mentioned in a 2014 interview with Screen-Space that to prepare for the film
he was instructed to watch Brando's performance as Stanley Kowalski in "A
Streetcar Named Desire," so Ebert's comparison certainly makes sense. What was unexpected,
though, is that Morrison would end up co-starring with the legendary Brando.
"The Island of Dr. Moreau" starred Brando as the title mad scientist in a film that
got quite a few negative reviews. Morrison, who played man-dog hybrid Azazello, told
Screen-Space that he left the shoot because it was dragging on, before a lawyer forced him back.
Still, Morrison fondly recalls sharing the screen with one of his idols, telling Rotten Tomatoes,
"it was great to see him work, see a master work."
No doubt, some day an up-and-comer will say that same thing in an
interview about the time they got to work alongside Morrison himself.
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