Matu Ngaropo
Acting
Biography
Training: Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting Major) 2003. Theatre: Othello in Othello (Centrepoint Theatre); Mercurio in Romeo and Juliet (Downstage Theatre), Matua Tommy in Little Black Bitch (Tuatara Collective); Koro in Two Worlds (Modern Maori Quartet); Guildenstern in Hamlet (Pop-Up Globe); The Provost in Measure for Measure (Pop-Up Globe); Macduff in Macbeth (Pop-Up Globe); Angelo in The Comedy of Errors (Pop-Up Globe); That’s Us (Modern Maori Quartet); Disney’s The Lion King (Disney Theatrical Group); Nga Bro E Wha (Modern Maori Quartet); Benedict in Tu (Circa Theatre, Tawata); Tawera in Te Awarua (Te Rehia Productions); Achilles in The Maori Troilus and Cressida (Globe Theatre, London); Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in PSA (Circa Theatre). Television: Wayne Harris in Shortland Street (South Pacific Pictures); Mikaere in Korero Mai (Cinco Cine Film Productions Ltd); Taonga (Greenstone Pictures); Constable Lemalu in Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby (Gibson Group). Concerts: Shanghai New Zealand Ball; Hong Kong New Zealand Ball; Frankfurt Bookfair; New Zealand Rugby World Cup; France Rugby World Cup; Japan Rugby World Cup.
Known For
This documentary-drama film follows Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi DCM of B Company, 28th Māori Battalion, a soldier of extraordinary courage, whose actions proved pivotal in the 1943 battle for the fortified summit of Takrouna, Tunisia.
Sgt. Haane
The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet resilient, Whina tells the story of a woman formed by tradition, compelled by innovation, and guided by an instinct for equality and justice whose legacy as the Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation) was an inspiration to an entire country.