Antonio Te Maioha from Te Rarawa, Waikato and Te Tairawhiti is an actor and spoken word artist who is extremely passionate about cleaning up the environment, although he refuses to call himself a greenie.
In his most recent Hollywood role he played a Māori warrior in Paramount movie Zoolander 2. He told The Hui working with Ben Stiller in Italy was fun, and the A-class treatment was a welcome treat.
Such treatment was unusual for the rising star, who says his commitment to his craft is driven by a passion for acting rather than money.
He started out as a street performer in 1992. Soon after, Te Maioha got into Toi Whakaari and thereafter landed a string of acting roles in theatre and television, including Xena, Hercules, Shortland Street and the Spartacus series, where he played a gay gladiator called Barca.
Spoken word is Te Maioha's outlet and means of raising awareness of environmental issues that are important to him, like recycling plastic.
This inspiring Māori boy is waiting on word of a role in a new Netflix series, but for now he hopes more young Māori will get into acting.
Newshub.
