Jemaine Clement
Jemaine Clement |
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Jemaine Clement (born January 10, 1974 in New Zealand) is a musician, actor, director, producer, comedian and writer, best known for being half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords with Bret McKenzie.
Background
Describing himself as "part Māori part European" [1], Clement spent his formative years in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. Moving to New Zealand's capital Wellington, where he studied drama and film at Victoria University of Wellington, Clement met fellow student Taika Waititi (a.k.a. Taika Cohen) with whom he went on to form the Humourbeasts.
In 2004 the Humourbeasts toured New Zealand in a stage show titled The Untold Tales of Maui[2], rewriting the traditional Maori legends of Maui. The duo were the recipients of New Zealand's highest comedy honour, the Billy T Award.
It was also at Victoria University that Clement met Bret McKenzie, and together they formed Flight of the Conchords . They have toured internationally and released three CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002, The Distant Future EP in 2007, and Flight of the Conchords in 2008. The Conchords produced a six-part improvisational comedy radio program on BBC Radio 2 and have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show. After a successful appearance in 2005 on HBOs One Night Stand, the Conchords were offered their own 12-part HBO series Flight of the Conchords. Its first season ran from June to September 2007, and it has been renewed for a second season.
Clement has starred in a number of television commercials internationally and provided voiceovers for many others in New Zealand. In 1999, Clement was a Radio Awards Winner as writer for Trashed, for Channel Z, Wellington.[3] In 2000 he was given a Special Radio Awards Commendation for The Sunglass Store.[4] He also was a writer and cast member of the television shows Skitz and Tellylaughs in New Zealand.
On February 5, 2006, Outback Steakhouse debuted a series of commercials starring Clement during Super Bowl XL. The campaign ended in July 2006.
Jemaine Clement also starred in the Export Gold 'Wheelbarrow' television commercial and does the voice over for the L&P "world famous in New Zealand" ad series.
He also played the character Jarrod in Taika Waititi's film Eagle vs Shark (2007), an indie romantic comedy.
Jemaine, along with fellow Conchord Bret, was featured as one of 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazine "Who".
Jemaine married his long-time girlfriend, Wellington actress and theatre director Miranda Manasiadis, in a Los Angeles registry office in August 2008. A small group of friends was there to witness the event, including Bret McKenzie.[5]
Selected filmography
- Fizz [1] (1999) Chased man
- Tongan Ninja [2] (2002) Screenplay, role of "Action Fighter" and voice of "Tongan Ninja"
- Futile Attraction [3] (2004) The Editor/Darcy
- What We Do In The Shadows [4] (2006) Writer & director
- Eagle vs Shark (2007) Jarrod
- "Flight of the Conchords" (TV) (2007) Jemaine, also creator/co-writer & executive producer
- Gentlemen Broncos (2009) Ronald Chevalier
References
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Flight of the Conchords Official Site
- What The Folk! Flight of the Conchords fan site
- St. Clements, Jemaine Clement Fan site
- BBC Radio 2
- Flight of the Conchords Official MySpace