Manu Bennett

For the Anglican bishop, see Manuhuia Bennett.

Manu Bennett
Bennett in 2013
Born	Jonathan Manu Bennett (1969-10-10) 10 October 1969 New Zealand
Other names	John Bennett Jon Bennett
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Children	3 (with Karin Horen)

Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969), also known as John Bennett or Jon Bennett, is a New Zealand actor. He is best known for his portrayal as the Gallic gladiator Crixus, in the Starz television series Spartacus, and as Azog the Defiler in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. He also plays Slade Wilson in Arrow.

Early life

Born in New Zealand, Bennett's mother was an Australian bikini model, his father a New Zealand singer. The family moved to Australia when Bennett was a few months old. On his father's side, Bennett is of Māori (specifically Te Arawa and Ngāti Kahungunu) and Irish descent. His mother is of Scottish and Spanish ancestry. He was raised mostly between Sydney and Newcastle, Australia. In 1986, Bennett returned to New Zealand to attend Te Aute College, where he played for the 1st XV. Upon returning to Australia, Bennett was chosen in the New South Wales Schoolboys Rugby Union Team. Interested in modern dancing, classical ballet and piano, Bennett quit rugby to attend university to study dance and drama, then travelled to Los Angeles on a scholarship to attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. In an interview, Bennett talked about the car accident that killed his mother and brother and put him in a two-week coma. He cites that because of his girlfriend, who was a ballet dancer, he got into acting and found it to be the medium to which direct his emotions saying, "Acting was my route to survival."

Career

Bennett's professional acting career began in 1993 in the teen soap Paradise Beach. He then played guest roles in other Australian TV dramas, including Water Rats, All Saints, and Beastmaster. Bennett then starred alongside Claudia Karvan in the mini series The Violent Earth, produced by French company Gaumont. In 1996, Bennett participated in theatre. In an open air production of " Lady Chatterley's Lover", based on D. H. Lawrence's novel, directed by Australian film/theatre director Robert Chuter, he played the title role, the gamekeeper Oliver Mellors.

In 1999, Bennett landed his first leading role in a feature film named Tomoko, shot on location in Tokyo, starring opposite Rumiko Koyanagi. In 2000, Bennett starred in Xena: Warrior Princess as Marc Antony, then scored a role opposite Without A Trace star Anthony La Paglia, where Bennett displayed his dancing skills as a salsa dance teacher in the award-winning Australian film, Lantana.

Bennett returned to New Zealand in 2000 to appear in the popular television drama, Shortland Street, then went on to play a cop turned lawyer in Street Legal before working with his director cousin Michael Bennett on the Māori Twilight Zone styled series Mataku before working with Richard Taylor from the Academy Award winning firm Weta Workshop on Creature Quest.

In 2003, Bennett hosted Going Straight, a New Zealand reality show.

In 2006, Bennett was cast in The Marine alongside WWE wrestling star John Cena and Robert Patrick. In 2007, Bennett was cast as one of ten convicts alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones in The Condemned. In 2006, Bennett was cast opposite Josh Hartnett to play Deputy Billy Kitka in the US film 30 Days of Night.

In 2010, Bennett co-starred in the new American television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, about the defiant gladiator Spartacus. Bennett played the key role of Crixus, Champion of Capua. He was the only cast member of the show, starring on all three seasons, and the prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena as well as starring in the most episodes of this series.

In 2012, he played the villain Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In November 2012, Bennett was cast in the first season of Arrow as Slade Wilson, and in March 2013, he was promoted to series regular for the second season.

Personal life

Bennett and Israeli socialite Karin Horen have three daughters together: 7 year old Huia, 2 year old Mokoia and 1 year old Pania as of 2013.

Filmography

Bennett at Wizard World comic con in 2013

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Paradise Beach	Kirk Barsby
1998	The Violent Earth	Wanatcha Duvalier
2001	Lantana	Steve Veldez
2006	The Marine	Bennett
2007	The Condemned	Paco
	30 Days of Night	Deputy Billy Kitka
2011	Sinbad and The Minotaur	Sinbad	TV movie
2012	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Azog the Defiler
2013	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2014	The Hobbit: There and Back Again		Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Blue Heelers	Mark Davies	Episode: "The First Stone"
1996–1997	Water Rats	Joseph Lipinski	3 episodes
1998	All Saints	Darren	Episode: "Body and Soul"
1999	BeastMaster	Terron Leader	Episode: "The Legend Continues"
2000	Xena: Warrior Princess	Marc Antony	Episode: "Antony and Cleopatra"
2000–2001	Shortland Street	Jack Hewitt	Extended guest role
2001	Head Start	Dom	Episode: "He Ain't Heavy"
	Street Legal	Matt Urlich	12 episodes
2002	Mataku	John	Episode: "Going to War"
2003	Going Straight	Himself	Host
2008	The Strip	Brandon Bell	Episode: "Episode Thirteen"
2010–2013	Spartacus	Crixus	Main Role; 33 episodes
2012	Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms	Sunshine	4 episodes
2013–present	Arrow	Slade Wilson	Season 1: Recurring Season 2: Main Cast

Director

Year	Title	Notes
2006	The Bridge	Also Producer; Short Film

External links

• Manu Bennett at IMDb