Jemaine Clement
Jemaine Clement |
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Jemaine Clement (born 10 January 1974) is an Emmy nominated actor, musician, director, producer, comedian and writer, best known for being half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords with Bret McKenzie.
Early life and career
Clement was born in New Zealand. Raised by his Māori mother,[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 Taika Waititi (a.k.a. Taika Cohen) with whom he went on to form So You're a Man and 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 Māui. The duo were the recipients of New Zealand's highest comedy honour, the Billy T Award.
It was also at Victoria University that Clement and Bret McKenzie formed Flight of the Conchords. They have toured internationally and released four CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002, The Distant Future EP in 2007, Flight of the Conchords in 2008 and I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. 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 was renewed for a second season, which aired on HBO in the US from January to March 2009.[3] In December 2009, the Conchords announced the show would not be continuing for a third season on HBO. [4]
Clement has also appeared in a number of feature films; the one that has received the widest distribution to date is romantic comedy Eagle vs Shark, in which he played one of the starring roles, as a young man who finds a girlfriend in spite of being rather irritating. Clement had made his feature debut five years earlier in kung fu comedy Tongan Ninja, directed by New Zealander Jason Stutter. He has worked with Stutter on two more movies to date, low budget ghost comedy Diagnosis Death, and the drama Predicament, based on the book by late Kiwi novelist Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Clement also has a role in American comedy Gentlemen Broncos, directed by Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess. This role landed him a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
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.[5] In 2000 he was given a Special Radio Awards Commendation for The Sunglass Store.[6] He also was a writer and cast member of the television shows Skitz and Tellylaughs in New Zealand.
On 5 February 2006, Outback Steakhouse debuted a series of television commercials starring Clement during Super Bowl XL in which Clement pretends to be Australian and feigns an Australian accent. One of the long-running gags of Flight of the Conchords is the traditional ill-will between New Zealand and Australia and the differences between their corresponding accents. The campaign ended in July 2006.
Jemaine, along with fellow Conchord member Bret, was featured as one of 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazine Who.
Personal life
In August 2008, Clement married long time girlfriend Miranda Manasiadis. Clement's first son, named Sophocles Iraia, was born in October 2008 in New York City.[7]
Filmography
- Blood Suckers, directed by Jason Stutter (1995) vampire
- Fizz[8] (1999) Chased man
- Tongan Ninja[9] (2002) Screenplay, role of "Action Fighter" and voice of "Tongan Ninja"
- Futile Attraction[10] (2004) The Editor/Darcy
- What We Do In The Shadows[11] (2006) Writer & director
- Eagle vs Shark (2007) Jarrod
- "Flight of the Conchords" (TV) (2007 - 2009) Jemaine, also creator/co-writer & executive producer
- The Drinky Crow Show (TV) (2008) (guest)
- Gentlemen Broncos (2009) Ronald Chevalier
- Diagnosis: Death (2009) Garfield Olyphant
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! (TV) as Eric Wareheim ("Tennis")
- Despicable Me (2010) Tom
- Predicament (2010) Spook
- Dinner for Schmucks (2010) Kieran Vollard
References
- ^ O'Neal, Sean (2009-10-30). "Interview: Jemaine Clement". AV Club. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
I'm part Maori. My mum's Maori, and she raised me.
- ^ Humourbeasts 'Tales Of Maui" Comes to ChCh
- ^ http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Flight+Conchords+defy+struggling+story/1231180/story.html
- ^ http://flightoftheconchords.co.nz/2009/12/december-10th/
- ^ 1999 New england Radio Awards Finalists
- ^ 2000 New Zealand Radio Awards Finalists
- ^ Jemaine Clement Welcomes Son Sophocles Iraia
- ^ http://www.whatthefolk.net/jemaine.htm
- ^ http://www.tonganninja.com/
- ^ http://www.makemarksmovie.com/
- ^ http://www.headstrong.co.nz/projects.php?project=10
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
- NZ On Screen Profile
- BBC Radio 2
- Flight of the Conchords Official MySpace
- Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ronald Chevalier