I had my first zombie dream the other night.

You did?

Here in this hotel actually, yeah.

Really?

I was like heading up to the house and we're at the beach and the zombie horde started coming up over the hill. And then one of them broke away from the pack and started running towards me. He's played everyone from Jesus to Pablo Escobar. Cliff Curtis is my guest today. Hello.

Hey, how are you doing? I got to say I love the Dark Horse. You were amazing in it. It's been called one of the most important movies to come out of New Zealand. So congratulations.

Thank you. I can help them to have a purpose. You took dreams to those to Mariki's you better follow through.

You're known for playing a wide variety of ethnicities, but your latest roles, you get to play Maori characters. Um, is that kind of special for you?

Well, yeah, it is. Not many people know what a Maori is. You know,

You're a Maori.

I'm Maori, it's like a Polynesian thing. We are related to Hawaiians and Tahitians and Samoans, kinda live in the Pacific yeah, on the islands. Yeah. And I'm we're from New Zealand.

You're known for getting really, really involved in your roles, like for to play Jesus in Risen, you actually isolated yourself for a period of time, is that right?

Yeah, I took a vow of silence.

Wow.

Which was great because I talk, because I talk way too much, so That was a relief.

How did you get around that? Just did you have like a whiteboard with you and

Uh, yeah, I had a, I had a

Okay.

pad and I use a lot of sign language like I eat. I want to drink. Or, I'll just say nothing.

Was there any circumstance where you were like, okay, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to break this, like I'm imagine like an emergency. You know what I mean?

Yeah. My wife. Yeah, okay. That's it. That's it.

You also change your appearance pretty, pretty drastically for that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's that's me, is, well, that's me being Genesis. Yeah, I had to put on a lot of weight and I had no teeth. I had a great haircut, which I really liked. And wore pink crocs. And I lived like that for about three months.

Was it fun? Was it?

Yeah, it was fun. And I had to put on all that weight and I got to eat a lot of carbs.

Nice.

Late at night before I went to bed and I got

What was like your carb of choice?

Beer. I drank. I discovered there's a secret to chess and it's called beer.

Oh, really? Does it make you better at it?

Kind of.

Okay.

It certainly makes the experience better. The like the more beer you drink, the better the experience of playing chess is.

Got it. And if you lose, you just can't feel it.

No, you just play another game.

Oh, there you go. And I read that you were trained in like a Maori style of martial arts. Can you explain what that is? What it like, you study with someone.

Yeah. It's called Mo Rakau, which means basically to hold a stick.

To hold a stick. Okay. I think I can do that. Yes. And then to hit things. I don't know if I can walk and do it at the same time, but I could try.

Yeah. I I started it when I was about 12. I was getting trouble and then the state put me in the care of this sort of camp and then it sort of had to teach me like discipline and self-respect and all those kind of things. And you also do, um, Like tough love kind of stuff. Oh, wow.

And what about like Kapa Haka? Is that is Kapa Haka? That's good.

Yeah, Kapa Haka. So

Did I get it right?

Yeah, you got it good. Yeah. So on Kapa Haka, it's kind of we have these old chants if anybody knows what rugby is. We have this very famous. The dance. Yes. This well, they call it a dance. It's like a war chant where we kind of get revved up and psyched up. And I love the haka face. Before we go into a fight, yeah.

The like, it's a very aggressive, I read that it's like supposedly the most aggressive face that you can, that you can do. Yeah. Okay. I've been, I've been practicing. Something like,

Really? Right? No, that's terrible.

Very, very threatening. Are you scared? Are you scary? Is it scarier than a zombie on Fear the Walking Dead? Just say yes.

I am. Yes. Yes.

Yeah, terrifying. I knew it. Speaking of of Fear the Walking Dead, at this point, are are you ready for the zombie apocalypse?

Uh, yep. Yeah. I got it all sorted.

Really? What's your plan?

Oh, I got my backpack ready.

Okay. What's in your backpack?

Um, magical stuff, like I had my first zombie dream the other night.

You did.

Here in this hotel actually, yes.

Really?

Okay. And uh, and what it was is that I was like heading up to the house and we're at the beach and the zombie horde started coming up over the hill. And then one of them broke away from the pack and started running towards me. And that was really scary. But thankfully, it was a dream because I started running too. And then I could fly.

So that's your plan. I got, the plan is to fly. I'm going to develop the ability to fly. You will have the ability to fly and therefore you will escape. To play, um, Genesis Potini, who was this amazing speed chess player. How much chess did you play?

I played thousands and thousands of games.

Really?

Yeah, I'm still addicted to it. I play probably one or two hours a day online.

Wow.

Yeah, it's a bit of a habit.

Did you play before?

No, not at all.

Oh, wow. So you Yeah, you play chess?

No.

I've always wanted to learn. It seems really hard and really addictive.

It is. It's really, it really messes with your head. When I was making the film, I had, you know, chess coaches and I had, um, my friends Noble and Jedi, who are also in the movie. Because it's a true story. This guy, it's a true story. It's based on him and how he used chess to teach kids who are underprivileged how to turn their lives around. He used that game as a metaphor for life.

Why was it important for you to bring this story to life?

These amazing kids in the movie, these children who are come from gang backgrounds and sort of orphans in a way. And when I was a teenager, I was, I was a ward of the state and I was an orphan. I'd left school at 14 and I hadn't really had a lot of prospects in life. And I met a guy who became like my teacher. He didn't teach me chess. He taught me martial arts and stuff and that really helped me and changed my life and so, Yeah. this film is like a dedication to him and to Genesis and it's a nice full circle for me in my acting career, I can dedicate a movie to to those people in my life that help me.

You speak Maori.

I do not, but I found some videos on the internet that were trying to teach me how to speak Maori, so I I thought I would run my Maori skills by you.

Okay, What you got? Kiaora. That means to be like the sun.

Does it really? I just hello. Is that

Which it's that that's how we say hello. We like, to we say to be, be in good health. Be like the sun. Raw is the sun. Kia is to be. So be of the sun, to be like the sun means to be that's how we say it. That's Kiaora. So I say Raw.

Okay, well, let me try another one.

Hunu Hunu Porka.

Oh, you're talking about Porka is a transliteration of the word pig.

Okay.

Hunu Hunu means to sort of singe.

Singe, so like you're like, You're turning it into bacon basically. Okay, got it. Yeah. Okay, let me try this last one because this was a doozy for me. Kaaana Kai Anja Kuri Mo Tara.

Wow. That was not any language. I don't think. Yeah. You said something about a dog and something about

What what part was dog? What part of dog?

Kuri is dog and Kai is food. So you're either saying that you're going to eat a dog or that you're going to feed or that you're going to feed the dog.

You're going to feed the dog. Kuri. Oh, Kuri. Okay. I'm going to feed the dog. I think these dogs have certainly earned it.

Maybe you're going to feed the dog with the singed pig.

There you go. And it's going to make the dog feel like it's the sun. How would you say that? How would you say that?

There you go. It's going to bring it good health and prosperity. I'm trying to wrap this into.

I know. I know. Well, how do you say thank you in the same thing? Kiaora?

Kiaora. Yeah.

Oh, well, Kiaora. Kiaora. For coming by. Thank you. And congratulations on this excellent, excellent movie.

Thank you.