Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2083
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Temuera Morrison represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 30 years in, and Temuera is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Temuera Morrison appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Temuera. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the clearest case: a film rated 7.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, physical performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, drama, thriller. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Ángel Manuel Soto, David G. Derrick Jr., James Wan and others, Temuera Morrison helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) as Commander Cody · Moana (2016) as Chief Tui (voice) · The Wrecking Crew (2026) as Governor Peter Mahoe
Career snapshot
Ranked #2083 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1996–2026
Career length
30 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.7
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Average Nutevio score
5.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.6
Moana
Most frequent director
James Wan
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With James Wan
Most common genre
Action
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 47m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.3
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2000s
6.0 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Couples Retreat, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Blueberry — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.0
Across 6 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
5.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Six Days Seven Nights, Speed 2: Cruise Control, The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Most productive era
2010s
9 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | — | 4.81 film | 6.02 films |
| Action | 5.32 films | 6.83 films | 5.55 films | 5.57 films |
| Thriller | 4.61 film | 5.52 films | 6.21 film | 6.81 film |
| Comedy | 6.11 film | 5.61 film | 7.61 film | 7.12 films |
| Crime | — | — | — | 7.11 film |
| Romance | 6.11 film | 5.61 film | — | — |
| Horror | 4.91 film | 4.91 film | — | 0.01 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Azazello.
Highest rated performance
2005Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
7.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2016Moana
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Dead Howling
The current state of the argument, as Uncle Tony.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
26 of 26 films
as Chief Tui (voice)
Directed by John Musker
as Governor Peter Mahoe
Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto
as Commander Cody
Directed by George Lucas
as Warfield (voice)
Directed by Kirby Atkins
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Chief Tui (voice)
Moana (2016)
Performance score7.7
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Chief Tui (voice) gives Temuera Morrison a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Governor Peter Mahoe
The Wrecking Crew (2026)
Performance score7.5
The Wrecking Crew asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Governor Peter Mahoe is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Commander Cody
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Performance score7.5
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Commander Cody is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Warfield (voice)
Mosley (2019)
Performance score7.2
Mosley asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Warfield (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Chief Tui (voice)
Start here. Moana is the clearest statement of what Temuera Morrison does — accessible, 107 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Temuera at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Keeps the adventure register of Moana but asks for a colder reading of it.
Mosley (2019)
Keeps the adventure register of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Wrecking Crew (2026)
A deliberate change of key after Mosley — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Bluff (2026)
Keeps the action register of The Wrecking Crew but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
George Lucas
Director
2 films together
Notably Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Martin Campbell
Director
2 films together
Notably Vertical Limit
Roel Reiné
Director
2 films together
Notably Hard Target 2
Luke Sparke
Director
2 films together
Notably Occupation: Rainfall
James Wan
Director
2 films together
Notably Aquaman
John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Island of Dr. Moreau
Jan de Bont
Director
1 film together
Notably Speed 2: Cruise Control
Ivan Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Six Days Seven Nights
P.J. Pesce
Director
1 film together
Notably From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
Peter Billingsley
Director
1 film together
Notably Couples Retreat
John Musker
Director
1 film together
Notably Moana
Kirby Atkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Mosley
Andy Muschietti
Director
1 film together
Notably The Flash
David G. Derrick Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably Moana 2
Ángel Manuel Soto
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wrecking Crew
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
George Lucas
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the SithJames Wan
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
AquamanMartin Campbell
Director
2 films together · 5.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Vertical LimitLuke Sparke
Director
2 films together · 5.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Occupation: RainfallRoel Reiné
Director
2 films together · 5.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Hard Target 2John Musker
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MoanaÁngel Manuel Soto
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wrecking CrewDavid G. Derrick Jr.
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Moana 2Kirby Atkins
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MosleyAndy Muschietti
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The FlashIvan Reitman
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Six Days Seven NightsPeter Billingsley
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Couples RetreatP.J. Pesce
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's DaughterJohn Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Island of Dr. MoreauJan de Bont
Director
1 film together · 4.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Speed 2: Cruise ControlSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Mosley
as Warfield (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Moana
as Chief Tui (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Temuera Morrison has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
30 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Action Legend
Awarded
17 catalogue titles in action, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Wrecking Crew
as Governor Peter Mahoe
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Mosley
as Warfield (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Wrecking Crew
as Governor Peter Mahoe
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
In the Fire of War
as Rewi Maniapoto
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Moana 2
as Chief Tui (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
as Commander Cody
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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