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Lani Tupu
Lani Tupu
	Lani Tupu at DragonCon 2009
Born	4 November 1955 (age 69); Auckland, New Zealand
Other names	John Tupu; Larney Tupu
Citizenship	New Zealand
Occupation	actor

Lani Tupu (born Auckland, New Zealand), billed variously as Larney Tupu, John Tupu and Lani John Tupu, is a New Zealand-born actor of Samoan and English descent. Also known as Lani Tupu Jr.

Biography

Tupu was born in 1955 to an English mother and a Samoan father. Tupu was named after his father Lani Tupu. Tupu started acting in church plays.^[1] Tupu was educated at Rongotai College and Wellington Teachers' Training College. He was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Bursary in 1977 to enter New Zealand Drama School. Tupu's father was also called Lani and was also an actor. When Tupu graduated drama school in 1979^[2] he was the first Samoan to do so. He then moved to Auckland and was in the Theatre Corporate company for three years, and then two years at the Mercury Theatre. He got a lead role in TV series Country GP where he played a Māori doctor.^[3]^[4]^[1]^[5]^[6]

Tupu moved to Australia to pursue other acting opportunities.^[3] Tupu's TV appearances include Mission: Impossible (1988), Time Trax (1993), The New Adventures of Flipper (1996), Farscape (1999–2003),^[7]^[8]^[9] Stingers (2002/2004) and Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004).

His movie appearances include Send a Gorilla (1988), The Punisher (1989), Marlin Bay (1992), Heart of Fire (1997),Lantana (2001), Liquid Bridge (2003), and Robotropolis (2011).

In 2023 Tupu appeared as a voice actor on Shadows at the Door The Podcast.^[10]

Tupu participated in the foundation of an Australian theatre group called The Walkers and Talkers along with other New Zealanders. Part of his work has involved as an acting coach and teaching in Australia and New Zealand. He also does voice work including on SBS.^[3]

In 1993 he was in the premiere of John Kneubuhl's play Think of a Garden in Auckland directed by Nathaniel Lees, which reviewers compared to Bruce Mason's The End of the Golden Weather as being iconic for New Zealand.^[1] His debut screen directing role was in New Zealand on Tala Pasifika in 1996, eight short films written by Lisa Taouma.^[3]

Mario Gaoa a Niu FM radio host and star of the Naked Samoans theatre company describes Tupu as one of three godfathers of Pacific theatre along with Jay Laga'aia and Nathaniel Lees.^[11]

Awards

1986 Listener Film and Television Awards – Nominated for Best Supporting Actor: for Send a Gorilla^[3]

1984 Feltex Awards – Best New Talent: for Country GP^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Send a Gorilla	Ian Hunter
1989	The Punisher	Laccone
1996	Talk of the Town		Short
2001	Lantana	Patrick's Lover
2003	Liquid Bridge	Sharky Garcia
2007	The Condemned	El Salvador Warden
2009	Dear Diary	Dan	Short
2009	Broken Hill	Maestro Pindari (voice)
2011	Robotropolis	Gordon Standish
2012	The King Is Dead!	Boss Maori
2012	Marla	Carlos	Short
2015	Mise-En-Abyme	Ryan Cumberford	Short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Epidemic	Tini	TV miniseries
1984–85	Country GP	David Miller	Episodes: "1.32", "Tim's Commie Dad"
1985	Roche	Siosi Vaumauga	Episode: "E.T."
1986–87	A Country Practice	Richard Monti	Episodes: "Day After Day: Parts 1 & 2", "Caught in the Act: Parts 1 & 2"
1990	Mission: Impossible	Michael Otagi	Episode: "Cargo Cult"
1990	Embassy	Kalim	Episode: "First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love"
1992	Police Rescue	David Goldberg	Recurring role (season 2)
1992	Marlin Bay	David Spence	TV film
1993	The Feds: Abduction	Idris Karya	TV film
1994	Time Trax	Col. Nabib Kila	Episode: "The Gravity of It All"
1994	G.P.	Brian Farmer	Episode: "Breaking Out"
1994–95	High Tide	Rev. Simon Henry	Episodes: "Let Us Prey", "Regarding Joey"
1996	Flipper	Count Vicente	Episode: "The Sword of Carlos de Cabral"
1997	Heart of Fire	Roger Parks	TV film
1998	Tales of the South Seas	Caleb Trader	Episode: "Paradise Regained"
1998	House Gang	Dennis	Episodes: "Moving Out", "Chaos"
1999–2000	The Lost World	Capicotchi / Tolmac / Prince Apep's Slave	Episodes: "The Journey Begins", "Stranded", "Salvation", "The Prisoner"
1999–2003	Farscape	Bialar Crais / Pilot (voice)	Main role
2000	Green Sails	CCT Negotiator	TV film
2001	The Finder	Lyle Riskin	TV film
2002, 2004	Stingers	Ellery Berman / Consul Khemal Lazo	Episodes: "Disgraceful Conduct", "No Man's Land"
2003	Grass Roots	Lynton Aubrey	Episodes: "Garbage", "Investigation"
2004	Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars	Pilot (voice)	TV miniseries
2006	Monarch Cove	Joe	Episode: "1.9"
2007	Home and Away	Lou Baines	Episodes: "1.4407", "1.4415"
2007	The Sun's Search for the Moon	Blue God	TV miniseries
2009	The Cut	Norberto Silwa	Episode: "The Best Sex I Ever Had"
2010	Rush	Pell Fisher	Episode: "3.5"
2012	Packed to the Rafters	Psychic Simon	Episode: "Sign of the Times"
2013	Camp	Dr. Welter	Episode: "Parents' Weekend"
2013	Redfern Now	Minister	Episode: "Consequences"
2014	The Code	Thom	Episode: "1.1"
2017	The Letdown	Jimmy	Episodes: "Genealogy", "Mother Nature"
2019	Preacher	Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters	Season 4, Episode 2
2019	Reckoning	Dr Horatio Cabrera coroner

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Warrington, Lisa; O'Donnell, David (2017). Floating Islanders: Pasifika theatre in Aotearoa. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press. ISBN 978-1-988531-07-6.
^ "Graduates". Toi Whakaari. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Lani Tupu". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ Guest, Bill (2010). Transitions : four decades of Toi Whakaari : New Zealand Drama School. Wellington [N.Z.]: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-642-0. OCLC 669968400.
^ "Country GP". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ Atkinson, Laurie (22 October 2014). "Multiculturalism and acting, 1980 to 2013". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (in Māori). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
^ "BBC – Cult – Farscape – Interviews – Lani Tupu". BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^ "Lani Tupu Interview – Farscape". The Scifi World. 7 February 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^ S, Ian; well (20 July 2018). "Farscape – Where are the cast now?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^ Bibby, Daniel (10 December 2023). "Farscape Cast - Where Are They Now?". ScreenRant. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
^ Gearing, Nigel (24 November 2003). "Dream comes alive through memories". NZ Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2021.