Pana Hema Taylor

Pana Hema Taylor
Born1989 (age 34–35)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationActor
Years active2007 – present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2009; div. 2013)​
[1]
Children2

Pana Hema Taylor (born 1989) is a New Zealand television actor, best known for his roles in Spartacus, The Brokenwood Mysteries and Westside.

Early life

Pana Hema Taylor grew up in the town of Wairoa, where he became involved with the New Zealand street gang, Mongrel Mob.[2][better source needed] In order to keep him from becoming a gang member, his parents, who had split up awhile before, decided that he should live with his father in Christchurch, New Zealand[2] where he attended Aranui High School.[3] In 2007, he won best actor for his role as Mercutio in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet.[4]

Career

Hema Taylor was first seen on TV in 2007 on the Māori language educational series Whanau.[3] He has since worked on various New Zealand feature films including Boy and Kawa. Hema Taylor is best known for his work in the Starz television series Spartacus: Vengeance and Spartacus: War of the Damned, playing the role of the Syrian rebel Nasir.[5] In 2014 he was cast as Mana in the New Zealand action film The Dead Lands.[6]

He starred as Jared in The Brokenwood Mysteries series 1–6, and as Bert in Westside.

Personal life

In 2009, 20-year-old Hema Taylor met 38-year-old actress Danielle Cormack when she was the costume/set designer on a play he was in. The two have a son, Te Ahi Ka, born 19 March 2010.[7] They divorced in 2013.[citation needed]

In March 2015, Taylor and his partner Naomi Campbell had a daughter.[8]

Hema Taylor is of Māori (Ngāti Kahungunu) heritage.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Whanau Harley
2007 Ebony Society uncredited Short film
2010 Redemption Zig Short film
2010 Boy Juju
2010 Kawa Sebastian
2011 Good for Nothing Young Native American
2012 The Most Fun You Can Have Dying David
2014 The Dead Lands Mana

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Spartacus: Vengeance Tiberius / Nasir Series regular: 9 episodes
2013 Spartacus: War of the Damned Nasir Series regular: 10 episodes
2014–2019 The Brokenwood Mysteries Jared Morehu Series regular: Series 1-6
2015–2020 Westside Bert Thompson Main role
2016 Dirty Laundry Tane [9]
2017 Resolve Chris Crean
2019–present The Gulf Rory Series regular [10]

References

  1. ^ "Wentworth star Danielle Cormack reconciled to 'judgement' over 'modern, blended family'". Stuff. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b "The Story of Pana Hema-Taylor". Matthew Warner. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Cast Profile - Kawa". Cinco Cine Productions. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Aranui pulls victory from tragedy". The Press. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (18 January 2011). "He Is Spartacus: Liam McIntyre Talks About Taking Over in Season 2 of 'Blood and Sand'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  6. ^ "The Dead Lands (2014)". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Danielle Cormack: Love without barriers". NZ Woman's Weekly. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  8. ^ Simich, Ricardo (26 June 2016). "Pana Hema-Taylor's Big Year". Herald on Sunday.
  9. ^ "tv-one | Television New Zealand | Entertainment | TV One, TV2". Archived from the original on 1 October 2016.
  10. ^ "The Gulf".



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