Antonio Te Maioha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antonio Te Maioha
Born (1970-02-01) 1 February 1970 (age 54)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present

Antonio Te Maioha (born 1 February 1970) is a television and film actor from New Zealand. He came to international prominence playing a gladiator Barca, the Beast of Carthage, in the television drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.[1]

Background[edit]

Te Maioha was born in Auckland on 1 February 1970, and was raised in Hastings in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand.[1] His father was of Māori descent through both the Ngāpuhi tribe, the largest in New Zealand, and the Waikato tribe, also known as the "Tainui" or "Waikato-Tainui."[1]

Career[edit]

Antonio Te Maioha started his career as a street performer before gaining a place at the Toi Whakaari Drama School in 1992. He graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting) in 2005.[2] He went on to work with a Māori theatre project run by actor Jim Moriarty and was in the cast of Waiora, touring New Zealand, Hawaii and Britain.[3]

One of Antonio Te Maioha's first significant television roles was in 1998 playing Boraxis in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys followed by guest roles in Xena: Warrior Princess and Legend of the Seeker, a weekly television series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind." He has also appeared in other New Zealand-based television productions, including Shortland Street and The Lost World. Te Maioha has also had roles in several films, including Te Tangata Whai Rawa O Weneti and a short film called Taua (War Party)"[1] and the 2000 film Feathers of Peace (Ngati Tama Warrior) directed by Barry Barclay.[4]

Te Maioha has come to international attention through his supporting role as the gladiator Barca in the television drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand[3] and its prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.[4] Nicknamed the "Beast of Carthage", Barca is the bodyguard and hitman of a dominus owner named Batiatus.[5] Several episodes into the show, he is shown to be in a homosexual relationship with a slave boy named Pietros.[6] He is eventually murdered when Pietros is tricked into revealing damning evidence about Barca.

In 2016, he was cast in a minor role of a Māori Warrior in Zoolander 2. He also appears in the 2023 film The Convert.

Personal life[edit]

Antonio Te Maioha is married and lives in the town of Raglan on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island.

Active in local environmentalism, he has hosted a Sustainable Futures Forum in Waikato that brought around 80 people to discuss a variety of environmental issues.[7] He has also publicly discussed his personal involvement and Raglan's leadership in recycling, citing the accomplishments of a local organization called Xtreme Waste.[8] Te Maioha is uncomfortable with being labeled as a "greenie," saying that he is just doing "stuff everybody could" and that being given such a label means that other people will "write you off...instead of actually listening to what’s being said or applying changes in their own lives."[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Antonio Te Maioha Biography". poptower.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Biography for Antonio Te Maioha". Internet Movie Database. 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Antonio Te Maioha". Auckland Actors. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  5. ^ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena website
  6. ^ Antonio Te Maioha - The Gay Gladiator. Spartacus website.
  7. ^ a b TV star to host Waikato sustainability workshop. Environment Waikato, 30 August 2007.
  8. ^ "Antonio Te Maioha talks about recycling in Raglan (video)". Raglan.net.nz. Raglan tourism information. 7 July 2010. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2010.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antonio_Te_Maioha&oldid=1190657873"