Actor Temuera Morrison was acting on television at the age of eleven. Two decades later he won Kiwi television immortality on the basis of a single episode of Shortland Street, then rave reviews as the abusive husband in Once Were Warriors. Since reprising his Warriors role in a highly regarded 1999 sequel, Morrison has gone on to appear in River Queen, Crooked Earth, and the Star Wars series.
…a leading actor as elemental, charismatic and brutal as the young Marlon Brando; he has instinctive star power.
– The Seattle Journal, on Once Were Warriors.