NathanielLees
- Actor
Kiwi-born Samoan Nathaniel Lees began acting onstage in 1975, and on-screen in 1984. Since then he has become a leading force in the development of Pacific Island theatre in Aotearoa, taught acting at Toi Whakaari, and brought his distinctive baritone voice to everything from The Billy T James Show to The Matrix.
Screenography
Biography
Although he was born and raised in Auckland, Nathaniel Lees’ remembers always having had a connection to Samoa. His Samoan parents "spoke Samoan all the time, so that’s what I always thought I was".
Despite having one of the most impressive baritones in New Zealand acting, Lees got his first paid acting job thanks to "being brown". In 1975 Auckland’s Mercury Theatre were killing Captain Cook for a production of The Naval Officer: "They needed brown people to run on stage and kill him". Fresh back from time overseas, "flat broke" and completely new to theatre, 20-something Lees auditioned — which involved walking through a door, and being told he had the job.
“My parents are Samoan — I am Samoan. That’s where I feel the connection. ”