| Rhys Darby | |
| Birth Name: | Rhys Montague Darby |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1974 |
| Birth Place: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Years Active: | 1996–present |
| Spouse: | Rosie Carnahan (m. 2004) |
| Children: | 2 |
Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974)[1] [2] is a New Zealand actor and comedian, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime, and sound effects[3] of things such as machinery and animals.[4] He was nominated for the Billy T Award in 2001 and 2002. He also won the 2012 Fred (Dagg) award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, for best NZ show.
Darby is best known for playing Murray Hewitt, the band manager of Flight of the Conchords in the television series, a role he originally played in the BBC radio series under the name Brian Nesbit.[5] He has appeared in films such as Yes Man (2008), The Boat That Rocked (2009), Love Birds (2011), What We Do in the Shadows (2014), Trolls (2016), (2017), Guns Akimbo (2019), Relax, I'm from the Future (2022), and Next Goal Wins (2023). Starting March 2022, he starred as Stede Bonnet alongside Taika Waititi in the HBO Max period romantic comedy series Our Flag Means Death.[6]
Darby was born in Auckland and was brought up in the suburb of Pakuranga. He attended Edgewater College.[7] A former soldier, he left the New Zealand Army in 1994 and began studies at the University of Canterbury.[8] In 1996 he formed a comedy duo, Rhysently Granted, with Grant Lobban.[9] After winning an open mic contest at Southern Blues Bar in Christchurch, the duo began performing at local venues.[10]
Rhysently Granted performed at two international comedy festivals which led to Darby moving back to Auckland to seek more solo stand-up experience.[11] After performing his first solo show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Darby moved to the UK to pursue his career further.[12]
In 2004 he appeared in the Flight of the Conchords BBC radio series as the band's manager Brian Nesbit alongside comedy stars such as Rob Brydon, Andy Parsons and Jimmy Carr. Darby's character was renamed to Murray Hewitt, the band's manager, for the Flight of the Conchords TV show. He provided vocals for the track "Leggy Blonde" on their self-titled first album and also in the second series of the show on the track "Rejected" during the episode "A Good Opportunity" alongside tenor Andrew Drost.[13]
Darby played the role of Norman, the boss of Jim Carrey's character in Yes Man.[14] In July 2008 he appeared in a Nike advertisement featuring Roger Federer; he played an impostor posing as Federer's coach.[15] [16]
He appeared on a British children's television programme The Slammer during its first series. He also appeared in several advertisements for New Zealand mobile phone company 2degrees. He appeared on Soccer AM on 18 October 2008 and on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on 23 October.
Rhys Darby's hair colour is self-described as Electric Copper in the episode of Flight of the Conchords entitled Murray Takes It to the Next Level. He refers to this in his stand-up show It's Rhys Darby Night which he performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6–15 August 2009,[17] The Bloomsbury Theatre in London from 27 July – 1 August and toured around New Zealand with in October and November that year.
Darby played the role of Angus in the Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked[18] released in the UK on 1 April 2009. This film was released in some countries in November 2009 under the name Pirate Radio.
In 2009, while home in New Zealand, he began filming TV ads for NZ's new mobile network 2degrees and appearing in NZ shows Rocked the Nation 2, Jaquie Brown Diaries and Intrepid Journeys. He has also branched out into producing live comedy with his wife and their company Awesomeness International. At the NZ International Comedy Festival they produced shows for local comedians. Darby became a climate ambassador for Greenpeace in its Sign On climate campaign[19] and published a poem and video in support of the campaign.[20]
In 2009 Darby became a part of the New Zealand TV ONE series Intrepid Journeys, Season 5, touring Rwanda. On 10 August 2010, Entertainment Weekly claimed that Darby was in consideration for a role in the television series The Office after Steve Carell left at the end of the 2011 season; however, this did not materialise.[21]
In May 2011, he also filmed a pilot for a Channel 4 sitcom in the UK, The Fun Police.[22] The pilot was broadcast on 16 September. In 2011, Darby and family moved to the US for Darby to take a role in the CBS sitcom How to Be a Gentleman.[23] Darby's second DVD It's Rhys Darby Night! was released in NZ on 12 December 2011.
He wrote a self-described "autobiographical space novel" entitled This Way to Spaceship, which was released on 12 April 2012. On 20 May 2012, Darby was awarded the Fred Award by the New Zealand International Comedy Festival for his show of the same name as his book.[24]
In 2013, he was responsible for flying 'Cornish rappers' Hedluv + Passman to New Zealand for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.[25] This was followed by an appearance on Seven Sharp, where he introduced 'his rappers'[25] to the New Zealand public.[26]
Since 2013, Darby has co-hosted the cryptozoology-focused podcast The Cryptid Factor with Dan Schreiber and David Farrier.[27]
Darby climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2013 as part of a World Vision team of celebrities that included Olympian Mahé Drysdale and musician Boh Runga. On 8 November 2013, Darby made an appearance and performed some standup comedy in his capacity as second guest on the Late Show with David Letterman. He portrayed Anton in the 2014 release comedy horror film What We Do in the Shadows.[28]
As of July 2014, Darby and his family reside in Los Angeles, California, US.[29]
In February 2016, he played Guy Mann in the third episode ("Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster") of season 10 of The X-Files. Darby, a long-time fan of the show, was thrilled by his experience on set. He saw this as an opportunity that only comes around every so often and said he'd return to the set the first chance he received.[30]
In 2018, Darby participated in a video together with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern as part of a tourism campaign for the country in which they discussed why New Zealand was being excluded from world maps so frequently.[31] Darby appeared on the panel show Patriot Brains in 2021.
In 2022, he starred in the HBO Max show Our Flag Means Death as pirate Stede Bonnet. Our Flag Means Death received praise for its LGBT representation,[32] in part due to the romantic relationship between Bonnet and Blackbeard, played by co-star Taika Waititi.[33]
In June 2024, Darby starred as the Interim Deputy Director of “Turalism” in a promotional video for the launch of the fifth expansion for "Final Fantasy XIV", Dawntrail, taking the form of a tourism advertisement for the expansion's central setting, the continent of Tural.[34]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Yes Man | Norman "Norm" Stokes | |
| 2009 | The Boat That Rocked | Angus Nutsford | Titled Pirate Radio in North America |
| Specialist | |||
| Peacock Season | Galtrex Guy | ||
| 2011 | Coming & Going | Lee Leonetti | |
| Love Birds | Doug | ||
| Arthur Christmas | Lead Elf | Voice | |
| 2014 | What We Do in the Shadows | Anton | |
| 2016 | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Psycho Sam | |
| Trolls | Bibbly | Voice[35] | |
| 2017 | Killing Hasselhoff | Fish | |
| Nigel Billingsley | |||
| 2019 | Guns Akimbo | Glenjamin | |
| Mosley | Deaver | Voice | |
| Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans | The Master of Games | Voice[36] | |
| Nigel Billingsley | |||
| 2020 | 100% Wolf | Foxwell Cripp | Voice |
| 2022 | Hypno-Potamus | Voice[37] | |
| Relax, I'm from the Future | Casper | ||
| 2023 | Next Goal Wins | Rhys Marlin | |
| Uproar | Madigan |
| Years | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Who's Ya Mate? | Multiple | Television film | |
| 2007–2009 | Flight of the Conchords | Murray Hewitt | 22 episodes | |
| 2008 | Yo Gabba Gabba | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 2009 | The Jaquie Brown Diaries | Terence Ben'et | 1 episode | |
| Comedy Showcase: The Amazing Dermot | Dermot Flint | |||
| 2010 | Radiradirah | Gavin Hoode, First Officer Rangi | 3 episodes | |
| 2011 | How to Be a Gentleman | Mike | 9 episodes | |
| Comedy Showcase: The Fun Police | Leslie | |||
| 2012 | Missing Christmas | Dennis Gob | Television film | |
| Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Percy | |||
| Life Stinks | Connor | Miniseries | ||
| The Skinner Boys: Live at Mingara NSW | Professor Tinkerpuff | Television stage show | ||
| QI | Guest panellist | Episode: "Justice" | ||
| 2013 | How I Met Your Mother | Hamish | 1 episode | |
| Watsky's Releasing an Album | Flynn | 3 episodes | ||
| The Aquabats! Super Show! | The Shark Fighter | |||
| Tiny Commando | Tony Turk | Voice, 2 episodes | ||
| Keep Calm and Karey On | Television film | |||
| 2014 | Legit | Trevor | 1 episode | |
| Short Poppies | Various characters | |||
| Modern Family | Fergus Anderson | 1 episode | ||
| Comedy Bang! Bang! | Uncle Deckard | |||
| Hot in Cleveland | Jack | 3 episodes | ||
| The Millers | Martin | Episode: "CON-Troversy" | ||
| It's a Date | Craig | 1 episode | ||
| 2015–2016 | Thunderbirds Are Go | Langstrom Fischler | Voice, 3 episodes[38] | |
| 2015 | Life in Pieces | Teddy | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | The X-Files | Guy Mann | Episode: "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" | |
| The Barefoot Bandits | Dennis Gobb, Billy Bob Gobb | Voice | ||
| 2016–2019 | Mike Tyson Mysteries | Terry | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 2016–2018 | Wrecked | Steve | Regular | |
| Coran | Voice, 27 episodes | |||
| 2017 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | Charles | 2 episodes | |
| Fresh Off the Boat | Tony Wonder | Episode: "Living While Eddie" | ||
| Dr. Ken | Charles Evans | Episode: "Ken and the CEO" | ||
| The Lion Guard | Mwenzi | Voice, episode: "Ono the Tickbird" | ||
| Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ | Stevahn Rabren | Episode: "Dean's Legacy" | ||
| Milo Murphy's Law | King Pistashion | Voice, episode: "Missing Milo" | ||
| We Bare Bears | Kyle | Voice, episode: "Kyle" | ||
| The Jim Jefferies Show | Jacko | Episode: "America’s Opioid Epidemic" | ||
| Welcome to the Wayne | Isthotep | Voice, episode: "Flutch" | ||
| 2017–2023 | Bob's Burgers | Duncan / Quincy Cox | Voice, 3 episodes | |
| 2018 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Hypno-Potamus / Mezmer-Ron | Voice, recurring role | |
| Skylanders Academy | Crash Bandicoot | Voice, 2 episodes (Season 3) | ||
| The Simpsons | Tag Tuckerbag | Voice, episode: "Heartbreak Hotel"[39] | ||
| The Venture Bros | H.E.L.P.eR. Model Two | Voice, episode: "The Inamorata Consequence" | ||
| 2018–2019 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Eddie | Voice, 5 episodes | |
| 2019–2020 | Infinity Train | Randall | Voice, 4 episodes | |
| 2019–2020 | Carmen Sandiego | Neal the Eel | Voice, 2 episodes | |
| 2020 | Big City Greens | Life Guard | Voice, episode: "Shark Objects" | |
| Moominvalley | Mysterious Fisherman | Voice, 3 episodes | ||
| The Big Fib | C.L.I.V.E. | 30 episodes | ||
| Happy Sedengry | Voice, 3 episodes | |||
| 2021 | Wellington Paranormal | Anton-Park Ranger | Episode: "Te Maero" | |
| The Great North | Denny the Snowflake | Voice, episode: "Game of Snownes" | ||
| Sweet Tooth | Hazmat #2 | Episode: "Big Man" | ||
| 2022 | Bunyip Man | Voice, episode: "The Never Never" | ||
| Home Economics | Monroe Davies | Episode: "Book Deal, Terms Negotiable" | ||
| Action Pack | Mr. Villainman | 2 episodes | ||
| 2022–2023 | Our Flag Means Death | Stede Bonnet | Main Role, 18 episodes | |
| 2023 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Krabby Patty | Voice, episode: "My Friend Patty" | |
| Kiff | Trollie | Voice, 2 episodes | ||
| Curses! | Stanley | Main role | ||
| 2024 | Night Court | Alistair Tully, The Duke of Greybog | season 2 episode 12 "The Duke's a Hazard" |
| Year | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Billy T Award | |
| 2005 | Mighty Truck of Stuff | |
| 2006 | The Slammer | |
| 2007–2008 | Sounds Like a Laugh | |
| 2008 | Yo Gabba Gabba! | |
| 2008 | The Comedy Store Live | |
| 2009 | Rocked the Nation 2: 100 NZ Pop Culture Moments | |
| 2009 | Spicks and Specks | |
| 2009 | Thank God You're Here | |
| 2009 | ROVE | |
| 2009 | Intrepid Journeys | |
| 2009–2012 | 7 Days | |
| 2010 | The Qantas TV and Film Awards | |
| 2011 | A Quiet Word With ... | |
| 2011 | The Rob Brydon Show | |
| 2012 | Mad Mad World | |
| 2012 | Sunday Brunch | |
| 2012 | The Comedy Marathon Spectacular | |
| 2012 | QI | |
| 2013–2017 | @midnight | |
| 2013 | Late Show with David Letterman | |
| 2014 | No, You Shut Up! | |
| 2016 | The Café | |
| 2016–2017 | Whose Line is it Anyway? Australia | |
| 2020 | Rhys Darby in Japan | |
| 2021 | The Masked Singer NZ | |
| 2021 | Patriot Brains |
| Year | Title | Voice role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Voltron VR Chronicles | Coran | |
| 2018 | Dr. Grordbort's Invaders | Gimble | |
| 2019 | Nigel Billingsley | ||
| 2020 | Russell[40] | ||
| 2020 | Fortnite | Chapter 2, Season 3 Battle Pass voiceover | |
| 2023 | Jumanji: Wild Adventures | Nigel Billingsley |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Billy T Award | Kiwi Comedian with "Outstanding Potential" | Rhys Darby | ||
| 2002 | |||||
| 2012 | Best New Zealand Show | Rhys Darby | |||
| 2022 | |||||
| Gold Derby TV Awards | Best Comedy Actor | Rhys Darby | [41] | ||
| Peabody Awards | Entertainment | Our Flag Means Death | [42] | ||
| Tell-Tale TV Awards | Favorite Performer in a Cable or Streaming Comedy Series | Rhys Darby | [43] | ||
| Hollywood Critics Association Television Awards | Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy | Rhys Darby | [44] | ||
| 2024 | |||||
| Tell-Tale TV Awards | Favorite Performer in a Cable or Streaming Comedy Series | Rhys Darby | [45] | ||
| Gold Derby TV Awards | Best Comedy Actor | Rhys Darby | [46] | ||
| Best Actor in a Streaming Comedy Series | Rhys Darby | [47] |