1.30.2010

Underappreciated Actress of Color #15: Mamaengaroa

Uh-uh, y'all; the folks Down Under aren't exempt.  Maori-blooded Miss Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell (don't you just love her name?!) got her stellar, break-out role at the age of 16...by accident.  As Grace Heke in the acclaimed Once Were Warriors (depicted left), she brought tragedy and vulnerability to a violent tale of familial dysfunction and post-colonial cultural identity struggle.

And yet, even though she kept acting after that, I still can't find a decent publicity photo of the woman.  Pourquoi?  When she did what she did at 16, in 1994, in one of the most visceral and heart-wrenching films of that decade, why wasn't Hollywood blowing up her number?  You could say, "But, like, dude, she's, like, foreign or whatever."  Uh...does that's stop Hollywood from wooing and overpaying white actresses from Western Europe, Australia, and Canada?  I don't think so!
Tags: at 1:54 PM
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5 Comments:

  1. Oh man. "Once Were Warriors" is one helluva film. It's not often that I get teary in a movie, but seeing what happens to Grace Heke is one of those times.

    Regarding lack of further success in films, I wonder if it hurts her to have a name that wouldn't easily roll off the tongue for most audiences. I figure that's part of the reason why actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje aren't household names.
    Nice to see that Temuera Morrison got some Hollywood love out of that movie though.
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  2. LOL - Probably because his name is waaaay easier to say. Thanks for stopping by!
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  3. The brutal rape scene of Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell's character brought me to tears. I can't believe she was only 16 years-old at the time. She was very convincing.
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  4. @ leigh204,

    I couldn't believe it either. I was shocked at how different the rules are in New Zealand. I didn't know a they'd let a 16-year-old do all that in a movie!

    I think she's glorious. I'd love to know what she looks like now. I bet she's stunning.
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  5. I cried watching the rape scene as well and I am a crusty old dude. What an amazing young talent. Why she hasn't been in many more films since is beyond me though I don't doubt that race has something to do with it. No pictures of her, very little bio available about her, and the last thing she is listed as having acted in was 2002. Just whets my curiosity rather than assuaging it. This dearth of information also makes me hope she is doing well in her life, that she is prospering and growing.
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