Gracing international covers such as Muscle and Fitness and Men’s Health Manu Bennett is capturing the attention of filmmakers and fans with his extraordinary presence and talent.

Of Maori descent and born in Auckland, New Zealand to a singer and a fashion model, Manu’s family relocated to Australia soon after his birth. During high school Manu played representative rugby and studied classical ballet and piano, before attending University of NSW to study Drama.

On the big screen, Manu stars as Azog, king of the Orcs, in The Hobbit trilogy, a role which won him exceptional praise from Director Peter Jackson who stated that he was “the Breakout performance” of the film.