Rena Owen
Birthday: Born in 1962-07-22 in Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Deathday: Alive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rena Owen is a New Zealand actress in film, theatre and television. She is of Maori and Pakeha (European) descent. Owen is most well known in the lead role of Beth in the cult classic movie Once Were Warriors (1994) directed by Lee Tamahori. The role earned Owen a number of awards including Best Actress at the Montreal World Film Festival and San Diego International Film Festival. Owen has also worked with arthouse director Rolf de Heer, one of Australia's most well known directors, in the film Dance Me to My Song (1998). Owen played the role of Rix in the movie which earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the AFI Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rena Owen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Credits
Angel
Character: Dinza
The vampire Angel, cursed with a soul, moves to Los Angeles and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption. A spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer....
East West 101
Character: Mere Hahunga
Zane Malik and the Major Crime Squad investigate crime and murder in all quarters of multicultural Sydney....
Vegas
Character: Rawinia Duncan
A business owner is thrust into New Zealand's dark underbelly after a million-dollar drug deal goes wrong on a blood-stained night, setting off a chain of events between dangerous factions....
RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under
Character: Self - Guest Judge
Drag queen contestants compete in an elimination-style contest and strut their stuff in a variety of challenges - all to prove that they’ve got what it takes to be Down Under's next Drag Queen Superstar!...
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Character: Taun We (voice)
The 'Bad Batch' of elite and experimental clones make their way through an ever-changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars....
The Straits
Character: Kitty Montebello
Set among the turquoise waters and lethal wildlife of Australia’s Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, The Straits is an exotic, darkly humorous crime drama. The Montebellos are not your average Australian family. Modern day smugglers, their family business is transporting drugs into Australia and guns and exotic wildlife out, making use of ties of blood and loyalty in the Torres Strait Islands....
Siren
Character: Helen Hubbell
The coastal town of Bristol Cove is known for its legend of once being home to mermaids. When the arrival of a mysterious girl proves this folklore all too true, the battle between man and sea takes a very vicious turn as these predatory beings return to reclaim their right to the ocean....
The Orville
Character: Heveena
Follow the crew of the not-so-functional exploratory ship in the Earth's interstellar fleet, 400 years in the future....
Super Giant Robot Brothers!
Character: Sarge (voice)
Two squabbling robot brothers battle bloodthirsty kaijus, supernatural disasters and mundane personal issues as they adapt to the trials of growing up....
The Gloaming
Character: Grace Cochran
When an unidentified woman is found brutally murdered, Detective Molly McGee teams up with fellow cop, Alex O’Connell—with whom she shares a tragic past—to solve the crime....
Longmire
Character:
A Wyoming sheriff rebuilds his life and career following the death of his wife. Based on the “Walt Longmire” series of mystery novels written by best-selling author Craig Johnson....
Longmire
Character: Medicine Woman
A Wyoming sheriff rebuilds his life and career following the death of his wife. Based on the “Walt Longmire” series of mystery novels written by best-selling author Craig Johnson....
Movie Credits
Once Were Warriors
Character: Beth Heke
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband....
Veronika Decides to Die
Character: Nurse Josephine
After a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializes in controversial treatment, Veronika learns that she has only weeks to live....
Nemesis Game
Character: Emily Gray
Sara Novak is an introverted college student with a few skeletons in her closet. Shying away from classmates, she prefers to spend time with Vern, an older comic store owner who shares her passion for mind games and riddles. But when the riddles she solves lead to the deaths of those around her, she realizes the riddles are more than a simple game........
All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story
Character: Soona Fualaau
A teacher is arrested and jailed for raping her 13-year-old student, and twice gives birth to his child....
Dance Me to My Song
Character: Rix
The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After the arrival of a mysterious man, Julia begins to question the day-to-day dramas and frustrations she's tolerated for years. An achingly genuine and profoundly moving drama about a woman born with cerebral palsy....
Hinekaro Goes on a Picnic and Blows Up Another Obelisk
Character: Hinekaro (voice)
A Maori writer meets a trickster spirit guide and conjures new worlds from the words she inks on a page....
The Last Survivors
Character: Claire
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep a well open....
Amusement
Character: Psychiatrist
While being interrogated by a police psychiatrist, the near-catatonic Tabitha tries to explain why she and two of her childhood friends are being hunted by a serial killer. The truth that's dying to come out weaves together three tragic secrets from their past. Two of the girls' boyfriends become unwitting targets in their deadly game....
The Land Has Eyes
Character: Warrior Woman
Coming of age story about Viki a young pacific islander attempting to escape the stifling conformity of island culture. Inspired by the myth of the Warrior Woman, Viki recovers from the death of her father and fights for justice and freedom for her community....
The Dead Lands
Character: Grandmother
Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains led by Wirepa, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden “Dead Lands” and forge an uneasy alliance with a mysterious warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years....
Once Were Warriors: Where Are They Now?
Character: Self
It's been 20 years snce Once Were Warriors was made. Julian Arahanga aka 'Nig' takes us on a journey to meet the cast and see where they are now....
When Love Comes
Character: Katie
Between getting trashed, tripping, blowing guys off and writing songs, Mark falls for Stephen. Fig and Sally put perform Marks songs between casual sex with anyone and everyone. Katie is a few-hit wonder who hit rock-bottom in L.A and returns to New Zealand to patch her life back together. Stephen, Mark and Katie branch out for a slumber party at a beach house of their better days. Fig and Sally arrive, and not long after Eddie arrives also (Katies American guy). Mark stops running away from Ste...
Maya
Character: Sandy
When a 15-year old, seeking an escape from her alcoholic mother's abusive boyfriend, is lured into a sex trafficking scheme by a man she met online, she must realize the difference between love and manipulation to return to those who care....
Alyce Kills
Character: Danielle
After accidentally knocking her best friend off a roof, Alyce is haunted by guilt and delves into a brutal nightmare wonderland of sex, drugs and violence, her mind tearing itself apart… along with anyone else who gets in her way....
I'll Make You Happy
Character: Mickie
Siggy (Jennifer Ward-Lealand) is a teenage "bad girl" who lives and works in a red-light district of Auckland, New Zealand. Just like her fellow streetwalkers, Siggy constantly dreams of leaving "the life" behind. When she learns one day that her pimp is planning a big drug score, Siggy decides to seize the day -- and her future -- by grabbing the loot....
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Character: Taun We (voice)
Following an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi investigate a mysterious plot that could change the galaxy forever....
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Character: Nee Alavar
The evil Darth Sidious enacts his final plan for unlimited power -- and the heroic Jedi Anakin Skywalker must choose a side....
The Crow: Wicked Prayer
Character: Mary
After ex-con Jimmy and his girlfriend are brutally murdered by a biker gang, he is resurrected by the power of The Crow to avenge their deaths and reunite with her in the afterlife....
The Last Witch Hunter
Character: Glaeser
The modern world holds many secrets, but by far the most astounding is that witches still live among us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world and putting an end to the human race once and for all. Armies of witch hunters have battled this unnatural enemy for centuries, including Kaulder, a valiant warrior who many years ago slayed the all-powerful Witch Queen, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen c...
Soul Assassin
Character: Karina
A security agent at an investment bank uncovers espionage that is linked to his girlfriend's murder. He vows to seek revenge on those responsible....
A Mistake
Character: Tessa
In the midst of a new scheme to publicly report surgeons’ performance, a gifted surgeon’s life is thrown into disarray as her colleagues begin to close ranks, and even her partner, a nurse at the hospital, turns her back on her....
Moana
Character: Gramma Tala
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches the island of an impetuous Chieftain, his willful daughter answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right....
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Character: Beth Heke
Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family reunion at Nig's funeral sparks a confrontation with second son, Sonny, and sets Jake and Sonny on a downward spiral....
Mee-Shee: The Water Giant
Character: "Crazy" Norma
A New York City oil company troubleshooter is brought to a remote B.C. lake to look for some lost machinery. Cancelling a trip to Disney World with his son, he decides to bring the boy along. They both end up experiencing more excitement than Mickey could ever conjure in Orlando, when they meet up with bad guys and a legendary creature...
Ocean of Pearls
Character: Anna Berisha
As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surgery at a state-of-the-art transplant center dwindle because of his appearance, Amrit goes against a tradition he's maintained his whole life and cuts his hair. Hiding this decision from his girlfriend and family in Toronto is only the start of a series of compromises Amrit finds himself making as he deals with hospital politics and health care inju...
Escape and Evasion
Character: Michelle Pennyshaw
After his men are killed in Burma, a lone soldier returns home in search of solace. Hiding a dark secret and confronted by an unrelenting journalist, he's forced to face the ghosts of his past one last time....
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Character: Ticket Taker
David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David....
A Beautiful Life
Character: Sam
A love story about the encounter of two drifting souls. Escaping her abusive past, a woman stays the night with an illegal immigrant friend of a friend. The two get closer and fall in love, but face turmoil....
Piece of My Heart
Character: Kat
Adapted from Renee's 1995 novel Does This Make Sense to You?, the TV movie lays bare the pain caused by forced adoptions inflicted on unwed and teenage mothers in 1950s and 60s Aotearoa...
Spout
Character: Oma
A young boy and his grandmother become unlikely serial killers in a quest to eliminate his father's girlfriends, in this boldly original spin on the vampire genre....
Without a Body
Character:
After moving into a run-down farmhouse with his two daughters, a skeptical author seeks to uncover a sinister past that haunts the house and terrorizes his family....
Rapa Nui
Character: Hitirenga
Inter-tribal rivalry leads to a competition to erect a huge statue (moai) in record time before Make can take part in the race to retrieve the egg of a Sooty Tern. The reward for winning this race is to rule the island for one year....
Whina
Character: Older Whina Cooper
The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet resilient, Whina tells the story of a woman formed by tradition, compelled by innovation, and guided by an instinct for equality and justice whose legacy as the Te Whaea o te Motu (Mother of the Nation) was an inspiration to an entire country....
Savage Play
Character: Takiora
During a rugby tour of Britain and Ireland in 1888, a young New Zealander searches for his father who he has never met. While there he falls in love with the daughter of an aristocrat....
Absolute Killers
Character:
Johnny Graham, raised by the Torino crime family after the death of his parents, is repeatedly torn between loyalty to his adoptive family and his conscience. When Anthony Torino, the volatile heir-apparent, turns his deadly sights on the DA prosecuting him for the cold-blooded murder of his own cousin, Johnny is finally moved to act. Despite his role as family accountant, Johnny is quite the marksman. He convinces a reluctant Anthony into letting him eliminate DA Elizabeth Jones. Johnny's plan ...
Rain of the Children
Character: Puhi
In Rain of the Children, Ward further explores the subject of his earlier film, In Spring One Plants Alone when, as a young film student he travelled to the Ureweras and documented the lives of an elderly Māori woman (Puhi) and her schizophrenic son (Niki)....