Cannes: Guy Pearce, Te Kohe Tuhaka to Star in Lee Tamahori Actioner ‘The Convert’

Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker, Memento) and Te Kohe Tuhaka (The Dead Lands, Love and Monsters) have signed on to star in The Convert, a period action epic set in 19th century New Zealand from Die Another Day and Once Were Warriors director Lee Tamahori.

The feature, which begins principal photography around the North Island of New Zealand in September, is being sold worldwide by Mister Smith Entertainment, which will introduce the project to international buyers at the Cannes Film Market later this month.

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Pearce plays Thomas Munro, a British lay preacher with a violent past who arrives in a settlement in 1830s New Zealand, where he soon finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Māori tribes. The screenplay for The Convert was co-written by Tamahori and Shane Danielsen (Errors of the Human Body) based on an original story from Michael Bennet (Matariki)

“Guy is a brilliant actor and to have him onboard will allow me to sleep easy at night, for I know he will inhabit the character of Munro in ways I cannot foresee and bring to life The Convert,” Tamahori said in a statement, noting that the period actioner focused on the “early contact between Europeans and Maori, when European settlers were outnumbered by several hundred to one. And Maori had just acquired muskets.”

Tuhaka, a multi-hyphenate who made his acting debut in Taika Waititi’s 2005 short Tama Tū, is also well known as a television presenter in New Zealand. He will act as a producer on The Convert alongside Robin Scholes (Once were Warriors), Andrew Mason and Troy Lum (The Water Diviner). Bradford Haami will executive produce, with Ngamaru Raerino on board as a Māori cultural consultant. The Convert is being set up as a New Zealand-Australia co-production between Auckland-based Jump Film & Television and Sydney-based Brouhaha Entertainment.

Pearce, whose on-screen credits include starring turns in award winners L.A. Confidential (1997), Memento (2000) and The Hurt Locker (2008), has recently received accolades for TV performances, including opposite Kate Winslet in HBO’s Mare of Easttown and for the title role in Australian series Jack Irish. He is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group, Shanahan Management, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

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