Julian Bailey Dennison (born 26 October 2002) is a New Zealand actor. He debuted in the 2013 film ''Shopping'', for which he won the English Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is known for his roles as Ricky Baker in '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' (2016), the highest-grossing New Zealand film in history, as Russell "Firefist" Collins in ''

Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to ''Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the ''X-Men'' film series. ...

'' (2018), and as Belsnickel in ''

The Christmas Chronicles 2 ''The Christmas Chronicles 2'' (titled as ''The Christmas Chronicles Part Two'' in the film) is a 2020 American Christmas comedy film directed and produced by Chris Columbus, who wrote the screenplay with Matt Lieberman. A sequel to the 2018 fil ...

''. Dennison has appeared in multiple commercials for companies including ''

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

'', ''

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

'' and ''

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...

''. In 2021, Dennison made his first appearance in the ''

MonsterVerse The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other monster characters owned and created by Toho Co., Ltd. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced and ...

'' as Josh Valentine in '' Godzilla vs. Kong''.

Life and career

Dennison was born and raised in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

, New Zealand. He is the third of a family of four children, and has a twin brother named Christian. Julian is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent and is a member of the

Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Hauā is a Māori people, Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Wai ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

(tribe), part of the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

tribal confederation. He attended Naenae Primary School, where he first auditioned, and got his first part in the film '' Shopping (2013)''. He was then cast in the Australian film ''

Paper Planes A paper plane (also known as a paper airplane in American English or paper aeroplane in British English) is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made out of single folded sheet of paper or paperboard. A simple nose-heavy paper plane, thrown like ...

'' (2015). He later attended

Hutt International Boys' School Hutt International Boys' School (usually known by its acronym, HIBS) is a state integrated boys' secondary school in Trentham, Upper Hutt, New Zealand founded in 1991. The school is multi-denominational and affiliated with the Anglican faith. ...

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

. Dennison continued with acting and was given a role in an advertisement for the

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, an ...

to discourage driving under the influence of drugs. The

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

, which became an internet sensation in New Zealand and Australia, was directed by

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

, who later asked Dennison to star in his film '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' (2016) without the need to audition. The film went on to become New Zealand's highest-grossing film to date, and was critically acclaimed. Dennison played Russell Collins / Firefist in the 2018 film ''

''. He was cast because of his ''Wilderpeople'' performance, and the friendship of Waititi with ''Deadpool''s filmmakers. In 2020, Dennison co-starred in ''

'', portraying

Belsnickel Belsnickel (also known as Belschnickel, Belznickle, Belznickel, Pelznikel, Pelznickel, Bell Sniggle) is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate (region), Palatinate region of southwestern Germany alon ...

and also voicing his elf form, and in 2021, he had a large supporting role in the monster sequel '' Godzilla vs. Kong''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * *
Julian Dennison
at

NZ on Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

2002 births New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male child actors New Zealand male Māori actors Ngāti Hauā people Living people People from Lower Hutt {{NewZealand-actor-stub