Rene Naufahu (born May 1970) is a New Zealand actor, screenwriter and director.

Career

Naufahu is perhaps best known for being an original cast member of the New Zealand

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'', playing paramedic

Sam Aleni Sam Aleni is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' who was portrayed by Rene Naufahu as part of the original cast from 1992 to 1996. Naufahu reprised his role 18 years later from March 2014. Creation and cas ...

for the show's first four years. In the United States, he is better known for portraying various characters in the

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

franchise, such as Emperor Grumm of '' Power Rangers S.P.D.'' and Mentor Ji from ''

Power Rangers Samurai ''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by Saban Capital Group, SCG Power Rangers, a ...

'' and ''

Power Rangers Super Samurai ''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by SCG Power Rangers, after Saban Brands (r ...

''. In 2006, at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards, he won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role as Erasmus, in the

Toa Fraser Toa Fraser (born 1975) is a New Zealand born playwright and film director. His first feature film, ''No. 2 (film), No. 2'', starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award (World Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, ''Dean Spanley'' ...

film '' No. 2''. The film won the Audience Award, World Cinema - Dramatic, after sellout screenings at the

2006 Sundance Film Festival The 2006 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 19 to January 29, 2006. It was held in Park City, with screenings in Salt Lake City; Ogden; and the Sundance Resort. It was the 22nd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, and the c ...

. In 2005, he co-wrote television drama '' The Market'' with Brett Ihaka and Matthew Grainger. He was also one of the show's directors, alongside Damon Fepulea'i and Geoff Cawthorn. He attended the Amsterdam-based Binger Institute's Script Development program in 2003. Naufahu's first feature film as director is crime thriller ''The Last Saint'', which began filming in September 2013.

Criminal convictions

On 1 September 2017, Naufahu pleaded guilty in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

's District Court to six charges of

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

. The charges related to six women who attended private acting lessons conducted by Naufahu in Auckland between 2011 and 2013. In January 2018 he was sentenced to one year of

home detention House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays Electronic tagging, electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The p ...

. Naufahu had an earlier conviction for common assault and wilful damage arising from an altercation in a

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

bar in 2001, for which he was fined by the court.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people Actors of Samoan descent New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors People convicted of indecent assault {{NewZealand-tv-actor-stub