Kevin James Taumata is a

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 ...

New Zealander Australian New Zealand Australians refers to Australian citizens whose origins are in New Zealand, as well as New Zealand migrants and expatriates based in Australia. Migration from New Zealand to Australia is a common phenomenon, given Australia's proximit ...

film and television actor.

Television career

Taumata moved with his family to the Inner West of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

at the age of 8. He began his acting career at the age of 14 obtaining work as an extra on ''

Heartbreak High ''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on the ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with so ...

''. In 1999 he landed a role on

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's ''

Murder Call ''Murder Call'' is an Australian television series, created by Hal McElroy for the Southern Star Entertainment and broadcast on the Nine Network between 1997 and 2000. The series was inspired by the ''Tessa Vance'' novels by Jennifer Rowe, bot ...

''. He has featured prominently in the SBS television series ''

Pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

'', ''

Swift & Shift Couriers ''Swift and Shift Couriers'' is an Australian comedy television series that first screened on SBS TV in October 2008. The series is produced, directed and written by Paul Fenech, who was also responsible for the comedy series ''Pizza''. It is se ...

'' and ''

Housos '' Housos '' is a Logie Award-winning Australian comedy television series created by Paul Fenech for SBS, that screened on SBS One. The series is a satirical parody of low income Australian residents of fictional suburb Sunnyvale, New South Wal ...

''. In 2014, he starred in the comedy reality television series ''

Bogan Hunters ''Bogan Hunters'' is an Australian comedy reality television series created by Paul Fenech for Seven Network's 7mate. The series provides an in-depth look into Australia's bogan subculture, as the Bogan Hunters traverse the nation looking for A ...

'' on

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

, as "Kev the Kiwi". In 2019, he starred in the sixth season of the popular sitcom Fat Pizza, entitled "Fat Pizza: Back in Business" on

. When ''

'' won the

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program in 2014, Taumata was with the show's director

Paul Fenech Paul Fenech (born 21 November 1972) is an Australian filmmaker, film and television actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the television series ''Pizza'', ''Swift and Shift Cou ...

to accept the award in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. As a nod to

bogan Bogan ( ) is Australian slang for a person whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour are considered unrefined or unsophisticated. Depending on the context, the term can be pejorative or self-deprecating. The prevalence of the term bogan ...

dom, they both wore jeans, suit jackets covered in tattoo designs, and thongs.

Filmography

Early in his career, Taumata was featured in the 1999 movie ''

Kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

'' as a fullback. Later, he portrayed the popular character Kev the Kiwi in the feature films '' Housos vs. Authority'' (2012) and ''

Fat Pizza vs. Housos ''Fat Pizza vs. Housos'' is an Australian film based on the combination of the stories and characters of the SBS series ''Pizza'' and the comedy series ''Housos'', both created by Paul Fenech. The film began screening in Australian cinemas on 2 ...

'' (2014).

References

External links

Kevin Taumata on Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taumata, Kevin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male actors from Sydney 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand male Māori actors

Television career

Filmography

See also

References

External links