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, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'', 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 cast ...

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 entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...

franchise, such as Emperor Grumm of ''

Power Rangers S.P.D. ''Power Rangers S.P.D.'' is the thirteenth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers'', and is based on the 28th Super Sentai series ''Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger''. The season shares its title with the Korean dub of ''Dekaranger'' in South ...

'' 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 SCG Power Rangers, after Saban Brands ( ...

'' 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 ( ...

''. In 2006, at the

Air New Zealand Screen Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...

, 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, of Fijian heritage. His first feature film, '' No. 2'', starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award (World Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, ''Dean ...

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 (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

'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 broad ...

. 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 In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, Electronic monitoring in the United States, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their Hous ...

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

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

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 people 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