Māori Television's Kawe Kōrero show has reignited the passion in movie star Cliff Curtis to learn te reo Māori. Having a photographic memory has fast-tracked his new learning expedition.
Curtis says, “Every year this week rolls around, it is like my New Year's resolution where I say I'm going to get fluent in te reo and get myself eight-pack abs. But it never happens.”
Movie star Cliff Curtis wants to speak te reo Māori, primarily for his family.
“I feel incomplete as a man and as a father without the ability to fully express myself in te reo. It continues to mean a huge amount to me and I'm not going to give up until it happens. I'm getting old.”
He's just returned home from Australia after catching up with Taika Waititi regarding their involvement with the Academy Awards.
“We are both committed to our role as representatives of Māori in Hollywood and the global audience. The Oscar invitation to us to become members was to increase the diversity of the organisation.”
After receiving the supreme Matariki Award last week, Māori broadcaster veteran Hone Edwards called Curtis for an interview on Kawe Kōrero but he would only respond in te reo Māori.
“He was anxious knowing that this interview would only take five minutes. But I said to him, "Don't you worry, we will help you if your desire is to speak in te reo Māori. We will support you," says Edwards.
Curtis says, “Te reo is definitely a part of my life and who I am. That's never going to change. What I want to change is increasing my fluency so that I can express myself beyond the level of a two-year-old.”
Curtis is back home in Rotorua with family. His project, for now, is learning te reo Māori.
