Nathaniel Lees

Nathaniel is an accomplished actor and director who is well-known in New Zealand's dramatic arts. He has appeared in multiple Aotearoa theatre, TV and film productions, and many international movies.

A fluent Samoan speaker, Nathaniel is an active advocate of the cultures, languages, theatre and arts of the Pacific Islands and has used theatre and film projects to showcase these. Underscoring his career has been a commitment to share his knowledge, skills and culture, and to support others to do the same.

Highlights of his long career include directing American-Samoan John Kneubuhl’s Think of a Garden, for which he won Chapman Tripp Best Director of the Year in 1995. He directed Fresh off the Boat, written by Oscar Kightley and Simon Small for Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Pacific Underground, in 1993. He also directed another Kightley tale (co-written with David Fane), A Frigate Bird Sings, for the 1996 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. The production was nominated for multiple Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.

In 2004 he was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards. He cast and produced The Orator - O Le Tulafale, a Samoan language feature film which won accolades at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. 

Nathaniel’s many TV roles include Shark in the Park; Power Rangers; The Lost Children; Young Hercules; Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; Xena: Warrior Princess and The Dead Lands, amongst others.

His feature film credits include roles in Rapa Nui; The Matrix Reloaded; The Matrix Revolutions; Lord of the Rings; 30 Days of Night; Under the Mountain; Mr. Pip; Mortal Engines; and New Zealand classics Sione’s Wedding and Sione’s Wedding: Unfinished Business.

Nathaniel continues to be an active presence in Aotearoa theatre and film; you can currently see him on movie screens in Red, White and Brass (April 2023).