Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Rhys Darby

Bret and Jemaine had been flatmates at Victoria University, and performed in a group with Taika Waititi, but it was with FOTC where they found fame. Overseas festivals and tours gained them an international audience, performing at the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A succession of TV and radio specials followed culminating in them being given their own HBO TV comedy series, also called Flight of the Conchords (2007–2009).

For this, they joined with fellow New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby, initially as part of a BBC radio show, then on TV as Murray, the New Zealand government official who moonlights as the duo’s manager. Rhys had a full comedy career of his own, also appearing across New Zealand and touring internationally, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The TV series Flight of the Conchords was a cult hit, with two seasons successfully completed. It followed the band as they tried to succeed in New York and develop a fan base. They manage to secure one regular groupie, Mel, and a highlight was the succession of other comedians featuring in the series.

The show was perhaps best loved for the eclectic original music scattered throughout, with comedy/folk hits such as ‘It’s Business Time’ still fan favourites. Even now, over 10 years since the series was played on American television, the team of Bret, Jemaine and Rhys are well-known and well-loved faces.

The fact that Americans in particular, but also the British, ‘clicked’ with their humour has validated one of the core themes through their work – that New Zealanders can be shy and humble, and yet unknowingly be among the best in the world.

They were nominated for four Emmy Awards in 2008, and six Emmy Awards in 2009, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. They won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for The Distant Future in 2008.

The three New Zealand stars haven’t rested on their laurels, however. While, as a group, Flight of the Conchords only tend to make sporadic appearances, each of the cast members has gone on to other interesting projects.

Bret worked with FOTC co-creator and director James Bobin to relaunch Jim Henson’s Muppets to the world with the eponymous film The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Bret received several awards for his work including an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his power ballad Man or Muppet. He has continued writing songs for film including Dora the Explorer (2019), Thelma The Unicorn (2023) and in recent years has also penned tunes for the television animated series The Simpsons.

Bret’s film acting career started with an uncredited cameo as an elf escort in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001). It generated a fan audience reaction who dubbed him ‘Figwit’ which was an acronym for “Frodo is great… who is THAT?” He appeared again in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), and in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). He has starred in the comedy films Two Little Boys (2011) and Austenland (2013).

In 2022 Bret released a solo record Songs without Jokes which he toured across Aotearoa New Zealand, Great Britain and North America. He is married with three children and lives in Wellington.

Jemaine worked with Taika on the vampire mockumentary film What We Do in the Shadows (2014), which, again, created a cult classic, and featured Rhys as a werewolf. This led to a few spinoffs, such as the iconic New Zealand television series Wellington Paranormal (2018–2022), and another TV series, also called What We Do in the Shadows (2019–), transplanted to America and appearing on American streaming service FX, which Jemaine created, directed, wrote, and executive produced.

Jemaine has also developed quite a career as a voice actor, appearing in Despicable Me (2010), The Simpsons (2010), Rio (2011), Men In Black 3 (2012), Rio 2 (2014), The BFG (2016), Moana (2016) as Tamatoa the crab (a role he reprised for the 2017 te reo Māori version, and says he based on David Bowie), the Lego Batman Movie (2017), and children’s television programme Kiri and Lou (2019–). He also featured in Dinner for Schmucks (2010) alongside Steve Carrell, Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). He is married with one child, and lives in Wellington.

Rhys has had a succession of TV and film roles, in hits such as Yes Man (2008), The Boat That Rocked (2008), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and the television series Our Flag Means Death (2022–), alongside Taika Waititi. He has also voice-acted in Arthur Christmas (2011), Trolls (2016), Tean Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans (2019), and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022), as well as several video games. He lives predominately in Los Angeles, with his wife and two children and is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after voice actors.

The three talented comedians continue to show that New Zealand’s quirky sense of humour not only translates across global borders but can be a major drawcard for the country. And they didn’t have to change their accents.