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Michael Hurst is a Actor, Director and Scriptwriter Néo-Zélandais born on 20 september 1957 at Lancashire (United-kingdom)

Michael Hurst

Michael Hurst
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Birth name Michael Eric Hurst
Nationality Nouvelle zelande
Birth 20 september 1957 (66 years) at Lancashire (United-kingdom)

Michael Eric Hurst, ONZM (born 20 September 1957) is a New Zealand actor, director and writer, mostly on stage and television. He is probably best known internationally for playing Iolaus in the television programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and companion series Xena: Warrior Princess. Most recently, he is known for his role in directing the popular Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Biography

Hurst was born in Lancashire, England, the eldest of three brothers. When he was seven his family moved to Christchurch, New Zealand. He enrolled at Papanui High School, then University of Canterbury, but for only one year.

He married New Zealand actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand in 1988. They have two sons: Jack Louis Ward Hurst, born in 1997, and Cameron Lane Ward Hurst, born in 1999.

In 1984, Hurst won the lead role of David Blyth's Death Warmed Up, New Zealand's first splatter movie. The plot saw Hurst's character weathering institutionalisation, sundry wackos, and a motorcycle chase in the tunnels below Waiheke Island. The film won the grand prize at a fantasy film festival in Paris. The same year Hurst began playing drummer Dave Nelson over two series of Heroes, about a band searching for fame.

Crime thriller Dangerous Orphans (1986) is the first film in which Hurst co-starred with real-life partner Jennifer Ward-Lealand (he had already acted with her on-stage). Hurst was one of three grown orphans caught up in a mission to one-up various criminal figures; Ward-Lealand played romantic interest to one of the other orphans.

Hurst would work with Ward-Lealand again on his next three features, 1992's The Footstep Man, 1993's Desperate Remedies, and I'll Make You Happy in 1999. In 1993, he starred alongside Australian Sophie Lee and Brit Greg Wise in TV thriller Typhon's People. Hurst played a European mystery man uncovering the truth behind corporate genetic meddling. The script was by author Margaret Mahy.

Hurst went on to co-star in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys with Kevin Sorbo, playing nimble sidekick Iolaus to Sorbo's Hercules.

Hurst made his feature debut as a director with Jubilee (2000), based on the book by Nepi Solomon. The film stars Cliff Curtis as a kind-hearted procrastinator who gets the chance to prove himself by organising a 75th jubilee.

Hurst followed Jubilee by directing Love Mussel, an acclaimed one off satire for television. Written by Braindead's Stephen Sinclair and starring Kevin Smith, Love Mussel is a mockumentary about a fictional township which erects a monument to a shellfish with Viagra-like properties.

In 2003, Hurst was awarded an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award. He was later designated an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 "for services to film and the theatre".

In 2015, after critically acclaimed runs in New Zealand and at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Michael Hurst is Director of The Generation of Z: Apocalypse which is a high-velocity theatre experience being brought to a purpose-built venue in East London from 4 April 2015 to July 2015. "A lot of the reviews have said “immersive theatre into overdrive”. “Video game, only live.” It has those qualities. There are choices where the audience can affect the outcome of scenes which is quite a new thing. It flows very easily depending on which choice they make." Interview with LondonTheatre1

Usually with

Zoë Bell
Zoë Bell
(2 films)
Rick Jacobson
Rick Jacobson
(2 films)
Boaz Davidson
Boaz Davidson
(2 films)
Brad Krevoy
Brad Krevoy
(2 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Michael Hurst (16 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Bitch Slap
Bitch Slap (2009)
, 1h49
Directed by Rick Jacobson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Julia Voth, Erin Cummings, America Olivo, Michael Hurst, William Gregory Lee, Lucy Lawless
Roles Gage
Rating45% 2.2533852.2533852.2533852.2533852.253385
Three girls, a down-and-out stripper named Trixie, a drug-running killer and ex-convict named Camero, and a corporate powerbroker nicknamed Hel, arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort massive riches from a ruthless sword-wielding killer named Pinky, who is also a notorious underworld figure. None of the three women is who they appear to be: each has an ulterior motive.
The Tattooist, 1h32
Origin Nouvelle zelande
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Jason Behr, Michael Hurst, Nathaniel Lees, Timothy Balme, Robbie Magasiva, David Fane
Roles Crash
Rating51% 2.5514252.5514252.5514252.5514252.551425
Jake Sawyer (Jason Behr) is a global wanderer and tattooist who explores ethnic themes in his designs. While visiting Singapore to sell his craft at a local trade show, he swipes an ancient Samoan tattoo tool. After flying to New Zealand to resume his art, he meet up with a lovely Samoan woman named Sina (Mia Blake) and discovers the local Samoan culture. But Jake slowly learns that his stolen tool ends up unleashing an evil avenging spirit whom targets all of the customers that Jake has given tattoos to since his theft of the tool. While attempting to learn pe'a, the Samoan tradition of tattooing, Jake soon realizes that Sina is imperiled when she gets a tattoo from him and he must find a way to save her, and himself.
We're Here to Help, 1h33
Actors Erik Thomson, Miriama Smith, Michael Hurst
Rating62% 3.138793.138793.138793.138793.13879
Based on a true story, Dave Henderson was audited 27 times from 1992 to 1995 after claiming a GST refund, and the Inland Revenue Department demanded he pay $NZ924,341.07 in taxes and penalties. He was charged with fraud, his business failed and he was bankrupted and had to sell his house. The IRD eventually conceded that he did not owe it $NZ924,341.07, and fraud charges against him were dropped. They also admitted that they owed him $NZ64,000.
Fracture
Fracture (2004)
, 1h47
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Kate Elliott, John Noble, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Michael Hurst, Jared Turner, Miranda Harcourt
Roles Athol Peet
Rating63% 3.191043.191043.191043.191043.19104
A young solo mother (Elliott) loves her son and his needs are foremost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother (Turner), even as her fundamentalist mother cruelly rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his burglary of her house, families are changed as crisis amplifies and at times the young mother seems to be the only adult.
Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus, 1h20
Origin USA
Genres Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films based on mythology, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, Michael Hurst, Renée O'Connor, Kevin Smith, Alexandra Tydings
Roles Ioalus
Rating56% 2.8112052.8112052.8112052.8112052.811205
Long after Zeus stole the Cronus Stone from the monsters called the Titans, he and Alcmene gave birth to a son named Hercules, who defeated two serpents (presumably sent by a jealous Hera) at a young age and became a hero. After Hercules battles a sea serpent, the villagers thank him, and Iolaus climbs out of a restchair and joins him. Hercules and Iolaus head to Thebes to see Alcmene but Iolaus is a little upset because Hercules takes the credit. Meanwhile, Xena and Gabrielle reclaim the gold stolen by satyrs from a group of travelers in Corinth. Ares tells Xena to stop Hercules from going to Thebes because there is a trap set for him there, but Xena doesn't believe him and leaves with Gabrielle.
Desperate Remedies, 1h33
Directed by Peter Wells
Genres Drama
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Kevin Smith, Kevin Smith, Lisa Chappell, Cliff Curtis, Michael Hurst
Roles Willam Poyser
Rating64% 3.237783.237783.237783.237783.23778
Set in "Hope, New Britannia", an overwrought nineteenth century New Zealand community seemingly on the edge of destruction, Dorothea Brooke (Ward-Lealand) is a shopkeeper and dress designer with a troubled past. She strives in vain to keep her feckless, opium-addicted sister Rose out of the clutches of her former lover, Fraser (Curtis). She is in a lesbian relationship with Anne Cooper (Chappell) but tempted by newcomer and former radical Lawrence Hayes (Smith). MP and war profiteer William Poyser (Hurst) wants her business and property to shore up his tottering career, through marriage. Dorothea, Anne and Lawrence become enmeshed in a tortured triangle, resolved when Lawrence agrees to marry Rose for convenience and to get her away from Fraser. Rose dies ravaged from her opium addiction, although Lawrence and Fraser have fought a battle on board a vessel as passengers and both are missing, presumed dead. Dorothea has been coerced into accepting Poyser in marriage.
Prisoners
Prisoners (1981)
, 1h35
Directed by Peter Werner
Actors Tatum O'Neal, Colin Friels, Shirley Knight, Robert Jayne, Bruno Lawrence, David Hemmings
Roles Sciano
Rating56% 2.8226652.8226652.8226652.8226652.822665
An American moves his family to New Zealand where he takes charge of a prison in Wellington. His young daughter begins to have a love affair with one of the prisoners in his charge.

Director

Paradox
Paradox (2016)
, 1h29
Directed by Michael Hurst
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Action
Themes L'action se déroule en une journée, Time travel films
Actors Zoë Bell, Malik Yoba, Adam Huss
Rating46% 2.304582.304582.304582.304582.30458
Un groupe de scientifiques, épié par la NSA et travaillant sur un projet de voyage dans le temps, tente un premier test sur un humain. Jim (Adam Huss), ancien brillant ingénieur informatique du MIT, est donc envoyé avec succès une heure dans l'avenir. À son retour, il annonce toutefois au groupe qu'il a vu là-bas le cadavre de plusieurs de ses collègues. Un tueur serait donc parmi eux, prêt à commettre les crimes qu'il a vus... Sauront-ils déjouer le destin, ainsi que ce mystérieux agresseur ?
Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud, 1h35
Directed by Michael Hurst
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Fantasy, Horror
Actors Amy Manson, Lance Henriksen, Richard Durden
Rating44% 2.224962.224962.224962.224962.22496
The film begins with two men on their motorcycles driving away from Pumpkinhead. One of the men hits a tree branch in their path, falling from his motorcycle and allowing Pumpkinhead to catch up to him. As the man is being killed, the film cuts to a man in a log cabin who seems to share the pain inflicted by Pumpkinhead on the fallen man. The surviving man, named Dallas, rides to the log cabin, and the man who conjured Pumpkinhead, begging him to call the demon off. Pumpkinhead smashes through the window and Dallas attempts to fend him off by shooting him with a small pistol with little effect, and is clawed in the chest by the demon. When Dallas realizes that his bullets have no effect on Pumpkinhead, he swears to take the summoner with him, shooting the man and killing him, causing Pumpkinhead to vanish. Ed Harley then appears telling Dallas that Pumpkinhead will return and there will be no place to hide.
House of the Dead 2, 1h35
Directed by Michael Hurst
Origin USA
Genres Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about religion, Films set in the future, Zombie films, Films about viral outbreaks, Political films, Dystopian films, Films based on video games, Disaster films
Actors Emmanuelle Vaugier, Ed Quinn, Victoria Pratt, Nadine Velazquez, Theo Rossi, Mircea Monroe
Rating37% 1.861441.861441.861441.861441.86144
Taking place shortly after the original, a professor at the fictional Cuesta Verde University has managed to subdue and contain a "Hyper sapiens" specimen, who is revealed to be an infected survivor from the first film. The professor experiments on the survivor, trying to determine the source of her immortality, with apparent disregard for the rotted state of her body. When he has created a serum that he believes will bring back the dead and grant immortality, he murders one of his students and injects her with the serum. She returns to life, infects the professor, and breaks out of the building.
Room 6
Room 6 (2006)
, 1h30
Directed by Michael Hurst
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related film, Lesbian-related films
Actors Christine Taylor, Jerry O'Connell, Shane Brolly, John Billingsley, Kane Hodder, Jimmy Shubert
Rating41% 2.057192.057192.057192.057192.05719
Amy is an elementary school teacher who suffers from nightmares about doctors and hospitals, stemming from the circumstances of her father's death. On the afternoon of the day he proposed, Amy and her fiancé Nick are in a serious car accident. An ambulance takes Nick away without telling Amy which hospital they are going to. Amy and Lucas, the driver of the truck that hit them, try to find where Nick and Lucas' sister have been taken. Amy begins to hallucinate, seeing disfigured faces, including her own in a mirror. A little girl in her class, Melissa, claims she can help Amy find Nick, and gives Amy the name of St. Rosemary's Hospital. Amy and Lucas learn that St. Rosemary's, which was rumored to be the home of devil worshipers, was destroyed in a fire some 70 years ago, along with all the nurses and staff, who refused to leave. Meanwhile, Nick is having his own strange experiences at St. Rosemary's, such as nurses who spray blood on each other and eat another patient, and a hallway that repeats itself.
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, 5h
Directed by Michael Hurst, Rick Jacobson, John Fawcett
Origin USA
Actors John Hannah, Manu Bennett, Peter Mensah, Nick E. Tarabay, Dustin Clare, Jaime Murray
Rating84% 4.2499154.2499154.2499154.2499154.249915
The mini-series features the bloody history of the House of Batiatus and the city of Capua before the arrival of Spartacus. Quintus Lentulus Batiatus becomes a lanista (manager) when he takes over his father's ludus of gladiators. He has ambitions of stepping out of his father's shadow by seeking recognition for his own name and achieving further greatness for his house. By his side stands his beautiful wife Lucretia who will help her husband achieve his ambitions, whatever the cost. Batiatus puts all his fortunes on the man who will gain him fame and glory. That would be his best gladiator, the Celt, Gannicus, a skilled warrior who wields dual swords with deadly purpose. Those who oppose Batiatus and his future champion(s) of Capua do so at their own peril.

Scriptwriter

Hardwired
Hardwired (2009)
, 1h34
Directed by Ernie Barbarash
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about computing, Films set in the future, Political films, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Anticipation
Actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Ironside, Tatiana Maslany, Alastair Gamble, Lance Henriksen, Val Kilmer
Roles Writer
Rating47% 2.3556952.3556952.3556952.3556952.355695
In the not-too-distant future where corporations control nearly every aspect of human life, a man named Luke Gibson is involved in a car accident that claims the life of his wife and their unborn child. Luke has severe brain damage, but Hope Corporation agrees to implant a chip into his brain to save his life. He discovers that this chip also constantly sends advertisements until either the person obtains the product, or they go insane. While trying to figure out why they did this to him and who he is, he finds out that the chip is a test product with a fail-safe that could kill him. He succumbs to the effects but the Corporation fears that their test might be discovered, and they decide to activate the fail-safe. Just before it goes off, a group of underground hackers led by Hal and "Keyboard" hack into the chip and save his life. After using the chip to guide him away from Hope Corp. pursuers, they agree to try to help him remember who he is in exchange for assisting in their fight against Hope Corp. They show him that his accident was no accident but actually planned by Hope Corp. so they could use him as a test subject. He agrees to help but is captured during the attempt and taken to a facility controlled by Hope Corp. Luke, with the help of Punk Red and Punk Blue, manages to fight his way to the leader of the project, Virgil Kirkhill. Virgil is killed after a short confrontation, and Luke escapes. He meets up with "Red" and "Blue" (the only remaining members of the underground group). Together they vow to continue the fight until Hope Corporation is destroyed.
Ninja
Ninja (2009)
, 1h27
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Martial arts, Action, Adventure, Crime, Martial arts
Themes Seafaring films, Sports films, Transport films, Martial arts films
Actors Scott Adkins, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Mika Hijii, Miles Anderson, Garrick Hagon, Togo Igawa
Rating55% 2.7558552.7558552.7558552.7558552.755855
Casey Bowman is an American orphan who was adopted into a martial arts dojo in Japan. Because of his perseverance and desire to master bushido, he earns the respect of the dojo's sensei and his daughter Namiko. However, the dojo's top student Masazuka becomes bitter over Namiko's friendship with Casey until one morning, during a sparring match, he loses his temper and nearly kills Casey by throwing a katana at him. In defense, Casey scars Masazuka below his right eye. As a result of his actions, Masazuka is banished from the dojo by the sensei.
Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud, 1h35
Directed by Michael Hurst
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Fantasy, Horror
Actors Amy Manson, Lance Henriksen, Richard Durden
Roles Writer
Rating44% 2.224962.224962.224962.224962.22496
The film begins with two men on their motorcycles driving away from Pumpkinhead. One of the men hits a tree branch in their path, falling from his motorcycle and allowing Pumpkinhead to catch up to him. As the man is being killed, the film cuts to a man in a log cabin who seems to share the pain inflicted by Pumpkinhead on the fallen man. The surviving man, named Dallas, rides to the log cabin, and the man who conjured Pumpkinhead, begging him to call the demon off. Pumpkinhead smashes through the window and Dallas attempts to fend him off by shooting him with a small pistol with little effect, and is clawed in the chest by the demon. When Dallas realizes that his bullets have no effect on Pumpkinhead, he swears to take the summoner with him, shooting the man and killing him, causing Pumpkinhead to vanish. Ed Harley then appears telling Dallas that Pumpkinhead will return and there will be no place to hide.