Rena Owen
Rena Owen ( born July 27, 1962 in Moerewa, Bay of Islands, New Zealand) is a New Zealand film, theater and television actress.
Life
Rena Owen grew up in the Bay of Islands in Moerewa, a small town. She has eight siblings, her father was Māori, her mother of European descent. During her time in high school, she participated in Kapa Haka part groups and performed in school musicals. She became a nurse and worked for four years in this profession before moving to Britain.
She is best known for her starring role as Beth in its 1994 film Once Were Warriors by Lee Tamahori. For this role, Owen won several prizes as the award for Best Actress at the Montreal World Film Festival and San Diego International Film Festival. The film set a new record at the box-office receipts in New Zealand. Owen played the role in the sequel of the film What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? of 1999.
Owen worked with the Australian director Rolf de Heer, in the film Dance Me to My Song in 1998 together, in which she played the role of Rix. For this role she won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the AFI Awards.