Jemaine Clement's deadpan works because he can make an unkind remark sound as though it belongs to a particular friendship. We value the warmth he keeps beneath the irritation, though busy plotting can leave him underused.
Fi1m perspective
In Alice and Steve (2026), Jemaine Clement talks to Nicola Walker with the impatience of someone who no longer needs to explain himself. Their characters know each other well enough to be careless, then choose to be cruel. We winced at those exchanges because the actors make the old affection believable. Clement keeps Steve recognisable as the friend worth having, even when there is ample reason to be angry with him.
The musical partnership with Bret McKenzie led to Flight of the Conchords (2007–2009), where Clement's understated delivery sat alongside the duo's parody songs. Small changes of expression let him suggest more than the flat delivery initially gives away. His work with Taika Waititi on What We Do in the Shadows (2014), which they co-wrote and co-directed, found another use for that manner. He also played Vladislav, bringing his acting into a comedy about the everyday absurdities of supernatural lives.
Alongside those collaborations, his film work includes Boris the Animal in Men in Black 3 (2012) and the voice of Tamatoa in Moana (2016). Voice acting became a substantial part of his work from around 2010, often through eccentric or villainous animated characters. Those parts offer opportunities beyond the quiet exchanges with which he is associated, and we would hesitate to treat deadpan as the limit of what he can do.
Tom Kingsley's direction in Alice and Steve serves Clement and Walker best when each grievance feels personal, and Goodhart's sharper lines sound addressed to a friend rather than delivered to an audience. The writing gives more attention to Alice's rage, leaving Clement underused at times. As the revenge accumulates, some of the antics crowd out the pleasure of watching these two work. It is a limitation worth taking seriously: the series has found a convincing friendship and keeps interrupting it with more business. Try it for Clement and Walker, and allow for a few unnecessary detours. — Fi1m
Biography
Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He was born on 10 January 1974 in Masterton and studied drama and film at Victoria University of Wellington.
With Bret McKenzie he formed the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, releasing albums and creating the BBC and HBO series of the same name (2007–2009), for which he received six Primetime Emmy nominations. In 2014 he co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the film What We Do in the Shadows with Taika Waititi; the project was later adapted into an FX television series.
Clement has appeared in films including Eagle vs Shark (2007), Men in Black 3 (2012) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). His voice work includes roles in Despicable Me (2010), Rio (2011), Moana (2016) and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). He played Steve in the series Alice and Steve (2026) and voiced Daryl and Bruce in A Minecraft Movie (2025).
