Contents
Who is Julian Dennison?
New Zealand actor Julian Dennison was born under the zodiac sign Scorpio on 26 October 2002, in Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. He has 13 acting credits ,and is perhaps known best for portraying one of the main characters Ricky Baker in the 2016 adventure comedy movie “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”, which also starred Rima Te Wiata and San Neill, and was written and directed by Taika Waititi. It follows a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who’ve gone missing in the wild New Zealand bush, and the movie won 22 of its 48 award nominations.
Julian’s currently shooting for the upcoming movie “Y2K”.
Education and early life
Julian was raised in Lower Hutt alongside his three siblings, including his twin brother Christian, by their mother Mabelle Dennison and father Wayne Dennison; Julian’s parents are of Maori descent and he’s a member of the tribe Ngati Haua Iwi.
He fell in love with acting not long after enrolling at Naenae Primary School and was 10 when he made his debut film appearance, playing the main character Solomon in the 2013 drama “Shopping”, which also starred Kevin Paulo and Jacek Koman, and was written and directed by Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston. It follows the lives of brothers Solomon and Willie, and the film won nine of its 18 award nominations; Julian’s been active in the film industry ever since.
He studied at Hutt International Boys’ School, and upon matriculating in 2021 remained focused on acting rather than enrolling at college.
Roles in movies
In 2014, Julian portrayed Kevin in the popular family drama “Paper Planes”, which starred Ex Oxenbould and Sam Worthington, and which Robert Connolly wrote and directed. It follows a boy from Australia who wants to travel to Japan and compete in the World Paper Plane Championships, and the movie won six of the 21 awards for which it was nominated.
Julian could then have been seen playing Beni in the 2016 romantic comedy “Love and Time Travel”, which starred Bonnie Bryant and Nick Blake, and was written and directed by Hayden J. Weal. It follows the life of an emotionally isolated barista and the film won one of its two award nominations. Also in 2016, Julian appeared in the music video “Summer Wonderland”.
Deadpool 2 Actor Julian Dennison Is Too Young to Watch the Filmhttps://t.co/FqZiZKsuIl pic.twitter.com/qngbm0iFRA
— CBR (@CBR) May 22, 2018
The year 2018 saw him appear in the short comedy “Lynx Australia: Find Your Aussie Magic”, while he also portrayed Firefist in the critically acclaimed action adventure comedy “Deadpool 2”, which starred Josh Brolin and Ryan Reynolds, and was directed by David Leitch. It follows mutant mercenary Wade Wilson who’s assembled a team in an effort to protect a boy with supernatural abilities from a cyborg which wishes to kill him, and the film won six of its 58 award nominations.
The year 2020 saw Julian play Belesnickel in the adventure family comedy “The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two”, and in 2021, he played Josh Valentine in the hit action science fiction thriller “Godzilla vs Kong”, which starred Millie Bobby Brown and Alexander Skarsgard, and was directed by Adam Wingard. It follows the battle between the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong, and the movie won three of the 23 awards for which it was nominated.
Julian’s only other film role has been starring as Josh Waaka in the 2023 drama “Uproar”, which also starred Rhys Darby and Minnie Driver, and was written and directed by Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett; it follows a 17 years old student as he’s finally standing up for himself.
Roles in TV series
Julian’s had roles in only two TV series. He voiced Tapi in six episodes of the 2019 short animated comedy “Aroha Bridge”, which starred Rachel House and Jessica Hansell, and follows the lives of a group of people from New Zealand.
Also in 2019, Julian voiced Pierce in 26 episodes of the animated comedy “The Strange Chores”, which starred Nick Tate, Charlotte Nicdao and Michel Philippou, and was created by Daley Pearson and Charlie Aspinwall. It follows three children who are dreaming of becoming new monster-slayer heroes, the series aired from 2019 through 2022 and was nominated for two awards.
Other credits
Julian wrote the song “The Trifecta” and performed the song “Ricky Baker Birthday Song” in the 2016 movie “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”.
He received special thanks for a 2019 episode of the documentary series “X-Men Mondays”.
Some of Julian’s talk-show appearances have been in “Made in Hollywood”, “A Little Late with Lilly Singh” and “The Drew Barrymore Show”.
Awards and nominations
Julian won a 2013 New Zealand Film and TV Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in “Shopping” and a 2017 New Zealand Film and TV Award for Best Actor, for “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”.
He’s been nominated for five other awards, including two San Diego Film Critics Society Awards in 2016, a 2017 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor and a 2017 Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer, all for “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”.
Love life and relationships
Julian avoids speaking about his love life in public, and while most of his fans believe that he’s having a hard time finding a girlfriend because of being overweight, there are also those who think that Julian’s perhaps keeping the details of his love life away from media because he’s gay.
A fan has claimed to have seen Julian spending time with his boyfriend at a club in Wellington but no evidence has been provided to support these claims; some fans have also pointed out the fact that has Julian occasionally featured his male friends in his Instagram pictures and that perhaps one of them might be his boyfriend, but none of this has been addressed by Julian.
He seems to be unattached as of September 2023, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Julian’s followed by close to 150,000 people on Instagram, but has posted only 10 pictures onto the network as he respects his own privacy; he once had more pictures but has deleted most of them for unknown reasons.
Julian enjoys spending his spare time outdoors, whether he’s relaxing close to the ocean or going for a walk with his friends.
He’s passionate about music, and one of his favorite rappers is Eminem, while some of his favorite pop singers include Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars.
One of Julian’s favorite actors is Karl Urban, and some of his favorite movies include “Star Trek”, “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Dredd”.
Appearance and net worth
Julian’s age is 20. He has brown hair and eyes, weighs around 200lbs (90kgs) and is 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall.
Julian’s net worth’s been estimated at over $500,000, as of September 2023.
