Coco Talanoa — Entertainment / Page 14

Born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand 16–year–old schoolgirl Sapphire Tamalemai and her family relocated to Australia after the deadly earthquakes in 2011. For Sapphire, it was an opportunity to pursue her musical dreams.

Her father, who was her number one fan, passed away in her arms from a heart attack just before she applied for The Voice. 

He worked three jobs to support her music dreams and had always wanted her to apply for the show. Sapphire's mum and her sister were side of stage at her Blind Audition.

Apulu Uta'ile'uō Tu'u'u Mary Kalala Autagavaia breaks down some of the ideas behind Aitu/ atua in Samoan culture, and gives her perspective on the spiritual realm of the Teine Sā and the concept of the Va in Pacific epistemologies.

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Teine Sā trailer 

Teine Sā - the ancient spirits of the Pacific are stirring. Revered and feared in equal measure, these sacred gods have crept back into the modern world to engage with five different women facing their own demons..

Teine Sā is a series of stories of modern day issues impacting Pacific women who look to the atua of the past for guidance. 

Teine Sā are the ancient spirit women, with the ability to bless and curse in equal measure.

From the notorious goddess Telesa to the Hiama of the Solomon Islands, these tales of the unexpected take age-old stories on many twists and turns.

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Samoan actor KJ Apa was on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show recently!.

They talked shooting “Riverdale” in Vancouver, growing up with Samoan culture and tradition, his father being the village chief, getting three concussions while playing rugby, his road to becoming an actor, jumping seven years into the future on “Riverdale,” and having no idea what the Super Bowl was.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has been honoured with the 'Trailblazer' award at the fourth annual Hollywood Critics Association.

Check out the touching montage they put together for him in the video above which showcases not only his acting and wrestling career but his philanthropic work with first responders and the 'Make-A-Wish' foundation.

He accepted his award via Zoom and dedicated the win to his "trailblazer" - his late father, WWE Hall of Famer, Rocky 'Soulman' Johnson who passed away at the beginning of last year.

In his acceptance speech he said of the video montage "It's the anchoring reminder that if we're lucky enough and we're fortunate enough to be in a position where you can make somebody feel good and you can create moments for them that they will never forget for the rest of their lives, that is power," 

"That's real accountability to humanity when you just do good for people."

Check out the full speech below - 

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson introduces the women who play the powerful females who shaped his life: Ana Tuisila plays The Rock's grandmother, Lia Maivia, and Stacey Leilua plays his mother, Ata Johnson.

Stacey and Ana have just been nominated for a HCA TV award (Hollywoods Critics Association) for Best Actress and Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series Comedy and Dwayne himself is also up for a Best Supporting actor role in Young Rock!  The "Young Rock" Series is nominated for Best broadcast network series, Comedy.

Check out who they'll be going up against below - 

Stacey shared the news on her social media this morning saying: 

“Young Rock” focuses on different chapters of Dwayne Johnson’s life. From growing up in a strong and resilient family, to being surrounded by the wild characters of his professional wrestling family, to playing football at the University of Miami, the show will explore the crazy rollercoaster that has shaped Dwayne into the man he is today and the larger-than-life characters he’s met along the way.

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Ana Tuisila, Fasitua Amosa and John Tui.

Peep the cast interviews above.

"Young Rock" premieres tonight (17th Feb) 8/7c on NBC which is 2pm today in NZ

For kiwis wanting to watch the show, actress Stacey Leilua who plays The Rocks Mum says you can watch it on PeacockTV but you'll need a VPN.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and talks to him about his upcoming TV show about his life 'Young Rock' which stars a few of our Pasifika actors from Down Under.

One of those stars is Stacey Leilua who plays Dwaynes Mum, Ata Johnson.  They discuss her casting and Ata joins him to sing a song to Jimmy on her ukulele.

Check the vid out above. 

He also talks to The Rock's young co-star Bradley Constant who plays Dwayne at the age of 15 in the video below - 

Watch Dwayne Johnson, Uli Latukefu, Stacey Leilua and Adrian Groulx in Young Rock, a new comedy about Johnson's outrageous youth.

Young Rock premieres Tuesday, February 16 at 8/7c on NBC.

Check out behind the scenes photos here - 

KJ Apa and Cole Sprouse from Riverdale sat down to discuss the idiosyncrasies of their home languages (alright, it’s mostly Cole making fun of KJ for NZ slang).

'Dawn Raids' - two words that mean so much in Pacific history in Aotearoa.

This is also the choice of name for one of New Zealand's most renowned and controversial hip hop record labels, who are famous from bringing the sound of South Auckland to the world. A new doco directed by Oscar Kightley follows their journey from bang to bust.

Here is their extraordinary story of reaching the heights of international fame and the lows of losing everything.

Catch the movie in NZ and Australian theatres from tomorrow, Thursday 21st January.