Coco Talanoa — Entertainment / Page 28

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson & Dany Garcia's Seven Bucks Productions Digital studios has launched its own YouTube channel which will feature The Rocks own videos and others from Seven Bucks Productions.

The "YouTube Factory" launched the channel last week and this week they released their second video introducing us to 'Pokerock' - a Pokemon Go inspired character voiced by 'The Rock' himself.  

He says of Pokerock "You take this global sensation - Pokemon Go - which is incredibly succesful, highly addictive, so much fun and then we create a little character called 'Pokerock' and he turns into an a#$hole which is the funniest thing"

Here's an excerpt of the Forbes magazine review & you can read the full article here - “Pokerock” stars MatPat (of The Game Theorist) and features other talent like Ali A. The video also features an original spoof song sung by Jason Paige, the voice of the original Pokemon theme song.  In this parody of the popular Pokemon Go game, Pokerock proves uncatachable.…more

'More More' or 'More Momoa'?

Warner Bros released special footage of their upcoming movie 'Aquaman' for Comic Con over the weekend and we're pleased to report Jason Momoa is lookin mighty FIIIIINE dangerous as Aquaman - HOTNESSSSSS!

Some more pics below for your viewing pleasure .... Enjoy ;)

You're welcome!

BTS with Jason as Aquaman on the set of Justice League

Congratulations Benson! 

So awesome to see Polys doing well in Opera!  Check him out in the promo vid above for Operanesia (a collaboration between four classically trained singers who all hail from Auckland via the Pacific Islands of Samoa and Tonga)

The Baritone singer won the acclaimed Lexus Song Quests Grand Gala Final last night and was crowned 'Most Promising Opera Singer'.  He was up against 3 other finalists - 2 of whom were also of Pasifika descent.  His prize package included an immediate cash prize of $20,000, a Study Scholarship of $27,000, plus economy international travel up to the value of $3,000.

He has been a member of the New Zealand Youth choir since 2011 and also works as a vocal coach at several high schools in Auckland.  He's hoping to pursue post graduate training at one of the elite music institutions in the UK next year.

We're looking forward to hearing more from #BaritoneBenson in the future - Bravo Benson!  

Suggested Links:  

Bravo to our Lexus Song Quest Finalists

Sole Mio's Amitai Pati discusses new album

Our very own Poly Soul Queen Aaradhna drops her highly anticipated album "Brown Girl"  today.

We went behind the scenes of her Fresh TV shoot where she talked about the making of "Brown Girl", experiencing racism, her favourite Poly dishes and more ....

On the making of Brown Girl:  

I started working with Jeff Silverman - they sometimes call him Jeff Dynamite - from Truth & Soul Records based out in New York.  He'd worked with a lot of people that I admire, Adele, Aloe Blacc and just a whole bunch of people that their music I connect to and I felt like it was the right fit to do a whole album with him.  It was an awesome experience because I got to work on the album organically and like have musicians together and just jam in the room and thats the way I like to do things - just have a jam and see what fits.  So we got to do that out in Brooklyn, New York.…more

 KJ Apa has landed a lead role in Altar Rock, an indie thriller from director Andrzej Bartkowiak. 

Kristin Alexandre and A. Wayne Carter wrote the script. The film is described as a millennial romantic thriller where family loyalty threatens the new love between an American girl and a young immigrant boy on the island of Nantucket.

Apa’s profile will get a boost when he stars as Archie in the CW’s midseason drama series Riverdale. The New Zealand native also has a role in A Dog’s Purpose, Lasse Hallstrom’s pic about one dog’s quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners. Apa’s other credits include the NZ drama series The Cul-de-Sac and Kiwi nighttime soap Shortland Street.

India Eisley will star alongside KJ Apa in the indie thriller Altar Rock, the millennial romantic thriller from director Andrzej Bartkowiak. Eisley and Apa will play star-crossed lovers on the island of Nantucket whose romance is threatened by family loyalty. Sydney Park and Scott Adkins also have joined the film in unspecified leading roles.…more

Professional wrestler turned Hollywood blockbuster mainstay,Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, was officially declared the world’s highest paid actor according to the Forbes Celebrity 100. 

Johnson, who has garnered quite a tally of top-grossing films in recent years, has brought in a total of $64.5m earnings in the 15 years since his silver screen debut in The Mummy Returns. He is ranked 19th on Forbes’ coveted list, on which he first appeared in 2012. 

“Receiving news like this will always serve as my anchoring reminder to continue to work even harder,” the Central Intelligence actor said in his announcement on Instagram. “We not only want to ‘embrace the grind’, but take the grind to new levels.”

His drive, he described, is akin to a  "wolf" scratching at the door.…more

The young actress/model was cast in Season 2 of Syfy's The Expanse earlier this year- a space-drama set in the future, based on the novels by James S. A. Corey. 

Adams’ breakout role came at the age of 16 in the local NZ drama series Shortland Street, and her most recent credits include Australian TV series Wentworth Season 4, Tusi Tamasese's latest feature1000 Ropes and starred in her debut theatre show P***Y in 2016.

Here is the first look at Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper in season 2 of The Expanse!

SUGGESTED LINKS: Frankie's World on Fresh

Samoan actor Ray Chong Nee on his heritage, his desire to give back, and his dream for a King Lear of colour.

Source: The Saturday Paper

On the island of Upolu, in the high inland ranges of Aleisa, about 17 kilometres west by road from the Samoan capital of Apia, you will find the farming community where the Melbourne-based stage actor Ray Chong Nee was raised, and where his family still owns smaller plots. 

Chong Nee spent about half of his first 12 years there, after being born in Apia’s Moto’otua Hospital in 1983, and the other half of those years in New Zealand, his family shuttling back and forth for work and for education, before they settled in Australia on the brink of his adolescence. 

There had been no electricity where he grew up in Samoa: in the very stony but fertile soil of Aleisa, the wider Chong Nee family had worked their eight hectares by hand, growing taro and bananas. 

“I was exposed to people telling me to go home, using ‘nigger’.…more

KJ Apa has landed a lead role in Altar Rock, an indie thriller from director Andrzej Bartkowiak inspired by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Source: Deadline

No word on his role in the film, which will shoot on location this summer. Kristin Alexandre and A. Wayne Carter wrote the script.

KJ’s profile will get a boost when he stars as Archie in the CW’s midseason drama series Riverdale. The New Zealand native also has a role in A Dog’s Purpose, Lasse Hallstrom’s pic about one dog’s quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners. Apa’s other credits include the NZ drama series The Cul-de-Sac and Kiwi soap Shortland Street.

KJ is repped by WMA, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Red 11 Management.

Image: Rex/Shutterstock

Not many actors can say they made their film debut - at the age of 64 - in a scene with Scarlett Johansson and Pilou Asbaek.

Source: Stuff

But that's the claim to fame of Fa'amoana "John" Luafutu - father of rapper Scribe - who was spotted by Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders on a striking poster for his play The White Guitar as he was being driven from Wellington airport to the set.

The poster features heavily tattooed John topless with his two sons, actor Matthias Luafutu and Malo Luafutu (Scribe), who also feature in the play.

He was contacted by a Ghost in the Shell representative to discuss appearing in the film, and they auditioned in Christchurch.

Unfortunately, Malo, or "the famous one" as proud dad John puts it, was not selected.

But John was thrilled when he found out he would be joined on set by Matthias, a Toi Whakaari-trained actor who stared in 2013's Shopping.…more