Julian Dennison

The Kid Who Didn't Want to Be an Actor

Julian Dennison wasn't looking for fame when he auditioned for Shopping at his school in Naenae. He was nine years old, and his only real motivation was skipping a couple of hours of class. That afternoon in 2012 changed the course of his life without him putting much effort into it.

His big-screen debut arrived in 2013 under the direction of Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland. In this independent film, he played Solomon and won the Best Supporting Actor award at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards. He had an innate ability to look into the camera with a mix of defiance and vulnerability that few adults can learn to fake.

Humor was his first survival tool.

In 2016, his life took a decisive turn when Taika Waititi cast him to star in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He played Ricky Baker, a rebellious orphan who gets lost in the New Zealand bush with a grumpy guardian. The film became the highest-grossing release in the history of New Zealand cinema and earned more than $12 million in the local market.

Waititi wrote the screenplay with him specifically in mind after they had worked together on a public service ad against drugged driving. The director knew Dennison could carry the emotional weight of a film without losing its comedic rhythm. But the real impact was international, because Sundance critics fell head over heels for him.

The Leap to Major Studio Blockbusters

Ryan Reynolds saw Waititi's film and decided Dennison was the only one who could play Russell Collins in the sequel to his foul-mouthed mercenary. In 2018, the New Zealand teen joined the cast of Deadpool 2 with a budget of $110 million behind it. His character, known as Firefist, was the story's central axis, and his chemistry with Josh Brolin worked organically.

And Hollywood took notice right away.

Unlike other child actors, Dennison stayed based in New Zealand and refused to move to Los Angeles permanently. That physical distance allowed him to choose projects with a different logic. In 2021, he took part in Godzilla vs. Kong, playing Josh Valentine and sharing scenes with Millie Bobby Brown under the direction of Adam Wingard.

That Legendary Pictures production posed a huge technical challenge, with a massive number of visual effects and shoots in front of green screens. Dennison earned a base salary of $150,000 for his appearance in the monster movie. But his real interest was starting to shift toward stories with a deeper political and social weight tied to his Māori roots.

Maturity and a return to his roots

In 2023, he starred in Uproar and proved his range went far beyond physical comedy or quick jokes. The story is set in 1981 during protests against the South African rugby team's tour of New Zealand. Dennison plays a young man who must choose between fitting in with his surroundings or standing up for his identity amid the conflict over apartheid.

For this role, he had to work on restrained drama and the body language of a kid who doesn't fit into a fractured society. The film was praised for its honesty and for avoiding the moralizing speeches common in this type of historical production.

His presence in big-budget cinema was confirmed again with the shoot of the live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon. In this Universal Pictures production, he plays Fishlegs, and filming moved to Belfast during the first half of 2024. The film set its international release date for June 13, 2025.

Dennison has managed his career by avoiding the typical scandals of young stars and keeping a low profile on social media. He prefers long shoots and roles that let him explore the identity of the Pacific's Indigenous peoples. The dragon franchise production used state-of-the-art IMAX cameras and a specific motion capture system for the flight sequences.