Our 5 Favourite Samoan Actors of 2021

It has been a few years since we updated our Favourite Samoan Actors blog.  We are so happy we did so that we could share our newest favs.  Enjoy our 5 Favourite Samoan Actors of 2021.

Image Credit: IMDb

1. Beulah Koale

You will most likely recognise Beulah from his role as Officer Junior Reigns on Hawaii Five-O or in New Zealand on Shortland Street.  But Beulah is also seen on the big screen in movies such as One Thousand Ropes as well as the award-winning short film Manurewa.

Beulah has made our list because we know that this is just the beginning of an amazing career and we look forward to seeing more of his work.

Image Credit: IMDb

2. Robbie Magasiva

I was privileged to meet Robbie Magasiva at the launch of Sione’s Wedding in Samoa. That is not the reason he has made our list. Robbie has made our list because of his amazing talent and his great work.

Robbie has been a comedian, on the cast of The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, a tattooist, a doctor and is currently a prison guard on the Australian TV Series Wentworth.  We love Robbie’s work and know that he will continue to wow us with his talent.

Image Credit: https://johnsonlaird.com/our-actors/Taofia-Pelesasa

3. Taofia Pelesasa

We fell in love with Taofia while we were in Samoa and watched our first ever web series, The Factory.  My son and I would wait excitedly until each of the episodes were released and we would watch them with so much joy because this was our people on the internet, and we could watch them.

Taofia’s acting ability is not the only reason we have chosen him to be on our list.  He is an amazing actor, but he is also an amazing writer, producer, and director.

His latest work on the Pacific youth series Paramatta and Deity show us how much value he sees in having our Pacific people represented in film and television.  He also sees the value that the arts have and how much talent Pacific peoples have in the arts.  These opportunities are opening doors for our people to see ourselves on the screen, to see that we can make a living doing what we love and not necessarily have to be a Dr, Lawyer or accountant to be successful.

Image Credit: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

4. Cooper Andrews

I am going to admit it to the world that I am not a huge Walking Dead fan.  But, my son, my sister and her whole family love it.  So, it is no surprise that our next favourite Samoan actor is Cooper Andrew who plays Jerry in the Walking Dead.  He has also appeared in Shazam, Den of Thieves, NCIS: Los Angeles and S.W.A.T just to name a few.

Like many of the actors in our list there are long lists of appearances in movies, tv shows and theatre.  Cooper goes the extra mile and adds his voice to video games, works in the sound department, camera and electrical, stunts, director, producer, and art department.

Image Credit: IMDb

5. Tofiga Fepulea’i

Tofiga began his journey as a stand-up comedian with the Laughing Samoans.  Who else has spent an evening with their family rolling on the floor laughing while watching the Laughing Samoans? It is one of my favourite memories I have shared with my extended family.  So, when they decided to end the Laughing Samoans, I was so sad.

My frown turned to a smile when Tofiga announced he would continue with stand-up comedy.  When he starred on Take Home Pay I was so happy because this gave me another opportunity to form memories with not only my mother but also my son. To have both of them laugh at the same jokes and enjoying the same movie, something that is very rare today, brought me so much joy. Tofiga has shown he can act and make us laugh and we need more laughter and memories in our lives so this is why Tofiga has made our list.

If you want to know more about other Samoan Actors make sure to read 5 of our Favourite Samoan Actors.