Julian Dennison

Julian Dennison

Date of Birth: October 26, 2002

Julian Dennison was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, the youngest of four children. He made his debut in the film Shopping (2013) at age 11 and won the New Zealand Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The auditions for the picture were held at his school, and the role ultimately came down between Dennison and his twin brother, Christian.

He followed up this film with a supporting role in Paper Planes (2015) and appeared in a New Zealand commercial against driving under the influence of drugs, which Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) directed. A year later, Waititi offered Dennison the lead role in his film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), a role which would ultimately lead to Dennison receiving his second New Zealand Film Award, this time for Best Actor.

Following the film’s critical success, Julian appeared in the romantic-drama Chronesthesia (2016), which premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Ryan Reynolds, who had seen Julian’s performance in Wilderpeople, handpicked him for the role of Russell “Rusty” Collins, also known as Firefist, in the highly anticipated film, Deadpool 2 (2018), sequel to the first film, Deadpool (2016).

Since then, Julian has voiced characters on the animated TV adventures Aroha Bridge and The Strange Chores, both in 2019, before joining the cast of the action film Godzilla vs Kong (2020), starring the huge gorilla and the equally imposing monster.

Julian's hobbies include traveling and dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. In an interview for The Edge NZ, Julian expressed his ambition of furthering his career in Hollywood and winning two Oscars.

Bio photo: © MIAA/ZDS/wenn.com/KEYSTONE Press

Filmography:
Godzilla vs. Kong (2020)

Deadpool 2 (2018)
Chronesthesia (2016)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Paper Planes (2015)
Shopping (2013)