Lani Tupu (born 4 November 1955), billed variously as Larney Tupu, John Tupu and Lani John Tupu, is a New Zealand actor, known for his dual role as Bialar Crais and the voice of Pilot in the series Farscape.
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Early life
Tupu was born in 1955 to an English mother and a Samoan father. He was named after his father Lani Tupu, who was also an actor. Tupu started acting in church plays. He was educated at Rongotai College and Wellington Teachers' Training College. He was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Bursary in 1977 to study as New Zealand Drama School. When he graduated drama school in 1979, he was the first Samoan to do so.
Career
Tupu began his career as a singer, and as a dancer on music show Ready to Roll. The year before he was accepted to drama school, he made his television debut in an episode of thriller Epidemic.
After graduating from drama school, Tupu moved to Auckland, where he was part of the Theatre Corporate company for three years, before spending two years at the Mercury Theatre. He then landed the lead role of Dr Miller in prime-time soap opera Country GP, remaining on the show for two seasons, from 1984 to 1985.
Tupu then moved to Australia to pursue other acting opportunities. He co-founded an Australian theatre group called The Walkers and Talkers, alongside other New Zealanders. He had guest roles in television series including A Country Practice, Richmond Hill, the 1988 reboot of Mission: Impossible and Embassy. He returned to New Zealand to make his film debut, in 1988 New Zealand comedy Send a Gorilla, He then featured in 1989 American vigilante action film The Punisher, based on the Marvel comic of the same name, playing Laccone, opposite Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr.
In 1992, Tupu played the recurring role of David Goldberg, alongside Gary Sweet and Steve Bastoni in the second season of ABC series Police Rescue, before returning to New Zealand to play the role of straight-laced casino manager David Spence in two seasons of drama series Marlin Bay.
In 1993, he featured in the Auckland premiere of John Kneubuhl's play Think of a Garden, directed by Nathaniel Lees, which reviewers compared to Bruce Mason's The End of the Golden Weather, in terms of being iconic for New Zealand. He also appeared in 1993 Australian TV movie The Feds: Abduction. Guest roles followed in Time Trax, G.P., High Tide, The New Adventures of Flipper and Tales of the South Seas.
Tupu made his debut screen directing role in 1996, with short film Talk of the Town. The short was an episode of Tala Pasifika, an anthology series of short dramas showcasing Samoan talent, written by Lisa Taouma, before appearing in 1997 American TV film Heart of Fire, based on heroic New Zealand firefighter Royd Kennedy. He had a recurring guest role in Australian comedy series House Gang, before making guesting in several episodes of American fantasy series The Lost World, based on the 1912 novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle.
After having originally auditioned for the role of D’Argo sci-fi series Farscape, in 1999, Tupu landed the two major ongoing roles of Bailar Crais and the voice of Moya's Pilot, appearing in the series until 2003. He reprised his role as Pilot in the 2004 miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.
During this time, Tupu also had roles in the TV films Green Sails and The Finder and made guest appearances in the TV series Stingers and Grass Roots. He also took on further film roles in the acclaimed 2001 Australian mystery-drama Lantana, alongside Barbara Hershey, Anthony LaPaglia and Geoffrey Rush, and 2003 drama Liquid Bridge with Ryan Kwanten.
In 2007, Tupu landed a recurring guest role in long-running soap opera Home and Away, playing Lou Baines. That same year, he appeared in American action film The Condemned with Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones and performed in a stage production of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics for Sydney's Belvoir Theatre.
Guest roles in drama miniseries The Cut and police procedural series Rush were followed by roles in 2011 sci-fi adventure film Robotropolis and 2012 comedy-thriller film The King Is Dead!, alongside Dan Wyllie and Anthony Hayes. Tupu's television guest appearances continued in series including Packed to the Rafters, Camp, Redfern Now, The Code, The Letdown, Fighting Season and Reef Break before he had a significant guest role in 2019, in season 4 of AMC supernatural adventure series Preacher, developed by Seth Rogen.
In 2020, Tupu had a recurring role in Reckoning, and narrated the documentary series Sydney's Super Tunnel. He then had a guest role in drama series Wakefield. In 2023, Tupu appeared as a voice actor on Shadows at the Door: The Podcast, before playing the guest role of Eldon Sami in the second season of Paramount+ crime series Last King of the Cross opposite Lincoln Younes the following year.
More recently, Tupu played the recurring role of the Defence Barrister in 2024 SBS series The Jury: Death on the Staircase, a re-enactment of a real manslaughter case, presented before a new jury of everyday Australians. he resumed his narration duties in the second series of Sydney's Super Tunnel in 2025. In 2026, he appeared in an episode of children's series Caper Crew, with Tina Bursill. and played Viktor Shevchenko in Return to Paradise.
Tupu established Screen Actors Studio in the late 1990s, and has worked as an acting coach at Toi Whakaari in Wellington, and Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). He also performs voice work, including on SBS. Mario Gaoa a Niu FM radio host and star of the Naked Samoans theatre company describes Tupu as one of three godfathers of Pacific theatre, along with Jay Laga'aia and Nathaniel Lees.
