Robbie Magasiva

Robbie Joseph Magasiva (born 26 August 1972) is a Samoan-New Zealander actor who has starred in several films and as a member of the Naked Samoans comedy troupe. He has also appeared on television and in theatre, and was the co-presenter of New Zealand's Tagata Pasifika with famed athlete, Beatrice Faumuina. Magasiva is also known for his role on Shortland Street as Dr. Maxwell Avia, which he played from June 2009 to July 2012, and for his role as Will Jackson on the prison drama series, Wentworth (an adaptation of the women's prison drama Prisoner). Magasiva is the only male actor to appear in all eight seasons; he appeared in all 100 episodes of the show.

Robbie Magasiva
Magasiva in 2013
Born	Robbie Joseph Magasiva (1972-08-26) 26 August 1972 (age 52) Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Anna Magasiva ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2011)​
Partner(s)	Alice Gordon Natalie Medlock (2011–2022) Kelly Mackey (2024–present)
Children	2
Relatives	Pua Magasiva (brother, deceased) and 4 siblings

Biography

Magasiva, born in Wellington, New Zealand, was raised in a small community west of Apia, Samoa called Tanumapua. His family moved back to New Zealand permanently when he was 10 years old.^[1]

After leaving school, he tried his hand at theatre sports and acted in commercials while working as a receptionist at an advertising agency.^[2]

Acting career

Magasiva had his start on television during the 1990s, beginning with comedy. In 1999, he portrayed Mason Keeler in Jackson's Wharf. In 2001 he starred in his first major film, Stickmen, and joined the Naked Samoans. In 2002, he played Mauhúr in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He returned to television in the show The Strip, continued his work with the Naked Samoans, and made a minor appearance in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, also starring his brother Pua as the brother of Pua's character of Shane Clarke. In 2006, Magasiva co-starred in Sione's Wedding, a comedy film that achieved commercial success in New Zealand. In 2007 he co-starred in the horror film The Tattooist.

He joined the cast of Shortland Street as Dr. Maxwell Avia in 2009.^[3] The character was originally called Maxwell Novak but changed to Avia to relate to his Samoan descent.^[4] He left the series in 2012; he later reprised his role for a one-off appearance in September 2015.

In October 2012, Magasiva was cast in the Australian drama series Wentworth, a re-imaging of the classic show Prisoner. He plays Officer Will Jackson. The character's background was also changed when he was cast (originally meant to be an Australian officer).^[5] In 2016, he guest starred in TVNZ's Dirty Laundry.^[6]

In 2021, Magasiva starred on the Paramount+ Australia original series, Spreadsheet.^[7]

In 2022, Magasiva appeared alongside several members of the Wentworth cast at WentworthCon Melbourne.^[8]

In 2023, Magasiva gave an extensive interview about his acting career with podcast series MandateNZ, where he revealed he almost quit acting to become a firefighter after he finished filming Wentworth.^[9]

Also in 2023, Magasiva was named in the upcoming cast of NZ drama Madam.^[10]

In 2024, Magasiva was cast as Sonny Jennings in the Fox lifeguard series Rescue: HI-Surf.^[11][12] Though he has been on American television before, this is his first series regular role in an American production. Magasiva later revealed that he had gone for a massage and put his phone on silent and when he walked out to check his phone he had 19 missed calls, one which was from his manager telling him he had landed the role of Jennings.^[13]

Personal life

Magasiva is the first son of Salafa and Taufaiula Ropati Magasiva. He has four brothers, Stevan, Miki, twins Pua and Tanu, and adopted sister Trina Magasiva. He inspired his younger brother (Pua) to become an actor, landing him an audition for an alcohol awareness commercial.^[14]

Pua died aged 38 on 11 May 2019. As a result, Magasiva flew to Wellington to be with his family.^[15] Later he opened up about the devastating loss of his brother and raised mental health awareness.^[16]

Magasiva has two children, born in 1996 and 2000. Both reside in Auckland, and he looks after the kids week-on, week-off with their mother, Alice Gordon.^[17]

In 2011, Magasiva began dating his Shortland Street co-star, Natalie Medlock. They first met in 2009 while performing in a play called Christ Almighty!.^[18] Medlock recalls it was her costume that earned Magasiva's heart.^[19] In 2015, the pair went on stage again with Christ Almighty! with the Wentworth cast^[20] to raise money for the homeless. The couple attributed love and therapy for their long-term relationship.^[21]

Previously, he was married to Anna Magasiva, whom he met while he was a receptionist.^[22]

In 2024, Magasiva revealed that he had moved to the U.S. and is in a relationship with producer Kelly Mackey.^[23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Stickmen	Jack
2002	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Mauhúr
2006	Sione's Wedding	Michael
	In Her Line of Fire	Petelo
2007	The Ferryman	Craig (Man in Club)
	The Tattooist	Alipati
	Perfect Creature	Frank
2012	Sione's 2: Unfinished Business	Michael
2015	Now Add Honey	Chef Sebastian Tasi
2020	Lowdown Dirty Criminals	Semo
2023	Bad Behaviour	Lawrence
2024	The Moon Is Upside Down	Tim	[24]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1990–1991	Shark in the Park	Uninformed branch	14 episodes
1993–1995	Skitz	Various characters
1996–1998	Telly Laughs	Various characters
1998	The Semisis	Lagi
	Tiger Country		Television film
1999–2000	Jackson's Wharf	Mason Keeler	29 episodes
2002–2003	The Strip	Adam Lima	32 episodes
2003	Power Rangers: Ninja Storm	Porter Clarke	Episode: "Eye of the Storm"
2005	Mataku	Frank	Episode: "The Wild Ones - Te Uru Takariri"
2006	Doves of War	Xavier Collins	6 episodes
2008	Burying Brian	Tony	2 episodes
2009	Diplomatic Immunity	Prince To'omai	2 episodes
2010–2013	Shortland Street	Maxwell Avia	Main role
2012	Auckland Daze	Robbie	3 episodes
2013	Offspring	Ugly Pete	Episode: "Numbing the Pain"
2013–2021	Wentworth	Will Jackson	8 seasons, 100 episodes
2016	Black Comedy	Guest cast	Episode #2.6
	Dirty Laundry	Jackson	7 episodes
2021	Head High	Mitch Belsham	8 episodes
	Spreadsheet	Jake	7 episodes
2021–2024	Under the Vines	Robert The Builder	4 episodes	[25]
2022	My Life Is Murder	Hamish	Episode: "Silent Lights"	[26]
	Duckrockers	Ropati	4 episodes
2024	Dark City: The Cleaner	DI Carl Schroder	6 episodes
	Madam	Lima	9 episodes	[27]
	Rescue: HI-Surf	Harlan 'Sonny' Jennings	TV series

Other appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2019	Wentworth: Behind the Bars	Self	TV special
2020	Wentworth: Behind the Bars 2
2021	Wentworth: Unlocked
2023	MandateNZ		Podcast series, 1 episode	[28]

See also

• List of New Zealand television personalities