Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a comedian, actor, musician and producer, best known for being one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2018. Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two Muppet films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion band The Black Seeds and Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material. His debut album Songs Without Jokes was released in August 2022. As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community. He later appears in The Hobbit as Lindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 29, 1976 (50)
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Actor, producer and writer, also composer
- 15 on MovieCove · 23 credits in all
What are Bret McKenzie's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 2
Light 4 · Serious 0 · Dark 0
Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 3 · Charged 1 · Intense 0
Steady 4 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 4
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 4 · Engaged 0 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 0
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
- Heroas Bret in Flight of the Conchords (2007)
- Heraldas Martin in Austenland (2013)
- Tricksteras Bret in Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018)
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous1
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Bret McKenzie's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 11 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on HBO Max (6).
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) · actor
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) · actor
- Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018) · actor, writer, producer, composer
- Flight of the Conchords (2007) · actor, writer, producer, composer
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) · actor
- A Minecraft Movie (2025) · actor
Subscription and free streaming for Bret McKenzie's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
23 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page; 8 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
New Zealand Spy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
A Minecraft Movie(2025)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Plankton: The Movie(2025)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
The Horne Section TV Show (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all shows
Muppets Most Wanted(2014)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Austenland(2013)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Two Little Boys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Outback(2012)
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all films
The Muppets(2011)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Diagnosis: Death (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Just For Laughs: Over The Edge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Flight of the Conchords(2007)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all shows
The Drinky Crow Show(2007)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all shows
Flight of the Conchords: A Texan Odyssey (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Futile Attraction (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
The Simpsons(1989)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all showsLittle Santa (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 88th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 22 titles, 21 of them dated from 1989 to 2026; peak year 2012.
Biggest box office
Outback (2012)
Highest rated
Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018)
Most popular right now
Flight of the Conchords (2007)
Film career
Peak 2012 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2007Screen debut· Flight of the Conchords
- 2007Primetime Emmy nomination· Flight of the Conchords
- 2012First film· The Outback
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
an Oscar and 2 other major awards from 17 major nominations, 2008–2019.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Song Written for Visual Media
- Oscar, won · Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
+1 other major body · 1 win and 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Song
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Song
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Comedy Album
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Comedy Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Comedy Album
- Primetime Emmy, nominated ×2 · Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
+2 other major bodies · 1 win and 3 nominations
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Comedy Series
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Episodic Comedy
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · New Series
- Grammy Award, won · Best Comedy Album
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Bret McKenzie's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 10; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 71st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 15 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved6
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the acting 65/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 75, detractors 33. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Bret McKenzie work with?
People who share at least 2 of Bret McKenzie's MovieCove titles; Jemaine Clement shares the most, 3.
- Jemaine ClementShared titles: Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (2018), Flight of the Conchords (2007), The Drinky Crow Show (2007)See all 3 shared titles with Jemaine Clement
