Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rena Owen is a New Zealand actress in film, theatre and television. She is of Maori and Pakeha (European) descent. Owen is most well known in the lead role of Beth in the cult classic movie Once Were Warriors (1994) directed by Lee Tamahori. The role earned Owen a number of awards including Best Actress at the Montreal World Film Festival and San Diego International Film Festival. Owen has also worked with arthouse director Rolf de Heer, one of Australia's...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Moana
2026
as Gramma Tala
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches the island of an impetuous Chieftain, his willful daughter answers the Ocean's ca...

A Mistake
2024
as Tessa
In the midst of a new scheme to publicly report surgeons’ performance, a gifted surgeon’s life is thrown into disarray as her colleagues begin to clos...

Maya
2023
as Sandy
When a 15-year old, seeking an escape from her alcoholic mother's abusive boyfriend, is lured into a sex trafficking scheme by a man she met online, s...

Whina
2022
as Older Whina Cooper
The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet re...

Whina
2022
Associate Producer
The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet re...

Without a Body
2020
After moving into a run-down farmhouse with his two daughters, a skeptical author seeks to uncover a sinister past that haunts the house and terrorize...

Escape and Evasion
2019
as Michelle Pennyshaw
After his men are killed in Burma, a lone soldier returns home in search of solace. Hiding a dark secret and confronted by an unrelenting journalist, ...

Out of the Shadows
2017
Writer
A newly married detective and his pregnant wife move into their dream home unaware of its dark history. When his wife claims their baby is being torme...

The Last Witch Hunter
2015
as Glaeser
The modern world holds many secrets, but by far the most astounding is that witches still live among us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unle...

The Dead Lands
2014
as Grandmother
Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tr...

Once Were Warriors: Where Are They Now?
2014
as Self
It's been 20 years snce Once Were Warriors was made. Julian Arahanga aka 'Nig' takes us on a journey to meet the cast and see where they are now.

The Last Survivors
2014
as Claire
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-o...

Absolute Killers
2011
Johnny Graham, raised by the Torino crime family after the death of his parents, is repeatedly torn between loyalty to his adoptive family and his con...

Alyce Kills
2011
as Danielle
After accidentally knocking her best friend off a roof, Alyce is haunted by guilt and delves into a brutal nightmare wonderland of sex, drugs and viol...

Piece of My Heart
2009
as Kat
Adapted from Renee's 1995 novel Does This Make Sense to You?, the TV movie lays bare the pain caused by forced adoptions inflicted on unwed and teenag...

Spout
2009
as Oma
A young boy and his grandmother become unlikely serial killers in a quest to eliminate his father's girlfriends, in this boldly original spin on the v...

A Beautiful Life
2009
as Sam
A love story about the encounter of two drifting souls. Escaping her abusive past, a woman stays the night with an illegal immigrant friend of a frien...

Veronika Decides to Die
2009
as Nurse Josephine
After a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializ...

Ocean of Pearls
2008
as Anna Berisha
As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surg...

Amusement
2008
as Psychiatrist
While being interrogated by a police psychiatrist, the near-catatonic Tabitha tries to explain why she and two of her childhood friends are being hunt...

Rain of the Children
2008
as Puhi
In Rain of the Children, Ward further explores the subject of his earlier film, In Spring One Plants Alone when, as a young film student he travelled ...
The Horrible Flowers
2006
as Linda

Mee-Shee: The Water Giant
2005
as "Crazy" Norma
A New York City oil company troubleshooter is brought to a remote B.C. lake to look for some lost machinery. Cancelling a trip to Disney World with hi...

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
2005
as Nee Alavar
The evil Darth Sidious enacts his final plan for unlimited power – and the heroic Jedi Anakin Skywalker must choose a side.

The Crow: Wicked Prayer
2005
as Mary
After ex-con Jimmy and his girlfriend are brutally murdered by a biker gang, he is resurrected by the power of The Crow to avenge their deaths and reu...

The Land Has Eyes
2004
as Warrior Woman
Coming of age story about Viki a young pacific islander attempting to escape the stifling conformity of island culture. Inspired by the myth of the Wa...

Nemesis Game
2003
as Emily Gray
Sara Novak is an introverted college student with a few skeletons in her closet. Shying away from classmates, she prefers to spend time with Vern, an ...

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
2002
as Taun We (voice)
Following an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi investigate a mysterious plot that could...

Soul Assassin
2001
as Karina
A security agent at an investment bank uncovers espionage that is linked to his girlfriend's murder. He vows to seek revenge on those responsible.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2001
as Ticket Taker
David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually b...

All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story
2000
as Soona Fualaau
A teacher is arrested and jailed for raping her 13-year-old student, and twice gives birth to his child.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
1999
as Beth Heke
Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his late...

I'll Make You Happy
1999
as Mickie
Siggy (Jennifer Ward-Lealand) is a teenage "bad girl" who lives and works in a red-light district of Auckland, New Zealand. Just like her fellow stree...

Dance Me to My Song
1998
as Rix
The story of Julia, a disabled woman in a wheelchair and voice synthesizer, who's trapped psychologically by a cruel, manipulative caregiver. After th...

When Love Comes
1998
as Katie
Between getting trashed, tripping, blowing guys off and writing songs, Mark falls for Stephen. Fig and Sally put perform Marks songs between casual se...
9 Across
1998
as The Woman in the Bank
A story of two prison cellmates, a crossword puzzle, and a dramatic escape.

Savage Play
1995
as Takiora
During a rugby tour of Britain and Ireland in 1888, a young New Zealander searches for his father who he has never met. While there he falls in love w...

Once Were Warriors
1994
as Beth Heke
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together duri...

Rapa Nui
1994
as Hitirenga
Inter-tribal rivalry leads to a competition to erect a huge statue (moai) in record time before Make can take part in the race to retrieve the egg of ...

Hinekaro Goes on a Picnic and Blows Up Another Obelisk
1994
as Hinekaro (voice)
A Maori writer meets a trickster spirit guide and conjures new worlds from the words she inks on a page.
Roimata
1989
as Girlie
Roimata, a young Maori woman from the East Coast, travels to the city to meet her half-sister Girlie. Introduced to gang members, the scene is set for...