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In “The Dark Horse,” New Zealand-born actor Cliff Curtis takes on the role of Genesis, a bipolar chess master who taught Maori children the art of the game while battling a string of mental problems and avoiding homelessness. Pulling from such a detailed true story benefits the film immensely, allowing for Curtis to completely transform into the role (he gained 60 pounds and stayed in character for the entire filming duration) and for us to gain a true exploration of this world. In our exclusive interview with Curtis, we talk about the philosophy of chess, which chess piece he considers himself most like, and his own rough childhood as an orphan. We begin:

For American audiences, or for non-New Zealand audiences, is there anything that we might have missed that New Zealanders would have noticed that we didn’t pick up on?
(Pause) Hmm… I don’t know, that’s an interesting question. I think there’s some sort of things that are from my culture and heritage around mythology, around Maori mythology, that we wove into the narrative. And we looked at the metaphors of the chess pieces, and we wove into that characters from our mythology like Maori, which is a Polynesian version of a Greek God, like Hercules or something. And so, we talked about Maori as like a metaphor for a king. So some of those things might be foreign to US audiences. Except for Hawaiians, they’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.

How long has chess been a part of Maori culture? Is it relatively new?

Oh, yeah. It was very recent. Maybe a hundred years or so, hundred and fifty years or so.

I love the metaphor of the king, the chess piece, and how it can only move one square at a time…

Yeah, so that was really cool, because I got to develop my own philosophies around that, because I didn’t play before the start of the movie. And I started to understand the game, and sort of looked at the metaphors, the sort-of teaching tools that Genesis had developed over his years of teaching chess. And I looked at the mythology, and I started to apply my own sort of like, philosophies around what the pieces represent.

Is there a particular piece that you connect with yourself?

For me, it’s the pawns. It’s that, you’ve got, individually, the least powerful, but if they’re well coordinated, and that they work together, a pawn… metaphorically, looking at the film, you’ve got these disenfranchised kids that have come from gang life, and they don’t feel powerful, they feel helpless. However, if they work together, with the support of the people around them, they can change their lives. And a pawn, if it gets to the other side of the board, can become anything it wants. So, that’s the coolest piece on the board to me. It can become the Queen, it can become a bishop, a rook, a knight… and then you can multiply that. You could have, in theory, you could have nine queens on the board.

I think the pawns, the “humble pawn” is like, my favorite piece – philosophically. But when I’m playing… the idea is to protect the king. And see the king, I discovered, a philosophy of my own, where it was what the king represents, in life, in  the game of life, is one’s purpose. Because it’s like, what can you live with, you can have a lot of advantages in life – you might be good looking, you might have a great job, you might have money, and you might have lots of opportunities. But if you don’t have a clear purpose for yourself in your life, you feel lost.

Or, alternatively, in this movie, we have a guy whose got nothing. He’s completely, he’s homeless! He doesn’t have mental stability, he doesn’t have family to support him, but he finds purpose. And so, the king on the board represents our purpose. A nation, a company, a business, if it doesn’t have a clear purpose, a marketing campaign, you know, this article you’re writing… if you don’t find a clear purpose for what you’re doing,  you can lose your way. So that’s very interesting, I started to look at the metaphors for the pieces on the board. And therefore, if you lose your purpose, you’re out of the game.

And then with the queen, for me, became the soul, your soul. It’s like your soul connection, cause you might have a philosophically, or ideologically, or intellectually have an idea, but if you don’t feel a soul connection with it, if you don’t feel spiritually aligned or excited, it sort of just sits there. It seems it doesn’t have any power. And it’s like, you need those combined powers. And so, I really started to appreciate philosophy the way Genesis combined philosophy with the game of chess, and how we taught those principles to children – not just children. He also taught – and we didn’t have time for another movie – he also taught judges and lawyers, he mixed it up with mathematicians and geneticists and philosophers. He was a deep thinker.
So, I love the way how he used the game of chess as a metaphor for how to cope with life, and how to deal with life. How to compartmentalize, how to strategize, how to think things through before you take that move, think about the consequences of your actions. And for young people, and for old people alike, those are really helpful tools in life, to actually step back from the situation you’re in, and to get a clear picture of what is actually going on, to analyze your next best move, and then to secure a position for yourself that’s going to get where you want to go. And to protect your purpose in life.

How did you become familiar with Genesis’ story?

Through the movie. First, I read the script. Then I didn’t really think I was right for the role, I couldn’t understand, I didn’t think I was going to be capable of playing that role, I didn’t really see myself in the role. The size, and chess, and there were a lot of other things in the role I didn’t relate to… I related more to the kids than to Genesis.

And then I talked to the director ,which was really helpful, he really helped me kind of like get to that next stage creatively, like the creative potential of what we could do with the role in the movie. And then I watched the documentary, and when I watched the documentary, I was like, “Wow! (Genesis) is something else.” The role became challenging, moved from being challenging to impossible. And once it became an impossible role, I thought, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The director and I agreed that we were either going to succeed or fail spectacularly. And so, we did our best, we really just threw ourselves into it.

Can you talk about working with the kids on set?

I really related to the kids in the story, they are the heart of the movie really. They’re so natural, they’re not acting, you know, they’re just being themselves. They just happen to be in front of the camera. We had a great acting coach who worked with James Rolleston and helped [the kids] become a unit. It was beautiful man, they’re really inspiring. I’ve dedicated the better part of my life to understanding the art and craft of acting and storytelling and it’s really weird when you see these kids, non-actors, come in and be better at it than me, haha.

The Dark Horse was released in New Zealand about two years ago and is just now getting its stateside release. How do you keep your excitement going about this project?

CC: Our business is a marathon, there’s no sprinting in our game, really. It is kind of an arduous process from development to production to delivery to sales and then distribution and marketing. It’s a long run. I’m used to it in some ways but this isn’t a hard project to keep enthusiasm up about. This is a once-in-a-lifetime project, this is probably the best work I’ve done, and quite possibly the best work I’ll ever do in my career. To me, it’s a privilege to tell stories about these people in our communities that are unsung heroes. People do this work every day, helping the old and the young and the disenfranchised, and they’re not getting paid for this work. They do it out of love. They are these angels in our communities. These are beautiful stories and it’s a huge privilege to be able to honor those people and they work that they do and the lives that they changed. The cool part is, through this movie, we just got a letter last night from this kid who was in the gang life, saw the movie, and has now left the gang and is turning their life around. Because of the movie! So the work that Genesis did in his real life, now that we’ve re-imagined it in a movie format, his work continues. As an artist, to have stories that bring people together and helps them realize they can change their personal circumstances by working together, by accepting help and by giving help. It’s very easy for me to stay passionate about that.

That ripple effect is so amazing.

CC: Yeah, and that we’re here in Hollywood! I’m one of those kids from that movie, literally I am one of those kids. I was a ward of the state with a social worker, I was an orphan for a period of my life. So for me to be one of those kids in real life and to be sitting here in a suit in Hollywood talking about a movie about that, you know, we’re already a success. We’ve already made it. Of course, now we’ve got to figure out box office and get people to see the movie, but for us, it’s a massive accomplishment.

You’ve taken roles like ‘Travis Manawa’ in Fear the Walking Dead and ‘Porourangi’ in Whale Rider, what’s it like going back and forth between New Zealand and non-New Zealand roles?

CC: Honestly, it’s a blessing. It’s hard to make a living doing this in New Zealand, haha! I think a part of what helps me to promote this movie is that fact that I’m on Fear the Walking Dead. It helps me be able to promote these little movies. [In the U.S.] I’m a “gig-ing” actor, I have a little bit of a niche here in Hollywood where I can work, but when I’m back home I get to really cherry pick and choose the projects I think are really going to be significant. Oh, I also got to play ‘Jesus’ in Risen which was really cool, haha! Genesis was a Christian, he loved Jesus. One of the things that intrigued me about [Genesis] was that he thought he was Christ come back to save all humanity when he was in his high state of mania.

Do you have any advice for indigenous actors that you’ve experienced that they could benefit from?

CC: It can be really tough when you view yourself as indigenous and other people view you as only ethnic, then straight away you’re dealing with the stigma of like bad guys, drug dealers and all that kind of stuff. I think it’s important to focus on your craft and the artistry of what you do and to develop your self-awareness and your self-belief to the point where you have something to offer as an artist because that transcends your ethnicity. I never thought I’d get to play Jesus, that was amazing. Fear the Walking Dead changed my character from a white guy to Maori! So in my own, humble career, I’ve achieved some significant milestones but I think it comes down to grounding yourself and trying to figure out what you are bringing to the game. Being the best craftsperson and artist you can be.