His dad was a famous singer in New Zealand. His Australian mom modeled the first bikini for Paul Stafford, creator of the two-piece. This is the pedigreed background from whence Manu Bennett emerged. Born in Auckland and raised in Australia, Manu (that’s actually his middle name; first name Jonathan, and he used Jon Bennett for his early credits) started out as a dancer. When it came time to choose between a ballet scholarship in New York, or an acting scholarship, he opted for Los...
His dad was a famous singer in New Zealand. His Australian mom modeled the first bikini for Paul Stafford, creator of the two-piece. This is the pedigreed background from whence Manu Bennett emerged. Born in Auckland and raised in Australia, Manu (that’s actually his middle name; first name Jonathan, and he used Jon Bennett for his early credits) started out as a dancer. When it came time to choose between a ballet scholarship in New York, or an acting scholarship, he opted for Los Angeles and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. He made his debut as Kirk Barsby in the Australian soap opera Paradise Beach from 1993-1994, appearing in over 250 episodes. He found his niche when he was cast in one episode of BeastMaster in 1999 as a Terron Leader, followed by one as Marc Antony in Xena: Warrior Princess in 2000. A hunk of a man dressed in gladiator attire or loin cloths, with carved muscles and a warrior stance—that’s Manu Bennett. In 2011, he was cast as Sinbad in the Australian TV movie Sinbad and the Minotaur. He took on the role of Crixus in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand from 2010-2013, and completed a side gig as the same character in the mini-series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011). And, indeed, he is a god when it comes to full-frontal nudity. Cut like marble (even the dialogue in the series confirms it), every muscle is enlarged and defined. When he takes off his loin cloth, he stands perfectly still with a healthy view of his healthy member. In the bathing room of the gladiators, he walks toward the camera, his BSD energy in motion (that’s Big Swinging Dick if you didn’t know, and now you do). For less nudity but equally stunning looks at his stellar silhouette, refer to Manu as Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke on the CW series Arrow from 2013-2017, and as Allanon in the MTV series The Shannara Chronicles from 2016-2017.
