How an Accidental David Bowie Impression Defined Jemaine Clement’s Career for 17 Years

Jemaine Clement stays busy. He’s now a Grammy Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated household name as an actor, writer, producer, and director. After 2007, the New Zealander shot to international notoriety alongside his comedy troupe partner, Bret McKenzie, in the critically acclaimed HBO series Flight of the Conchords, and he’s since gone on to provide his unmistakable vocal talents to numerous box office animated features, from Despicable Me to Disney’s Moana, and worked with directors like James Cameron on the Avatar franchise. At this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Clement for his upcoming role in New Zealand’s first-ever stop-motion animated feature, Kiri and Lou Go Raa!, under the direction of one-half of the band that inspired Flight of the Conchords, Harry Sinclair.

Kiri and Lou Go Raa! is the first feature-length adventure for these two lovable best friends. The preschool series follows Kiri (Olivia Tennet), a feisty dinosaur, and her best friend Lou (Clement), a gentle and thoughtful yellow creature, as they navigate a paper-and-clay world of big emotions. But this prehistoric romp isn’t Clement’s only project that premiered at Annecy. The last few years have been jam-packed, including the series finale of FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, reuniting with McKenzie for Netflix’s comedy festival, and a foray into motion-capture animation with Duncan Jones’s Rogue Trooper.

Don’t miss the full conversation below, where Clement reveals new details and updates on the status of his and Taika Waititi’s new WWDITS spin-off, We’re Wolves, the Minecraft movie sequel, and his new “ick” comedy series with Hulu, Alice and Steve. Clement also revisits the heyday of Flight of the Conchords, discusses working with Cameron on the Avatar movies, how working at FX felt “like a company of Colin Robinsons, and teases what’s next for him.

Jemaine Clement Loves the David Bowie Episode of ‘Flight of the Conchords’

Clement is now teaming with Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, on ‘Rogue Trooper’

Image via HBO

COLLIDER: You’ve done a lot of deadpan comedy. Are you naturally deadpan, or have you just trained your face not to betray you?

JEMAINE CLEMENT: I haven’t thought about it. Well, I laugh a lot, so my characters don’t laugh a lot, like in Flight of the Conchords, I never laughed. But if you watch the outtakes, I’m cracking up and I’m crying with laughter. That is what I have to train myself not to do. I try not to corpse.

I do remember, though, one day at high school when I was about 14, I turned a corner, and two girls came around the corner, and one just started cracking up, and just said, “His face!” Then I went to the mirror, like, “What was I doing with my face?” And it was just a very flat mouth. I wasn’t intending to be funny, but that’s the only time I could think of someone laughing because of my expression in real life.

It’s interesting because that memory is obviously very strong with you.

CLEMENT: Well, I felt so ashamed at the time. But now I get paid for it.

Looking back, what do you think is the role that changed the way people in the industry looked at you?

CLEMENT: Weirdly, Flight of the Conchords is the thing that people noticed, but it was playing David Bowie on there that had me playing villains in other things, because people had seen that episode. A lot of times, I’m asked to do animations, and then I’ll record it, and then they’ll show me the picture, and it’s just like a David Bowie thing. Same, even, in Moana. It’s a David Bowie thing. So I think it’s that.

Weirdly, we had actually filmed it with another actor-comedian, but he was in London, and we were in New York, and the greenscreen stuff, the composite, didn’t work at all. The angles were wrong. We had to record it again, and we didn’t have time, and so the director of that episode said, “You did it in the read-through. Can you do it on Monday?” And so we just did. So he did it again with me. They quickly made all the costumes and stuff, and we did a reshoot. So, it wasn’t planned that I would do that.

Also, we had asked David Bowie, and we had asked John Cameron Mitchell to do the part. We tried to get a few people to do it. [Laughs] We asked Noel Fielding. Either no one wanted to do it or couldn’t do it, and I just ended up doing it, and it’s basically defined what I did for the next 17 years.

That’s a change-your-life thing.

CLEMENT: Yeah. I mean, I’ve heard better impressions.

What’s funny is my next question is: Your David Bowie impression is legendary. Did The Thin White Duke ever send you a sign, a letter, or a psychic dream transmission letting you know that he approved of your space-centric depiction of him?

CLEMENT: The only thing I’ve ever heard is that someone told me that he had that song on his iPod, but I can’t confirm that. I’ve been working with Duncan Jones, his son, on Rogue Trooper, but I don’t want to waste his time with it. He’s busy.

Jemaine Clement Shot the Sci-Fi Epic ‘Rogue Trooper’ in 8 Days

“I think I’ve been in four movies with Dwayne Johnson, and I’ve never met him.”

Image via Liberty Entertainment

I saw Rogue Trooper last night, and my next question is, do you think it was your impression that got you the gig on Rogue Trooper?

CLEMENT: I mean, it could’ve. I guess you could draw a line there. Yeah, I’m not sure.

I am so impressed with what he pulled off on an indie movie. There’s no studio. It’s crazy.

CLEMENT: Also, the budget’s pretty indie. And we recorded it in eight days, kind of as a stage play, scene by scene. Because it’s not like Kiri and Lou; we’re not in the booth with. It’s motion capture, so we’re all acting together. All the cast is all together doing all the things. So I’m standing next to Matt [Berry], and we’re walking around, and Aneurin [Barnard] and the other guys are just in the scene together. Usually, you record separately, over months. Like, I think I’ve been in four movies with Dwayne Johnson, and I’ve never met him. We’ve had conversations in movies, but you know. But this, we were all together in Rogue Trooper. It was very different.

It really is a love letter to the comic.

CLEMENT: You’re familiar with the comic?

I’ve seen it, but I’ve not read it the way Duncan has.

CLEMENT: Yeah, it’s a big thing in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, so I was a 2000 AD fan, and that’s what I spent my paper run money on.

The thing is, there’s been a lot of quote-unquote comic book movies, but I’ve never seen one so reverential in terms of having panels on the screen, making sure every person who worked on the series was thanked in the credits.

CLEMENT: And the design is very referential to the comics. I remember I always liked those characters that Matt Berry and I play, and there are quite a few characters like that in 2000 AD, like a bowler hat-wearing, sort of anachronistic person. But it was great to play someone that I was like, “I know that character. I remember that character.”

What was your reaction to watching it? I am blown away by what he put on screen on an indie budget.

CLEMENT: I’m astounded by the planet, Nu-Earth. It looks incredible. It’s all on Nu-Earth. Things I hadn’t seen before, like the way they have the forests and stuff like that, the way they use light is really, really cool.

Jemaine Clement Is Returning to the World of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ With ‘We’re Wolves’

Clement had a major creative role in both the movie and the tv series.

What’s the status of We’re Wolves?

CLEMENT: We’re writing it, actually. We started writing. For a long time, we were just talking about it. Now, we’ve started it. Very recently.

Oh, so like three days ago, you started writing?

CLEMENT: Not that recently, but still probably this year. Yeah, this year I think. But Taika [Waititi]’s so busy, and I’m fairly busy. But Taika’s incredibly busy. But when we get together, we do some work on it.

That is a pilot, I would imagine?

CLEMENT: No, it’s a movie. It makes sense that we would do another TV show. But to me, I’ve had my relationship with FX.

I figured it was a huge hit, and it was like, “Okay, that story has been done. Let’s tell another story.”

CLEMENT: I guess it could be. The question we have with the We’re Wolves movie… Have you seen the movie, What We Do in the Shadows? We did them in different ways. The movie is a 100% improvised dialogue to a storyline, and the TV show’s very much scripted with occasional improv, so they’re quite different to make. The challenge with the TV show was trying to have that feel where anything could happen because it’s improv, and we just did that by having a good cast, who were also amazing at improv. They’re actually some of the best in the world, I think.

But the film was super low budget. It was less than $1 million, and just a month of messing around, and then saying, “Can we improvise a whole movie with special effects and people flying? Can we do it?” It was like a challenge. Now we have to decide, “Are we going to script this one or are we going to do improv like the first one, or scripted like the show?” It’s quite good to have the control of the shot. It’s really fun just making it up on the fly.

The biggest problem is if you try to do a mix of both, the improv has to move the story along.

CLEMENT: Well, we actually had a script for the movie; we just didn’t show people. So everything that happens in the movie happened in the script.

So you could end up making We’re Wolves as, like, a Curb [Your Enthusiasm] episode.

CLEMENT: We were basing it on how they did Curb, but we weren’t that confident that you could do a whole movie like that, so we had a script anyway. We would read the scene, and then we would describe the scenes to the actors, and only Taika and I knew the script, and some of the crew. Only we knew the script. Then sometimes we’d feed certain lines, like We’re Wolves. It was in the script. Some of the biggest quotes in the movie are from the script. When we knew they were good lines, we would get people to say them. But some of the quieter lines are improv, too.

Do you think you’re going to try to figure it out by the end of the year, or do you think this is something that could bleed into 2027?

CLEMENT: At the pace we’re going, 2027, for sure. It helps to be in the same country, for Taika and I to be in the same country.

They have this thing called Zoom now.

CLEMENT: It’s quite tiring to run on Zoom, but yes, we can do it on Zoom. And we are planning to do some Zoom stuff.

It’s much better, even interviews. Everything is better in person.

CLEMENT: That’s right. I actually have trouble recognizing people from Zoom. I know I’ve met you in person before, and I recognize you, and I recognize your name, but if I’ve meet someone on Zoom and then meet them in real life…

We’re on the same page.

Jemaine Clement Has Two Big Stop-Motion Projects Lined Up

Laika’s ‘Wildwood’ is one of the most anticipated movies of 2026.

Image via LAIKA

The reason I get to talk to you is that you are here for New Zealand’s first stop-motion animated movie. How did you get involved in this?

CLEMENT: Harry Sinclair, who is the creator of the show, and he’s the co-director of the movie, and Don McGlashan, who’s the composer and songwriter of the movie, were a band called The Front Lawn in New Zealand, and they’re a big influence on Flight of the Conchords. If you watch anything from them, you’ll see they’re like a classier version of us — not so much sex jokes. Almost none. And they played theaters, and we played bars. That’s the difference. [Laughs]

But Don is such a good songwriter, and Harry, I’m a big fan of the films he’s made, and so I guess it was a good moment to have me on the cast at the time. Because we made the pilot 10 years ago, and I’m just a big fan of both those guys, so of course I was going to work with them.

Sure. Also, being honest, having you as part of the cast helps.

CLEMENT: No, that’s right. That’s right.

You’ll get people to watch it.

CLEMENT: Well, he knew that. He knew that. He knew that I was a fan and he knew that I would help. So, that’s basically the economics of that.

100%. I love stop-motion.

CLEMENT: Me too, yeah.

Also, you’re doing Wildwood, which is another. I’m a huge fan of Laika. What are you excited for people to get with this? Obviously, it’s preschool, it’s aimed at younger folks, so what are you excited for families to get out of this?

CLEMENT: I haven’t seen the movie. I’m familiar with the TV show. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ll see it tomorrow. But I think it’s very unique, and it’s very tailored to the things that kids that age are dealing with for the first time, things like inclusion, grief, feelings of rejection, and things like that. Kids going to preschool are like, “Someone was mean to me! What do I do about it?” Or, “I’ve been mean to someone. What do I do about that?” Those kinds of things that help, I like that about it. And I also think the music’s great.

I love Annecy for how much it supports animation.

CLEMENT: I assume it’s the biggest animation festival in the world. I love. I’ve never seen a festival at this scale.

The only problem with the festival here is that it’s growing exponentially each year.

CLEMENT: It’s become the thing for animation.

Are you doing the Minecraft sequel?

CLEMENT: Yeah. I’ve already done my part in it.

Is it the same thing from the first, or a new character?

CLEMENT: Same character.

Did you have fun?

CLEMENT: Really fun. Yeah.

Were you on set?

CLEMENT: Yeah, but I’m not in the Minecraft world. I’m in the real world. There are two different levels to set. There’s the location, and then there’s the Minecraft world in the studio. But yes, I’m on set. Yeah.

I had a lot of fun with the first one, and I’m so glad it did so well for fans.

‘Flight of the Conchords Is Still a Major Part of Jemaine Clement’s Life

“Still, people can relate to it.”

Image via HBO

Flight of the Conchords, with you and Bret [McKenzie] hitting the stage again at Netflix for the Netflix is a Joke Festival and recent live shows, how does it feel to sing about two struggling, broke musicians? Now that you’re both established, highly successful artists, does the performance dynamic shift at all?

CLEMENT: Being poor was such a big part of our life that it’s easy to remember. But yeah, that’s right. When I’m talking about not being able to make rent, that is not a problem I’ve had for a long time. But when we had it, we had it really bad. [Laughs] But still, people can relate to it, of course.

Yeah. I think we’ve all been there.

CLEMENT: We haven’t updated it to mention what it’s like being a millionaire. [Laughs]

Flight of the Conchords songs often work because the joke, the character, and the music are all equally strong. Which of those usually comes first to you?

CLEMENT: I’m not sure. Now, it’s the story. Now, we come up with an idea first. Before, it used to be a tune. That’s how it would start. We’d just be jamming. Because we were both in a comedy group called So You’re a Man, and the other three guys were guitarists in bands and stuff. Taika was one. He was a lead guitarist in a ska band before, and one guy, I think he was in a ska band, as well. Then the other guy would do solo shows. Bret played drums and keyboards and the other things, so we were both trying to learn guitar at the same time, and we flatted together, so we started making up songs, and that’s where it came from, from learning guitar.

When fans bring up Conchord songs now, are there any that you appreciate more with distance?

CLEMENT: On the tour last time, playing that festival, we were thinking of ones that we haven’t played a lot live, and one was “We’re Both in Love With a Sexy Lady.” Kristen Wiig is in the episode. She’s playing a character called Brahbrah. And it was always really hard. Then I found out just swapping instruments made it real fun. It ended up being one of the most fun ones, usually. And actually, not knowing it that well makes it fun because you don’t know what’s going to happen. One of the nights, Bret completely forgot what was happening, and I didn’t remember either, but he forgot all his words to a part, and I know that’s the audience’s favorite moment.

We didn’t write that one. We read it in the studio, and Bret produced the music, so I just had to learn it. Usually, we write them together, or I’ll start the song, but that was all learning Bret’s music. So, I actually enjoyed doing that. That one was really fun on the last tour.

What’s a song lyric from Flight of the Conchords that people still quote to you in public?

CLEMENT: I mean, the last interviewer quoted “Two Minutes in Heaven.” What else do I hear a lot? Anytime I mention the future, people say, “The Distant Future?” And now I’m in a show called Alice and Steve, so I hear “Steve.” [Laughs] I hear that a lot.

A lot of your best characters are funny because they have total confidence while being completely wrong. Is that something you consciously look for?

CLEMENT: That’s a great question. I’m not consciously looking for it. I don’t consciously look for that, no. Do you mean things that other people write or that I write?

Stuff that other people write for you.

CLEMENT: I think they just think of me as that guy.

You have a certain thing about you. Do you know what I mean?

CLEMENT: Well, I always find that funny in other people, and frustrating, when they’re wrong and they just won’t give up.

That’s the Republican Party.

CLEMENT: Right? [Laughs] Yeah. It’s also a lot of showrunners.

No comment.

CLEMENT: It was interesting writing for FX. Writing the character Colin Robinson, the energy vampire. I used to always try to make him right, and he’s saying these boring things, and then other writers would write him saying things that weren’t correct, and I was like, “Actually, that’s even more exhausting to hear someone confidently…”

So, for that character, not that I played that character, but I created that character, that’s so exhausting. And FX was great to work with because they had so many notes. I was, like, surrounded by Colin Robinsons. It was like a company of Colin Robinsons.

Jemaine Clement Is “Enjoying” the Divisiveness of ‘Alice and Steve’

“He gives some people the ick.”

Via. Hulu/Disney+

So Alice and Steve, from what I understand, Steve is charming, funny, emotional, and messy…

CLEMENT: Some people find him that, and he gives some people the ick. I’m enjoying how people are divided.

Oh, I’m getting to it. …and arguably doing something pretty indefensible. When you first read the script, did you see him as misunderstood, selfish, or both?

CLEMENT: Selfish. But the way it’s come out is different to how I read it, where they’re just showing a guy falling in love. That’s not how I read it. I read it as he was just taking an opportunity to have some fun, and really hadn’t considered the consequences. And people watching that show, they change their allegiances through the series of who they’re rooting for. Firstly, they want to see Steve destroyed, and then some people will come over to Steve’s side. You’ll see. It moves a lot, that show.

I also think it might be, like, what is your age? Are you a man or a woman? You know what I mean?

CLEMENT: Oh, generation differences.

Yeah. For sure. How do you approach a premise with a high ick factor while still keeping the character watchable and human?

CLEMENT: Well, even with a character that’s supposed to be likable, I always like to think of what’s also unlikable. I want there to be a bit of both. But this started with the ick. One thing I’ve enjoyed about this, though, is it being a tiny bit controversial because I’m never in things like that. I like that people are put off by it, the grimace of people. It’s like, “Oh, wow, cool. I’m in one of those things.” [Laughs] But I don’t know, I leave it up to the writer and director to tell me how to play it. I think I’ve become quite an emotional performer, so he’s quite an emotional character despite having made a mistake. People empathize with that.

If you could swap roles with Nicola Walker for one episode of Alice and Steve, how would you play Alice?

CLEMENT: Nicola Walker is such a good actress. I could not play Alice. She’s such a force in a way that I can’t even imagine. I can’t even imagine. I mean it as a compliment to her. She’s so good, and I cannot imagine ever conjuring that intensity that she does. I would say no to the part.

If Steve had to explain his life choices in one Flight of the Conchords-style song, what would the title be?

CLEMENT: “Sorry I Had Sex With Your Daughter,” which might be a line in the show. I can’t remember. Paraphrased. There’s a more R-rated version.

Jemaine Clement on Working with James Cameron on the Avatar Sequels

Clement also shares one of his favorite improvised lines from Cameron’s filmography.

Image via Abaca Press/INSTARimages

You bounce seamlessly between tightly knit, heavily improvised indie projects and massive VFX blockbusters like Avatar and Minecraft. Does your internal comedic radar have to drastically adjust when you’re trying to find the humor opposite a tennis ball or a stick versus a live scene partner?

CLEMENT: In Avatar, I didn’t even realize it could be a bit funny until the third movie. In the second movie, I’m just trying to be an earnest scientist, and then for the third, I was like, “Maybe he can have a little funny moment,” and I actually felt more relaxed about that. Because James Cameron does have funny moments, and surprisingly, he does occasionally do an improv take. It’s hard to improvise as that character because he’s a marine biologist, so I can’t make up the science. I don’t know the actual science, the Earth science, that it’s based on, and then it’s a creature from another planet. He’s like, “Just make it up,” but I’m like, “I can’t. I can’t make it up.”

There’s one scene where I’m describing the whale hunt, and he’s like, “This is how it goes, but just make up how you describe it.” I’m like, “I can’t do that. I don’t have any knowledge about it.” He described it to me. He had to write it down, so he wrote one or two pages on a classic American yellow legal pad in red pen, and I quickly learned that and then just described the tarpon hunt in the film.

But what blows me away is that in Aliens, “Game over, man! Game over,” that’s an improv. I was like, “Is it okay if I throw in things?” He was like, “Yeah. ‘Game over, man,’ that was an improv.” It’s like, oh, wow, that’s a classic line that never leaves your head.

That’s also such a different role, and if you’re playing a scientist.

CLEMENT: I cannot improvise being a scientist. Not at all. I can improvise being a writer because most of the time I’m a writer, and I play the writer a lot. I can improvise that.

Your job is, I don’t want to say it’s just exposition.

CLEMENT: No, no, no, I’m not offended by that. James Cameron literally said that to me. [Laughs] Every time I’m cast as a scientist, I know that I’m explaining the plot. It took me a couple of times to realize that. If I’m a doctor or a lawyer…

“Improvise the plot for me. Go ahead! It’ll be fine.”

CLEMENT: Well, it’s just explaining the plot. I was always happy to play a scientist. It was always so fun, and then after a couple, I’m like, “You’re making me explain the movie.” [Laughs]

What’s next for Jemaine Clement?

Clement will reprise his role as Tamatoa in Disney’s live-action ‘Moana’ remake.

Image via HBO

I am curious about I, Object. What do you want to tell people about it?

CLEMENT: I haven’t seen the film, but it’s such a cool idea. It’s about a kid who has quite extreme pareidolia, which is seeing a face in an object, like you often do. Sometimes I take photos of them when I see a face. Some people have that, and some people more than others. Andrew Niccol and I think his daughter both have it quite strongly. So it’s about a kid who’s friends are mainly these faces that he sees in things. I play a soda can in the film. [Laughs] Someone’s playing a mop.

You can probably improvise with the soda can.

CLEMENT: Yeah, I did a little. I mean, it’s scripted, but yeah, I did a little. Andrew came to a Flight of the Conchords show. He lives in L.A. He’s a New Zealander, and he wrote The Truman Show. A lot of New Zealanders don’t know this.

He’s written a lot.

CLEMENT: Yeah. Gattaca. Also a great film. Underappreciated, I think.

Gattaca’s great.

CLEMENT: But I think this is really cute. I can’t wait to see it. I liked working with Andrew a lot. It’s all shot in Wellington, where Andrew’s from, where I live, and Karl Urban’s from, and he’s in it. Ethan Hawke’s in it. He’s called on some favors because it’s another kind of indie film, but it’s got some great people in there.

That’s what it takes, to be honest, with an indie movie. There has to be something to it, and it does help if you have a great cast.

CLEMENT: Yeah. Well, man, I hope it doesn’t always have to have a famous cast.

100%, but the biggest problem I’ve seen, in speaking to people at agencies, is that they make these indie movies with a cast to play at Sundance or TIFF, and then they’re never sold. They’re just gone. I’ve seen movies that have still never come out, and you’d think with streaming, more of them would be available, but it’s just not the case.

CLEMENT: Yeah, no, that is a shame. It used to be there were less things being made, but a little film with people no one knew, people from Clerks. That era of film, I miss that, where you could just get a whole new thing. Everything’s new. The director you’ve never heard of, none of the cast you’ve heard of. It still happens, but…

It’s very hard to break through.

CLEMENT: It’s hard to get money to do it.

Also, the main issue, of course, is phones. There are so many people now who aren’t watching movies that used to be there on TikTok or Instagram, brain-rotting, just scrolling. It used to be people would read books or watch movies.

CLEMENT: Yeah, I’ve been getting back into reading books after a long break, and it’s been really rewarding.

What are you filming this year?

CLEMENT: I’ve got a lot of things coming out this year.

Then I’ll be talking to you again soon.

CLEMENT: Yeah, yeah. Alice and Steve just came out. I, Object, Moana, Kiri and Lou, Rogue Trooper, Wildwood. So, I’ve got a lot of things coming out that I did in other years. Filming? I filmed Minecraft. I’m writing. I’m at my computer writing.

Kiri and Lou Go Raa! has not announced an official U.S. release date yet. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Release Date

June 23, 2026

Runtime

101 minutes

Director

Antony Elworthy, Harry Sinclair

Writers

Harry Sinclair