KJ Apa

Apa was born on 17 June 1997 at Waitakere Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand,^[2] the son of Tupa'i and Tessa Apa (née Callander). His father is Samoan and a matai (chief) of his village in Samoa;^[3] his mother is a European New Zealander.^[4] His father is known as Keneti Apa, with Keneti being a Samon rendering of "Kennedy": Apa and his father are named after John F. Kennedy.^[5][6] He has two older sisters and is the nephew of former rugby union player and coach Michael Jones.^[7] He attended high school at King's College in Auckland before beginning his acting career.^[8]

From 2013 to 2015, Apa starred as Kane Jenkins in the New Zealand prime-time soap opera Shortland Street. In 2016, he was cast as Archie Andrews in the CW drama series Riverdale, after a four-month worldwide talent search.^[1]

In 2017, he starred as Ethan Montgomery in the comedy-drama film A Dog's Purpose, which was released on the same day as Riverdale premiered on television.^[9]

Apa, like his mother, creates visual art. As of July 2024, a selection of his paintings are on display at the Spring/Break gallery in Los Angeles.

His next film role was replacing Kian Lawley in the 2018 drama film The Hate U Give.^[10] He starred as Griffin in the Netflix film The Last Summer, which was released on 3 May 2019.^[11] He also starred as singer Jeremy Camp in the biographical romantic drama film I Still Believe, which was released in March 2020.^[12]

Apa starred in Adam Mason's critically panned 2020 thriller film Songbird, produced by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes.^[13] The film was accused of using the COVID-19 pandemic to create a thrill plot. In May 2021, Lionsgate Films announced he would appear in a military based drama West Pointer.^[14]

In 2021, he independently released his debut album, Clocks, which explores the folk rock and indie genres. It gained some attention on Spotify and TikTok.^[15]

Apa was involved in a minor car accident in Vancouver in September 2017, but was uninjured when the passenger side of his car hit a light pole. The late-night crash was reportedly the result of him falling asleep at the wheel after a long day of filming.^[16]

In May 2021, Apa announced that he and French model Clara Berry were expecting their first child,^[17] who was born in September 2021.^[18]

Apa was raised in a Christian family and has stated that he is a Christian.^[4] In April 2018, he publicly criticised Australian rugby player Israel Folau for claiming that it was God's plan to send gay people to Hell, describing Folau's comments as "disappointing".^[19]

In September 2022, he was awarded the matai title of Savae by his native village Moata'a in Samoa.^[20]

In addition to soundtrack work on Shortland Street, Riverdale and I Still Believe, Apa has released independent music.

• The Third Room (2012)
• Clocks (2021)^[21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to KJ Apa.

• KJ Apa at IMDb