Jimi Jackson

Jimi Jackson found fame showcasing his comic chops on the internet. In 2013 he began starring in short, expletive-loaded comedy clips. Loaded onto Vine, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, they won him a devoted fanbase — and over 900,000 Facebook followers. Soon he was doing live comedy tours in Aotearoa and Australia. In 2017 Jackson starred in Māori Television show Jimi's World, and won headlines after being photographed in blackface. The following year he made his big screen debut in comedy Alien Addiction — starring as Riko, who discovers a UFO near his Waikato town and befriends some aliens.   

I saw some of Jimi's early little posts he did, just doing some pranks and stuff and I thought, 'This guy's cool. He's pretty ruthless and doesn't have any barriers. No filter. This is the right guy.' So I actually wrote the movie around what I thought he could do. Director Shae Sterling on casting Jimi Jackson in movie Alien Addiction, The NZ Herald, 8 November 2018