List of Famous people born in New Plymouth, New Zealand
Beauden Barrett
Beauden John Barrett is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays at First Five-Eighth position (Fly-Half) and Fullback for Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup, the Blues in Super Rugby and New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He was a key member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team. Barrett won the World Rugby Player of the Year award in 2016 and 2017, has also been a nominee for the award in 2018, and is only the second player to win the award in back-to-back years, after former teammate Richie McCaw.
Melanie Lynskey
Melanie Jayne Lynskey is a New Zealand actress and voice actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a New Zealand Film Award, a Hollywood Film Award, and a Sundance Special Jury Award, as well as Critics' Choice Award, Gotham Award and Golden Nymph Award nominations.
Josef Schmidt
Josef Schmidt is a New Zealand-born rugby union coach, who was the head coach of Ireland from 2013–2019. In six years under his leadership, Ireland won three Six Nations Championships, and recorded their first-ever wins over his home nation of New Zealand. Schmidt's first head coaching role in Europe was with Leinster Rugby, beginning in 2010. He brought unprecedented success to the province, reaching six finals and winning four trophies in three years. He was previously an assistant coach with the Blues and Clermont Auvergne.
Jordie Barrett
Jordan Matthew Barrett is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a utility back internationally for New Zealand's All Blacks, and for the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby competition. Having previously been an apprentice for the All Black squad in 2016, Barrett was first selected for New Zealand in 2017, making his debut against Samoa in a warm-up test prior to the British and Irish Lions series.
Scott Barrett
Scott Kevin Barrett is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup. Barrett was chosen as the Crusaders' Captain for the 2020 Super Rugby season.
Kane Barrett
Kane Sinclair Barrett is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer. As former captain, domestically he represented Taranaki in the ITM Cup. Barrett made his Taranaki debut in 2010 and his strong performances saw him named in the Blues squad for the 2013 and 2014 Super Rugby seasons. He had international experience as well with the New Zealand Secondary Schools side.
Ross Brown
Ross Handley Brown was a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played 16 test matches, most frequently in the first-five back position, for New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks, from 1955 until 1962.
Michael Kelly
Michael Joseph Kelly FRS FREng is a New Zealand-British physicist. He is Professor of Solid State Electronics and Nanoscale Science in the Division of Electrical Engineering, University of Cambridge. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993 and won its Hughes Medal in 2006. He was formerly the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Communities and Local Government. He was elected in 1998 as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Anthony McCarten
Anthony McCarten is a New Zealand novelist, playwright, journalist, television writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing the biopics The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and The Two Popes (2019). He received Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes.