Jemaine Clement

Jemaine @ USA WEEKEND Magazine

If you haven’t yet heard of Jemaine Clement, you will after this weekend. His HBO series, “Flight of the Conchords,” premieres on Sunday. He also stars in the new film “Eagle vs. Shark,” a relationship comedy. Clement, 33, from New Zealand, got his comedic start in high school. “I had to repeat my last year because I failed an exam,” he says, “so I was older than the other kids. They didn’t know that I was really shy. I’d always wanted to do something creative, so I developed a new persona and entertained the class.” Fun fact: He’s named after Jermaine Jackson. “My mother was … a Jackson 5 fan,” he says.

From: USA WEEKEND Magazine