Karl Urban
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Karl Urban as John "Reaper" Grimm in Doom |
Karl-Heinz Urban (born
June 7,
1972 in
Wellington,
New Zealand), is a
New Zealand actor, best known for playing
Éomer, in the
second and
third films of
Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy based on the
books by
J. R. R. Tolkien.
Some of his earlier work included roles on New Zealand soap
Shortland Street, which apparently interrupted his planned attendance of
Victoria University of Wellington, and a guest role on the second season of police drama
Shark in the Park.
Urban was seen on the internationally syndicated
American television shows
Xena: Warrior Princess and
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in which he played both
Cupid and
Julius Caesar from
1996 to
2001. These shows were filmed in
New Zealand. He recently co-starred in
The Chronicles of Riddick with
Vin Diesel and
Judi Dench and
The Bourne Supremacy with
Matt Damon.
Karl Urban also played John "Reaper" Grimm, one of the lead characters in
Universal Pictures'
Doom which was released on
October 21,
2005.
Karl attended St Mark's Church School where he showed an early love for public performance. His first acting role was when he was 8 he had a line on a television show. However, he did not act again until after high school.
He then went on to Wellington College. Upon leaving High School Karl was offered a role in the hit New Zealand TV-series
Shortland Street playing homosexual paramedic Jamie Forrest. After appearing on the show for the 1993-1994 season he attended
Victoria University in
Wellington for one year, then left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theater roles in the
Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to
Auckland where he was offered many guest roles in local shows. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in the drama
Shark In the Park.
Many television roles followed including parts in the cult series
Xena: Warrior Princess yet his big Hollywood break did not come until his role in the 2002 horror film
Ghost Ship. Since then, Karl has worked on many blockbusters including The
Lord Of The Rings trilogy,
The Bourne Supremacy and
Doom. He has also reportedly received a $400,000 bonus for his work on
The Lord of the Rings. Karl has also fathered a son named Hunter (born in November 2000) with his long-term partner Natalie (now his wife).
Following Karl's lead role in the film
Doom the adaption of the popular video game of the same name, he has been offered leads in the
Viking film
Pathfinderand the
Martian film
Outlander, which is to be shot in Karl's childhood home town of
Wellington. Karl has also recently signed up as the lead character in
Doom 2.
Urban has also had major supporting roles as Kirill in the
Matt Damon action series
The Bourne Supremacy the follow up film to
The Bourne Identity. Yet his most notable role was that of the Rohirrim warrior Eomer, in the highly successful
Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by three time
Academy Award winner
Peter Jackson. Karl has also starred in the follow up film to
Pitch Black,
The Chronicles of Riddick and the 2002 horror film
Ghost Ship. He may also reprise his role of Lord Vaako in
Chronicles of Riddick 2: The Underverse, in 2008.
American entertainment magazine The
Hollywood Reporter speculated that Urban was one of several actors being considered for the part of British secret service agent
007 in the next Bond movie,
Casino Royale, to be directed by fellow
New Zealander Martin Campbell. Website
filmforce.com had mixed feelings over whether he would make the best Bond. "While darkly handsome, he's a bit elfish-looking for Bond. He's the right age, is recognisable, but not yet a big name and had proven himself adept at genre fare. But does Urban have the gravitas and flair needed for Bond?" The actor actually selected for the part was
Daniel Craig.
*
Splinter Cell (2006) - Suhadi Sadono
*
Outlander (2006)
*
Out Of The Blue (2006).... Nick Harvey
*
Pathfinder (2006).... Ghost
*
Doom (2005).... John Grimm
*
The Bourne Supremacy (2004) .... Kirill
*
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) .... Vaako
*
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) .... Eomer
*
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) .... Eomer
*
Ghost Ship (2002) .... Munder
*
The Price of Milk (2000) .... Rob
* The Irrefutable Truth About Demons (2000) .... Harry Ballard
* The Privateers (2000) (TV) .... Capt. Aran Dravyk
* Via Satellite (1998) .... Paul
*
Heaven (1998) .... Sweeper
* Amazon High (1997) (TV) .... Kor
* Riding High (1995) TV Series .... James Westwood
* White Fang (1993) TV Series...David
*
Shortland Street (1992) TV Series .... Paramedic Jamie Forrest
*
Chunuk Bair (1992) .... Wellington soldier
*
Homeward Bound (1992) TV Series .... Tim Johnstone
Karl has been a recipient of several awards for his work in film in both Hollywood and New Zealand. These awards include.
*
New Zealand Film and TV Awards - Best Actor for:
The Price of Milk*Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingAs well as appearing in Films and television shows, Urban has also had various roles in theatre productions and television advertisements in his native
New Zealand and abroad.
* In February/March 1998, he was in a play called
The Herbal Bed at the Maidment Theatre in
Auckland,
New Zealand (as the character Jett Lane).
* August 1998, he played Mark Antony in
Auckland Theatre Company's production of
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in
Auckland,
New Zealand.
* In 1999 he appeared in the Auckland Theatre Company's production of
Foreskin's Lament.
*
Urbanites - The original Karl Urban message board forum*
A Karl Urban Community*
Karl Urban Up-to-Date News*
Urban Fantasies - Karl Urban fanart site
