Karl Urban

Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor.

His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as Xena: Warrior Princess.

He attended Wellington College in 1986–1990.

He then enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington in the Bachelor of Arts programme but left after one year to pursue a career in acting.

Over the next few years, he appeared in several local TV commercials in addition to theatre roles in the Wellington area.

Eventually, he moved to Auckland where he was offered many guest roles in TV shows (one of which was playing a heroin addict in the police drama Shark in the Park).

Urban then moved briefly to Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia in 1995 before returning to New Zealand the following year.

His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship.

Urban's first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship.

Since then, he has worked on many high-profile movies, including the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Two Towers and The Return of the King) as Éomer, The Bourne Supremacy (as Russian Federal Security Service agent Kirill), The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek and Doom.

The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Urban was one of several actors being considered for the part of British secret service agent 007 in Casino Royale, directed by fellow New Zealander Martin Campbell.

Since then, he has starred in many high-profile movies, including as Éomer in the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Vaako in the second and third installments of the Riddick film series, Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series, Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), John "Reaper" Grimm in Doom (2005), Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Gavin Magary in Pete's Dragon (2016), and Skurge in Marvel Studios' Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

Urban played John "Reaper" Grimm in Universal Pictures' Doom (based on the first-person shooter video game Doom), which was released on 21 October 2005.

In 2007, he starred in the Viking adventure Pathfinder.

A longtime fan of Westerns, he starred as Woodrow Call in Comanche Moon, a television miniseries that aired in early 2008 as a prequel to the Lonesome Dove miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's book series of the same name.

It was filmed in New Orleans and Belgium by the director of the 2008 original, Erik Van Looy.

In the 2009 film Star Trek, he played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, a role originated by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek TV series.

A fan of the Star Trek franchise since childhood, Urban actively pursued a role in the film.

His performance was widely embraced by the Star Trek fan community for its faithfulness to the spirit of Kelley's McCoy.

He portrayed Black Hat, a villainous priest-turned-vampire, in the film adaptation of the Korean manhwa Priest, released in 3-D in 2011.

In 2012, Urban starred as law-enforcing comic book character Judge Dredd in the film Dredd.

In an interview with Shave magazine, Urban described it as a "high-octane, action-fueled film... about the day in the life of Dredd".

The film was directed by Pete Travis, with a script by Alex Garland.

Though it underperformed at the box office, Dredd was well received by critics.

In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series Almost Human.

Urban reprised the role in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness and the 2016 film Star Trek Beyond.

Urban next appeared as CIA agent William Cooper in Red, adapted from the graphic novel of the same name and co-starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren.

In 2013, Urban starred as Detective John Kennex in Almost Human, a TV series created by J. H. Wyman.

The series was set 35 years into the future when cops in the L.A.P.D. are paired up with lifelike androids.

Urban played a detective who has a dislike for robots but ends up being teamed up with one with emotional feelings.

Urban next appeared in the ensemble thriller The Loft, a remake of the Belgian film of the same name.

In January 2015, Urban replaced Michael C. Hall as the main antagonist in the 2016 remake of Pete's Dragon.

In 2017, he played Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok.

Since 2019, he has starred as Billy Butcher in Amazon's superhero streaming television series The Boys.

Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

His father, a German immigrant, owned a leather goods store, and his mother once worked for Film Facilities in Wellington.

Through his mother, the young Urban was exposed to classic New Zealand cinema and developed an interest in the film industry.

Urban attended St Mark's Church School, where he showed an early love for public performance.

His first acting role came at age eight, when he had a single line in one episode of the New Zealand television series Pioneer Woman.

Though continuing to take part in school stage productions, he did not act professionally again until after high school.