Karl Urban

Karl Urban

Birth : 1972-06-07, Wellington, New Zealand

History

He is known for playing Éomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 2009 film Star Trek and Julius Caesar on Xena: Warrior Princess. He played Vaako in The Chronicles of Riddick, the Russian assassin Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy, and Ghost in Pathfinder and won acclaim for his performances in New Zealand films The Price of Milk and Out of the Blue. His father, a German immigrant, owned a leather goods retail store, and his mother once worked for Film Facilities in Wellington, through which the young Urban was exposed to 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', but he did not act professionally again until after high school. He attended Wellington College in 1990, then Victoria University of Wellington in the Bachelor of Arts programme for one year, but left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theatre roles in the Wellington area, and eventually he moved to Auckland, where he was offered many guest roles in local shows (one of which was playing a heroin addict in the police drama Shark in the Park). The role which launched him to local fame was that of gay paramedic Jamie Forrest in the hit New Zealand TV series Shortland Street. He appeared on the show for the 1993–1994 season. Urban then moved to Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia in 1995, returning to New Zealand the following year.

Profile

Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl Urban

Movies

The Sea Beast
Jacob Holland (voice)
In an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, monster hunters were celebrated heroes. None were more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he's saddled with an unexpected ally. Together they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Stormtrooper (uncredited)
The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once again as the journey of Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle begins.
DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock
Sgt. Rock (voice)
Just after recovering from losing his entire unit in battle, Sgt. Rock leads a special army of commandos against a Nazi secret research base.
The Boys
Billy Butcher
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
Bent
Danny Gallagher
On his latest private investigation, a shamed former cop connects a murder case to a government conspiracy involving rogue agents from a top spy agency.
Hangman
Detective Ruiney
A homicide detective teams up with a criminal profiler to catch a serial killer whose crimes are inspired by the children's game, Hangman.
Acts of Vengeance
Strode
A fast-talking lawyer transforms his body and takes a vow of silence, not to be broken until he finds out who killed his wife and daughter and has his revenge.
Thor: Ragnarok
Skurge / Executioner
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of a powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
For the Love of Spock
Himself
The life of Star Trek's Mr. Spock — as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Mr. Spock for almost fifty years —written and directed by his son, Adam.
Building Star Trek
Himself
When "Star Trek" first aired in 1966, it expanded the viewers' imaginations about what was possible in their lifetimes. Today, many of the space-age technologies displayed on the show, like space shuttles, cell phones, and desktop computers, have already gone from science fiction to science fact. Other innovations, like warp drive, teleportation, and medical tricorders are actively in development. Join us as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of "Star Trek" - a show that continues to inform, enrich, and inspire.
50 Years of Star Trek
himself
Over the last fifty years, America has been fascinated by Star Trek since it first aired in September of 1966. This 2-hour documentary celebrates the 50th anniversary through interviews with cast and crew members from every television series and the original films.
Pete's Dragon
Gavin
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace, who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales... until she meets Pete, a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete's descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. With the help of Natalie, an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.
Star Trek Beyond
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
The Loft
Vincent Stevens
For five men, the opportunity to share a penthouse in the city -- in which to carry on extramarital affairs -- is a dream come true, until the dead body of an unknown woman turns up. Realizing that her killer must be one of their group, the men are gripped by paranoia as each one suspects another. Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned, and marriages crumble while fear and suspicion run rampant.
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD
Self
A long overdue documentary that tells the story of 2000AD, the unsung cult hero of the comics industry. This film will celebrate and pay respect to the comic and explore its importance and influence on contemporary pop culture.
Walking with Dinosaurs
Uncle Zack (voice)
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D is a film depicting life-like 3D dinosaur characters set in photo-real landscapes that transports audiences to the prehistoric world as it existed 70 million years ago. The film is based on the 1999 documentary television miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, produced by the BBC. Walking with Dinosaurs 3D is being produced by Evergreen Studios, the company that produced Happy Feet, and it is was released on October 11, 2013.
Riddick
Lord Vaako
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.
Riddick: Blindsided
Vaako
This motion comic gaps the bridge between 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick, and 2013's Riddick. A new attempt on Lord Marshal Riddick's life is made on the Necromongers' ship. It's time for Riddick to end the years long meandering through space and go back to his roots.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Dredd
Judge Dredd
In the future, America is a dystopian wasteland. The latest scourge is Ma-Ma, a prostitute-turned-drug pusher with a dangerous new drug and aims to take over the city. The only possibility of stopping her is an elite group of urban police called Judges, who combine the duties of judge, jury and executioner to deliver a brutal brand of swift justice. But even the top-ranking Judge, Dredd, discovers that taking down Ma-Ma isn’t as easy as it seems in this explosive adaptation of the hugely popular comic series.
Priest
Black Hat
In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend, who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess.
RED
William Cooper
After surviving an assault from a squad of hit men, retired CIA black ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team for an all-out war. Frank reunites with old Joe, crazy Marvin and wily Victoria to uncover a massive conspiracy that threatens their lives. Only their expert training will allow them to survive a near-impossible mission -- breaking into CIA headquarters.
And Soon the Darkness
Michael
When two American girls on a bike trip in a remote part of Argentina split up and one of them goes missing, the other must find her before her worst fears are realized.
Black Water Transit
Earl Pike
In this action thriller set in post-Katrina New Orleans, business owner Jack Vermillion (Laurence Fishburne) is struggling to run a legitimate shipping company while bad guy Ernest Pike (Karl Urban) is struggling to get his family's illegal gun collection out of the country. When their paths collide, Jack realizes that exposing Pike might get him just the sway he needs to persuade law enforcement officials to treat his imprisoned son kindly.
Star Trek
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.
Reclaiming the Blade
Himself
The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a singular use in mind- it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long forgotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend.
Pathfinder
Ghost
A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savior in a fight against the Norsemen.
Out of the Blue
Nick Harvey
Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.
Doom
John Grimm
A team of space marines known as the Rapid Response Tactical Squad, led by Sarge, is sent to a science facility on Mars after somebody reports a security breach. There, they learn that the alert came after a test subject, a mass murderer purposefully injected with alien DNA, broke free and began killing people. Dr. Grimm, who is related to team member Reaper, informs them all that the chromosome can mutate humans into monsters -- and is highly infectious.
The Bourne Supremacy
Kirill
When a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
The Chronicles of Riddick
Vaako
After years of outrunning ruthless bounty hunters, escaped convict Riddick suddenly finds himself caught between opposing forces in a fight for the future of the human race. Now, waging incredible battles on fantastic and deadly worlds, this lone, reluctant hero will emerge as humanity's champion - and the last hope for a universe on the edge of annihilation.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Éomer
Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam take the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Éomer
Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.
Ghost Ship
Munder
After discovering a passenger ship missing since 1962 floating adrift on the Bering Sea, salvagers claim the vessel as their own. Once they begin towing the ghost ship towards harbor, a series of bizarre occurrences happen and the group becomes trapped inside the ship, which they soon learn is inhabited by a demonic creature.
The Price of Milk
Rob
New Zealand milk farmer Rob gives his lover Lucinda a ring. Trying to spark up her relationship with Rob, she takes her friend Drosophila's advice and starts to try and make Rob angry. But she tends to go too far. Admiring her ring while driving a lonely road, she has a run-in with an older woman that sets off a chain of events that begins with her quilt being stolen
The Irrefutable Truth About Demons
Harry Ballard
In the place between what you know, and what you fear, demons rule. All hope is stripped away as demonic forces overcome you. Dr. Harry Ballard has just unearthed the essence of evil. He’s a marked man, a living sacrifice, thrown to the depths of the demon world. At his side is a beautiful young woman – an ex-cult member who’s experienced their immeasurable power.
Heaven
Sweeper
A struggling architect, being sued for divorce by his wife and struggling with booze and gambling, finds work remodeling a friend's strip club, the Paradise. There he meets a transsexual stripper who is bothered by accurate, but extremely violent visions of future events. The increasingly violent visions start including the architect, who doesn't believe in the prophesy. One who does however is a psychiatrist who is seeing both the stripper and the architect and is sleeping with the ex-wife. He uses the prophecies for his own financial gain. Finally the scenes from the vision move into reality amidst many plot turns.
Via Satellite
Paul
As a family gather to watch one of their own swimming in the Olympics, minutes of fame become a hilarious and painful 24 hours when they uncover the secrets of a lifetime.
Amazon High
Kor
A high school teenager wakes up in a time of Amazons and Gods.
Chunuk Bair
Wellington soldier
The tragedy of Gallipoli is exposed
Return of the king (Extended Edition)
Éomer
The Two Towers (Extended Edition)
Éomer