Line #92 Creator/KarlUrban


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karlurban.jpg]]
2
3	->''"I would rather have a scene-stealing bit part than a lead role."''
4
5	Karl-Heinz Urban (born June 7, 1972 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an actor from UsefulNotes/NewZealand (his father was a German immigrant, as you can maybe tell from his first name).
6
7	He started off in soaps and small-time TV dramas, worked his way up to ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' and local film productions, and now co-stars in Hollywood blockbusters with macho men like Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/VinDiesel and Wrestling/TheRock.
8
9	Best known for playing Éomer in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', [[TheMcCoy Leonard 'Bones' [=McCoy=]]] in ''Film/{{Star Trek\|2009}}'' reboot films, Billy Butcher in ''Series/{{The Boys\|2019}}'', and being in most of the genre movies you've seen. He also played the title character in ''Film/{{Dredd}}'' and was one of the leads in ''Series/AlmostHuman''.
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11	He is married to (but separated from) fellow Kiwi Natalie Wihongi, who was his makeup artist on the 2000 TV movie ''The Privateers''. The couple has two sons, Hunter and Indiana. He also dated Creator/KateeSackhoff for four years.
12	----
13	!!Film and TV Works:
14
15	* Rohann Murdoch in ''Series/SharkInThePark'' (1990)
16	* Jamie Forrest in ''Series/ShortlandStreet'' (1993)
17	* James Westwood in ''Series/RidingHigh'' (1995)
18	* Cupid in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' (1996)
19	* Cupid and UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar in ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' (1996)
20	* Sweeper in ''Film/{{Heaven}}'' (1998)
21	* Harry Ballard in ''Film/TheIrrefutableTruthAboutDemons'' (2000)
22	* Rob in ''Film/ThePriceOfMilk'' (2000)
23	* Munder in ''Film/GhostShip'' (2002)
24	* Éomer in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' (2002)
25	* Éomer in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' (2003)
26	* Lord Vaako in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' (2004)
27	* Kirill in ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' (2004)
28	* John Grimm in ''Film/{{Doom}}'' (2005)
29	* Nick Harvey in ''Film/OutOfTheBlue'' (2006)
30	* Ghost in ''Film/Pathfinder2007''
31	* Woodrow F. Call in ''Series/ComancheMoon'' (2008)
32	* Leonard [=McCoy=] in ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]'' (2009)
33	** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' (2013)
34	** ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' (2016)
35	* Earl Pike in ''Film/BlackWaterTransit'' (2009)
36	* Michael in ''Film/AndSoonTheDarkness'' (2010)
37	* William Cooper in ''Film/{{Red\|2010}}'' (2010)
38	* Black Hat in ''Film/{{Priest\|2011}}'' (2011)
39	* [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd Judge Joseph Dredd]] in ''Film/{{Dredd}}'' (2012)
40	* Lord Vaako in ''Film/{{Riddick}}'' (2013)
41	* Uncle Zack in ''Film/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' (2013)
42	* John Kennex in ''Series/AlmostHuman'' (2013)
43	* Vincent Stevens in ''Film/TheLoft'' (2015)
44	* Gavin in ''Film/PetesDragon2016'' (2016)
45	* Skurge the Executioner in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' (2017)
46	* Officer Hank Strode in ''Film/ActsOfVengeance2017''.
47	* [[Characters/TheBoys2019BillyButcher Billy Butcher]] in ''Series/{{The Boys\|2019}}'' (2019-)
48	** ''Series/GenV''
49	* Sgt. Rock in DC Showcase: Sgt. Rock And The Creature Commandos (2019) (voice)
50	* Jacob Holland in ''WesternAnimation/TheSeaBeast'' (2022)
51	* [[Franchise/MortalKombat Johnny Cage]] in ''Mortal Kombat 2'' (in production)
52
53	!!This actor and his roles provide examples of:
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55	* AwesomeDearBoy: Why he accepts most of his movie roles.
56	* BadassLongcoat: As Black Hat, Kirill, Vincent Stevens and Billy Butcher.
57	* CelebrityResemblance: He looks like Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico. [[http://cheezburger.com/2256644352/ Noted here]].
58	* CoolHelmet: As Éomer, Vaako and Dredd.
59	* DeadpanSnarker: As [=McCoy=], Film/{{Dredd}} and [[Series/AlmostHuman John Kennex]].
60	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Creator/ChrisPine has admitted to having a man crush on his ''Star Trek'' co-star.
61	* FakeAmerican: Quite a few of his roles. [=McCoy=] especially has a flawless accent that is uncannily reminiscent of Creator/DeForestKelley.
62	* FakeNationality: Fake Russian, fake Viking-raised-by-Native-Americans
63	* FanCommunityNickname: His fans are known as Urbabes, Urbanites or Urbanologists. Take your pick.
64	* {{Fanservice}}: He once [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything stuck a microphone]] [[VisualInnuendo in his mouth]] at a Q&A.
65	* FascinatingEyebrow: A notable quirk of [=McCoy=] which Urban actually possessed in real life before taking on the role. Creator/ChrisPine once said that Urban has "the best eyebrow raise in the business".
66	* HypotheticalCasting: The authors of the Cut & Run series of novels see him as main character Ty Grady. The description in the first book is so obvious that they might as well have used his photo.
67	* MistakenIdentity: Sometimes mistaken for New Zealand-born country music star Music/KeithUrban. A Singapore newspaper once reported that he had married Creator/NicoleKidman.
68	* OldShame: At a convention appearance, he half-joked that his favourite scene from ''Film/{{Doom}}'' was the end credits. When a fan mentioned that he liked the movie, Urban asked him if he had actually seen it.
69	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: His American accent is pretty good, but he'll occasionally slip into his native Kiwi accent, usually when he's yelling, speaking rapidly or when the word contains the letter 't'.
70	* PerpetualFrowner: The man pulls a world class frown. Even when he's smiling, he's also frowning. ''Film/{{Dredd}}'' show that he can do this effectively even without his eyes visible.
71	* PersonalArcade: He is an avid pinball fan with a sizeable collection of his own machines. He provided the voice recordings for the ''Pinball/StarTrekStern'' pinball game.
72	* PlayingAgainstType: Known mostly for action roles, his casting as the comedic and (physically) [[SnarkToSnarkCombat non-combative]] Bones in ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was met with a resounding 'wtf?' Only to succeed at the role so well that he reduced Creator/LeonardNimoy to tears and left fans wondering if he had been possessed by the spirit of Creator/DeForestKelley himself. He was just that good.
73	* PromotedFanboy:
74	** On the set of ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', he passed the time by playing ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' with Creator/VinDiesel, Creator/JudiDench and Creator/ThandiweNewton.
75	** He's been a massive fan of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' since childhood and grew up watching reruns religiously. Creator/ChrisPine and Creator/ZacharyQuinto even have an anecdote about him playing with a toy Enterprise ship on a plane before being asked to put it away.
76	** He was a very big fan of ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' long before donning the iconic helmet, and his performance as the character has received considerable acclaim from fans of the comics. He's even campaigning for a sequel.
77	* RealMenWearPink: In an interview with ''Women's Health'', he revealed that he loves to light scented candles and take long baths.
78	* RomanceOnTheSet: He met his wife on the set of ''Film/ThePrivateers''. She was his make up artist.
79	* ShirtlessScene:
80	** As Ghost in ''Pathfinder''.
81	** As Cupid in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''.
82	** As Harry in ''Film/TheIrrefutableTruthAboutDemons''.
83	** As Rob in ''Film/ThePriceOfMilk''.
84	** And in real life, he always seems to have a few extra buttons undone on his shirt.
85	* StarMakingRole: As Éomer in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' or as [=McCoy=] in ''Film/StarTrek2009''.
86	* TallDarkAndHandsome: He stands at 1.85 meters (6'1").
87	* {{Troll}}:
88	** He promised fans some footage of the sequel to ''Film/StarTrek2009''. Instead we got [[http://www.slashfilm.com/karl-urbans-practical-joke-results-10-seconds-star-trek-2-set-footage/ this.]]
89	** Then there was the whole "Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be a great Gary Mitchell" wind-up. Well played, sir. Well played.
90	** And then there's the time he told a group of Spanish journalists that Viggo Mortensen (who would be seeing them to promote a film the following day) had bought a massive goat farm to make goat cheese. As a result, instead of asking about his new film, the journalists were more interested in Viggo's supposed new goat cheese operation.
91	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
92	** He was briefly in the running to replace Creator/PierceBrosnan as Film/JamesBond, but was unable to attend the audition due to filming commitments.
93	** He was the original choice to play Kainan in ''Film/{{Outlander\|2008}}''. He dropped out when filming was delayed, and went on to make ''Pathfinder'' instead (a different action movie heavily featuring Vikings).
94	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: After the skinny-dipping scene in ''Film/ThePriceOfMilk'', he developed such an aversion to milk that he had to go for phobia counseling.
95	* YouLookFamiliar: He played Cupid and Julius Caesar in the Hercules and Xena universe. He also played Kor in ''Amazon High'', the pilot movie for a third series in the same universe that was never picked up.

Context Creator / KarlUrban