Karl Urban
☼ Born on 7 December 1972, in Wellington, New Zealand
BiographyOriginally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now lives in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, he is the son of a leather-goods manufacturer (who had hoped that Karl would follow in his footsteps). His first acting role was when he was 8 -- he had a line on a television series. However, he did not act again until after high school. He was offered a role in the NZ soap opera Shortland Street (1992) as he was preparing to attend Victoria University. After appearing on the series for the 1993-1994 season, he attended the university 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 a number of guest roles in NZ television followed. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in the drama series Shark in the Park (1989). He was in a movie as well, entitled Once in Chunuck Bay (aka Chunuk Bair (1992)). Other television roles followed, including a guest-starring role in the series White Fang (1993). Karl's biggest roles include Éomer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek (2009), William Cooper in RED (2010) and Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012).


In the role of actor

Mortal Kombat (25/04/2021)

The popular fighting video games receive a new film adaptation in Mortal Kombat. Cole Young (Lewis Tan) is a past-his-prime MMA fighter, who learns from Major Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks) that the dragon-shaped birthmark on his chest makes him chosen to participate in an ancient tournament called Mortal Kombat. Pursued by Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), sent […]

Thor: Ragnarok (04/11/2017)

Thor tries to save Asgard from the Goddess of Death in Thor: Ragnarok. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Asgard after he has repeated nightmares about the prophesied apocalyptic event of Ragnarök. In his absence, Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has ruled in the guise of their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins), a consequence of which is the […]

Star Trek Beyond (24/07/2016)

The crew of the Enterprise faces a new threat on an uncharted planet in Star Trek Beyond. The crew of the USS Enterprise, lead by Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is three years into its five year mission. While stopping off at the Federation base of Yorktown, Kirk is assigned to lead a rescue […]

For the Love of Spock (18/07/2016)

Adam Nimoy pays tribute to the life and career of his famous father in For the Love of Spock. Leonard Nimoy had been acting since the early 1950s, when he was cast by Gene Roddenberry to play the Vulcan Spock in the 1966 series Star Trek. Spock quickly became one of the most popular characters […]

Star Trek Into Darkness (19/05/2013)

This review contains plot details, which may be considered SPOILERS. After rebooting the Star Trek franchise in 2009, director J.J. Abrams ups the stakes in this follow-up.  A rogue Federation agent named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacks Starfleet, which results in Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew, including Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban), […]

Dredd 3D (07/09/2012)

Back in 1995, there was an adaptation of the Judge Dredd comics that starred Sylvester Stallone and audiences generally frowned upon Stallone’s interpretation of the character, namely in the way he quickly got rid of Dredd’s trademark helmet.  Well, it’s 17 years later and a new reboot has surfaced, which was reportedly supposed to be closer to […]

Priest (14/05/2011)

Priest is the second religion-based action/horror collaboration in a row between director Scott Stewart and star Paul Bettany.  I thought that, their previous film, Legion had a campy glee to it, which made it an enjoyable film. I can’t really say the same about this film, which takes place in a futuristic society where the church has totalitarian rule and priests […]

RED (16/10/2010)

The selling point of this film, based on a graphic novel, is the age of the lead actors, who all play retired spies forced back into action. Everything in the film is appropriately tongue-in-cheek, however the film does turn out to be a fairly decent action film in its own right.  While you would expect […]

Star Trek (09/05/2009)

Just when it seemed that the Star Trek movie series was over, along comes this film which successfully reboots the series, while still acknowledging what came before. I can definitely say that I enjoyed seeing the Star Trek universe from a new perspective. This world was quite different from the previous Star Trek experiences, however […]