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Karl Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand on June 7, 1972, but now lives
and operates out of Auckland. He has gone from being a regional star to
one of international recognition and he is still going strong.
Urban made a splash in the Xena series, playing two repeating roles. He was
the comical Cupid, the prodigal son of Aphrodite, who always had dark stubble
which conflicted with dyed blond hair and a lackluster attitude about life as
the enducer of love. While he helped others fill out their lusts, he didn't
seem to have much of a love life of his own, and when he did eye the mortal
women, Aphrodite was there to meddle.
More convincingly played was his role as Caesar, depicting the emperor with an
abundance of arrogance, sadism and villainry. One episode where he has Xena
crucified (twice, as she survived the first time, so how unlucky can one get),
then goes to the Senate to meet his doom, ranks among the most masterfully
filmed of the series. Scenes shift back and forth from the crucifixion and the
knife blade's going into his own body. Both die at the same time , but in
different locations. Relax though, Xena finds a way to return to earth in the
next season (well, so does Caesar, but not as successfully).
Urban also went on to play in a number of movies on VHS, DVD and in the
cinema, a good number of which were in the horror realm. Ghost Ship was one of
the biggest of these, about a group of people discovering a haunted ship where
long ago, murder after murder took place in an uncanny chain of doublecrosses
and events. The massive decapitation scene has got to be one of the most
peculiar scenes in all of horror history, setting the stage for much to come.
Less appreciated by fans, but more well-played was his role in The Truth About
Demons, a film shot down under dealing with a man investigating
the death of his brother at the hands of a devil cult. Urban, in the lead
role, finds himself surrounded by devils, burning candles, satanic symbols,
weird dreams, violence, death and illusion. I won't give the ending away, but
the movie is worth checking out. In this vehicle, he gets to play the leading
man for a change and proves up to the task.
Urban may likewise be seen in The Two Towers and Return Of the King from the
Lord Of The Rings series, in the role of Eomer.
The actor was also seen a while ago in Doom, a horror film about spacemen
investigating problems at a space station on Mars and finding an abundance of
terrors awaiting them. The movie was based on the computer game.
In 2006 there will hopefully be two new releases with this actor, barring
unforseen problems. One is an adventure story called Pathfinder, about a boy
left behind by Vikings and raised by Indians, to become a warrior in his own
right. The other, reflecting back to horror again, has a working title of Outlander, yet little information is available as of this
writing.
Many actors find typecasting a major problem after being in a certain tv
series for too long, then finding themselves out of luck once the series ends.
It nearly did in Alan Hale, Bob Denver, Jackie Coogan, Adam West, Jonathan
Frid and others. Urban has been one of the lucky ones, having been able to
survive after Xena and do so quite well.
Hopefully the trend will continue.
PS.: Find more information on Karl Urban on http://www.humina.com/kurban.
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