Karl Urban

He is, and has almost always been, very active. He worked on his aunt and uncles farm for many years doing odd jobs. For filming the Lord of the Rings movies, he realized that Eomer was a consummate horseman and he was nowhere near that level, so he invested a lot of time learning: six to eight weeks, five days a week, two hours a day. He wanted to learn to neck rein, a method of steering a horse using one hand while leaving the other hand free to wield a sword. He wanted to be so at one with the horse that he wasnt conscious or concerned about what the horse was doing. In addition, he also enjoys indoor rock climbing.

Has a black Lab terrier named Ire (pronounced eye-ree) after a Bob Marley song (from the album "Uprising").

His hobbies include fishing, surfing, golf and gardening.

Had a beret and coat to perform self-written Frank Spencer skits at ages 11 and 12 as school assembly entertainment.

Primary school classmates with Jack Yan.

Reportedly received a $400,000 bonus for his work on "The Lord of the Rings" [London Daily Mail, December 5, 2003].

Has a son, Hunter Urban (born November 1, 2000), with wife Natalie Wihongi.

Did roles on "Xena: Warrior Princess" : Emperor Julius Caesar, Kor the caveman, and Mael (biblical character), Icass brother. Also did roles on "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" : Cupid, son of Aphrodite and Caesar.

His character of Cupid was originally written into the "Xena: Warrior Princess" Season 5 finale episode "Motherhood", but Urban was unavailable because he was filming The Lord of the Rings elsewhere in New Zealand. As compensation, Rob Tapert wrote the Season 6 episode "When Fates Collide" specifically for him, this time for his more-popular character of Julius Caesar. Tapert also used this episode as an opportunity to bid farewell to two other fan-favorite recurring characters: Alti and Brutus, portrayed by Claire Stansfield and David Franklin. "When Fates Collide" became one of the most popular episodes of the entire series.

Was introduced in the second installment of each of the three huge franchises he has appeared in: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Bourne Supremacy and The Chronicles of Riddick .

Good friends with co-stars Viggo Mortensen from The Lord of the Rings and Rene OConnor from "Xena: Warrior Princess" .

Was considered for the role of Kainan in Outlander , which went to Jim Caviezel.

Has appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King , which was previously made as an animated film with the voice of John Huston. Urban later appeared in "Comanche Moon" , a prequel to "Lonesome Dove" , which featured Anjelica Huston.

Has German ancestry on his fathers side.

Has played the younger versions of iconic characters in two "prequels". He plays Woodrow Call in the "Lonesome Dove" prequel "Comanche Moon" , and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek .

Very good friends with his Star Trek co-stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Has replaced Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow Call in the Lonesome Dove series, and Sylvester Stallone as Judge Dredd. Both characters previously appeared in films opposite Diane Lane.

Has two sons: Hunter (born November 2000) and Indiana (Indy) (born January 2005).

Is an ambassador for KidsCan, a charity that supports more than 16,000 disadvantaged children by providing shoes, food, and coats.

Started his acting career at the age of 8.

His father is a German immigrant and owned a leather-goods factory. His mother worked for Film Facilities in Wellington, New Zealand.

Was a huge fan of both the Doctor Who and Star Trek franchises long before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the Star Trek remake.

Has stated that his favorite "Xena: Warrior Princess" episode is "Xena: Warrior Princess" {A Day in the Life (#2.15)} , in which he did not appear.

Enjoys video games, which is what influenced him to take a role in the film adaptation Doom .

His accent as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek was so reminiscent of DeForest Kelley that it reportedly moved Leonard Nimoy (who starred alongside Kelley in the original series and films) to tears.

He named his son "Indiana" after Harrison Ford s iconic character Indiana Jones, of whom Karl is a huge fan.

Has been a huge fan of the 2000 AD Comics character Judge Dredd since his teens and got to play the character in the film adaptation Dredd .

On the set of The Chronicles of Riddick , he passed the time by playing Dungeons & Dragons with Vin Diesel , Judi Dench and Thandie Newton.

Is a huge fan of rugby union; in particular, the New Zealand All Blacks national team.

Nothing beats a great smile.

I like the time frame involved in being an actor.

I love fishing and surfing, and I work out every day.

I never envisioned when I was reading that comic as a 17-year-old that I,would have the opportunity to actually play the character.

I was a fan of the Dredd comics when I was a teenager.

I did a little theater work after that and the following year I got,another part in a television series. Then it was almost to the end of,the year before I got more work. That was coming to terms with the,reality of the vocation I had chosen.

It was always something I knew I was capable of and from an early age my,mother was involved in the film industry. She used to work at a,production company. So I was exposed to a renaissance period of films,in New Zealand back in the early 80s.

Dredd (2012) represented a failure in marketing. I saw the,tracking of that film weeks before it came out and the fundamental,problem was no one knew it was being released. Once it came out on DVD,and it sold 750,000 copies in the first week alone in North America,alone, it was very clear that the audience had discovered it. [2016],Nothing beats a great smile. .