An actor hailing from New Zealand, Karl Urban was born on June 7, 1972. He attended school at St. Mark’s Church School, where his love for public performance began to develop. After landing a role in a TV show, he only acted again after high school, and then went on to Wellington College. He was given a role in the series Shortland Street, playing Jamie Forrest, a homosexual paramedic. He attended the Victoria University of Wellington for a year, then left to pursue a career in acting. He was offered many guest roles in local shows when he moved to Auckland, and his first was in a police drama Shark in the Park.
Karl Urban can also be seen in various TV advertisements, and in February to March of 1998, he had a part in a play called The Herbal Bed at the Maidment Theatre. That same year, he played Mark Anthony in Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. For his starring role as Rob in the rural romance The Price of Milk, he won the New Zealand Film and TV Awards.
His international fame can be credited to his performance in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and as Caesar in Xena: Warrior Princess. Karl Urban was swept into the Hollywood scene for his role in the 2002 horror Ghost Ship as Munder. He has also worked on blockbusters, the most notable one as Éomer of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Urban was also in The Bourne Supremacy and as Vaako in The Chronicles of Riddick with Vin Diesel and Judi Dench. He also played John Grimm in the 2005 sci-fi horror Doom and portrayed the lead Viking in Pathfinder. He has also been featured in the Western mini-series Comanche Moon as Woodrow F. Call.