Karl Urban: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
Dammit Jim, he's an actor not a space doctor.
Karl Urban is one of our finest genre actors, happily starring in everything from The Lord Of The Rings to Star Trek. Maybe it’s because he just really loves the world of sci-fi and fantasy. Or maybe it’s because he knows we’d be constantly bringing up his recurring role as Cupid in Xena if he didn’t embrace it.
The Kiwi slowly worked his way up the acting ladder, using a life-long obsession with film to star in a series of TV shows in his native land before finally breaking big thanks to a part in the biggest New Zealand film of all time (you may have heard of it).
With him back in cinemas this as Bones in Star Trek Beyond, what better time to look back over his career? Here's five awesome Karl Urban performances, and five that he can rank alongside Cupid.
5 Awesome Performances...
5. Kirill - The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne series isn’t lacking for solid villains. Identity had mercurial sniper Clive Owen and manic Chris Cooper-esque Chris Cooper, Ultimatum had Albert Finney’s Architect and Legacy has Matt Damon’s refusal to return (sorry Jeremy, you tried your best).
In that company, Urban’s Russian operative Kirill is a bit of an outsider - he's certainly not as memorable - yet he’s still a great, prolonged threat in what still is the series best film (although feel free to prove me wrong with Jason Bourne, Greengrass).
Kirill pops up at the start to undo the first film’s happy ending permanently, although it's the intense chase finale where Urban really gets to prove his action chops. It's rather different from his other roles, and no the sort of part an established star would make, but he's not bad as the silent heavy.