Karl Urban

Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealander actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as Xena: Warrior Princess. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has appeared in many high-profile movies, including the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the role of Éomer. He has also portrayed Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series, Vaako in the Riddick film series, Judge Dredd in Dredd, and Skurge in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok. In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series Almost Human. Since 2019, he has starred as the main protagonist Billy Butcher in Amazon’s superhero streaming television series The Boys

Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand.[3] His father, a German immigrant,[3] owned a leather goods store, and his mother once worked for Film Facilities in Wellington. Through his mother, the young Urban was exposed to classic New Zealand cinema and developed an interest in the film industry.[4] Urban attended St Mark’s Church School,[5] where he showed an early love for public performance. His first acting role came at age eight, when he had a single line in one episode of the New Zealand television series Pioneer Woman.[3] Though continuing to take part in school stage productions, he did not act professionally again until after high school