
Prior to portraying Bones McCoy in 2009's alternate-reality Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and now Star Trek Beyond, Karl Urban was perhaps best known for his dynamic turn as Rohan warrior Eomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and for his chilling performance as a fellow assasin in The Bourne Supremacy.
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Urban first appeared on television as a child. Throughout his school years he wrote, directed and starred in many film and stage productions. As a young adult he continued to pursue his acting career training and working throughout Australia and Asia in theater, film and television. Urban landed his feature film debut in Haven and garnered two Best Actor nominations at the New Zealand Film Awards for his work in The Satellite and the critically acclaimed indie film The Price of Milk. Urban won Best Actor at the Quantas Film Awards for his portrayal of Nick in Out of the Blue. For television, he played several early-career roles on Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Since Star Trek, Urban has taken on the high-profile parts of the title character in Judge Dredd and reprised his character Lord Vaako in Riddick, the Chronicles of Riddick sequel. His other recent credits have included RED, Walking with Dinosaurs, The Loft and the short-lived sci-fi series Almost Human.
Urban resides with his family in his native New Zealand and is an avid supporter of KIDS CAN, an organization that feeds and clothes over 30,000 New Zealand children who live in poverty.