“Respect My Craft” – Karl Urban

In this consumer-based industry, it can be easy to forget the years of hard work that the people in the business put in. Behind every panel, it takes a skilled writer, artist, inker and colorist to make the product complete. Behind each scene goes hours of preparation. Hush Comics’ weekly article “Respect My Craft” will dive into the history of these comic book and pop culture greats that will hopefully give a new perspective on how the men and women behind the pen (or stylus) contribute to the collective awesome-ness of the nerd world, or at least give you a reason to invest in their work.

Click on the link to view all our Denver Comic Con articles!

NOTE: Karl Urban can’t make Denver Comic Con.  So sad!  We will see you next year!

 

Name: Karl Urban

Profession: Actor

Notable Work: Star Trek (reboots), Xena: Warrior Princess, Lord of the Rings, RED, Almost Human

“That is a big danger, losing your inspiration. When I work in film and television I try to do each take a little differently. I never want to do the same thing twice, because then you’re not being spontaneous, you’re just recreating something.” – Karl Urban

 

We all know Karl Urban; even if you don’t think you know Urban, you do. If you are a nerd and follow this site, it’s safe to say that he’s been in something that you’ve seen. It safe to say he’s somehow in all or our favorite fandoms. He’s the guy who looks familiar but you can’t quite place him because his characters change so much – from Xena to Star Trek to Lord of the Rings. We all love him for different reasons and in many ways is the uniting factor between the different fandoms.

Urban went to school at the Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand. He left after a year to focus on his acting career. He started out in several commercials and then eventually got his start on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. On the shows he has played: Julius Caesar, Cupid, and Meal in Altered States. Hercules and Xena happen to be my first introduction to him. These shows have some of the largest international following and fandom, as well as, some of the most devoted fans in all of nerdom. It was also one of the longest-running and best fantasy franchises on television. Urban was going to be in Season 6 finale but due to conflicts with Lord of the Rings, he was unable to be in the episode. However, he was later written into a role for Julius Caeser in “When Fates Collide,” which is still considered one of the most popular Xena episodes.

That leads us to the other big franchise he’s been a part of: Lord of the mother fucking Rings. If you don’t know or have been hiding in a rock and never have watched Lord of the Rings, Urban was Éomer, Third Marshal of the Mark and successor to King Théoden. Urban’s character was introduced in The Two Towers. Since Éomer was an expert horseman, Urban spent a lot of time training with horses. His goal was to be able to reign in his horse while also wielding a sword. For two hours a day for eight weeks, he was on a horse, training for his role. This also meant he had the opportunity to gallivant around his native New Zealand and see the countryside, a landscape he has never before seen. The experience was epic and something he would never forget. One of his favorite memories was when he and a few other cast members were on set one day, and instead of make the hour-long trek back to the hotel, they fished and camped out in the New Zealand wilderness.

Urban has been introduced in three spate franchise in their second movie. Two Tower, Chronicles of Riddick and Borne Supremacy. Urban played Vaako in Chronicles of Riddick. For a nice little nerd fact for you; Urban, Vin Diesel, Judi Dench and Thandie Newton passed the time on set by playing Dungeons and Dragons. He was also a fan of the 2000 AD comic character Judge Dredd since he was a teenager and was thrilled to later reprise the role in the movie which came out in 2012. He was also in another comic book movie Red with Bruce Willis, John Malcovich, Morgan freeman. He had never read the comic before and was only exposed to the story when he read the script.

Of course, everything leads back to Star Trek. Urban has always been a fan of Star Trek. In JJ Abrams reprisal of Star Trek,Urban was cast as Dr. McCoy. It’s been said that his accent reminded Lenard Nimoy of the late DeForest Kelly so much that he was brought to tears on set. There were also a lot of rumors and question about his potential future involvement with Star Wars. Urban has no desire to do Star Wars. While he considers it his holy grail of genre shows and movies, he committed to the Trek world and didn’t want to bring the audience out from being immersed in Star Wars by hopping universes. Urban is also a huge fan of Harrison Ford and his alter-ego, Indiana Jones. He even named his son Indiana for his love of the franchise. He’s a nerd who makes nerd films.

The lasted show that Karl Urban has been a part of is Almost Human. Which, sadly, has been canceled. Fox has opted not to pick up a second season. The show was about a cop who is paired up with an android to solve crime. Urban felt the script was poignant and dynamic and that the characters were engaging. We can sadly add it to the ranks of Sarah Conner Chronicles, John Doe, and Firefly. Now that Almost Human has been scrapped I am curious for what’s next to come for the New Zealand actor. He’s not one to slow down anytime soon and I am sure that we will be seeing him in something very soon.

 

None of the media in this article belongs to Hush Comics; it all belongs to their respective properties. Join us tomorrow as we continue our countdown to Denver Comic Con with Danger Girl creator and famous Marvel cover artist, J. Scott Campbell.

Monthly Movie Preview: September 2013

Hey guys! It’s been a whole year since we’ve done this, but with the rise in good independent films and nerd-based movies, we feel like now is as good of a time to get back on it as any. While action films tend to rule supreme, September is a month of promising documentaries and indy films, making up for the super-saturation of action movies this summer.

September 6 – Riddick

Starring: Vin Diesel, Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), Dave Bautista (WWE wrester)

The third installment of the trilogy following Diesel’s Riddick around a desolate future where vicious creatures rule the darkness. The Riddick series has garnered quite the cult following and it’s not without reason. The sweet special effects, a strong protagonist and a fully-enveloped world helped the previous two films, Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick, carve out a niche in the sci-fi world. Riddick‘s story starts with our main character left for dead on some God-forsaken planet, killing lost of nasty alien creatures and humans that get in his way while he saves a planet from being described. Ya know, pretty much every sci-fi plot since science fiction was a thing. While this film will definitely create some buzz, like most of Diesel’s other flicks, I don’t expect it to make too much noise. That said, this will definitely be a movie I will want to see in theaters. I’ve really enjoyed Diesel’s performances of the first two films and I can’t wait to see how the third one plays out. – S

September 6 – Salinger

Starring: Martin Sheen, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Judd Apatow, many other famous people

Salinger is a documentary centered around the secluded life of legendary author, J.D. Salinger, whose book, The Catcher in the Rye, after multiple murderers (one being that of The Beatles’ John Lennon) claimed that his book inspired them to carry out the murders. It will be a pretty in-depth look at the man behind the myth. Salinger has been described as being “exhaustively researched” by one of its critics; this is something that Adrian (an English major and readaholic) will geek out about, and viewers who are not as well-versed in literature, like me, can look forward to learning a lot from it. The documentary’s director, Shane Salerno, has been working on the film for over eight years, and has co-written an extensive biography on Salinger. Salerno describes the film as a view “inside J.D. Salinger’s private world and shine light on a man named Jerry who lived in the shadow of the myth of J.D. Salinger.” Our book nerds will have a review to look forward to on this film for sure. – S

September 13 – The Family

Starring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones

A fun spin on mob family comedies, The Family is a tale about a man (played by De Niro) that informs on the mob and enters the Witness Protection program, moving his family to France in order to remain anonymous from the crime family that he snitched on. The best part about the trailer is that his whole family is a bunch of jerks. Their mob mentality hasn’t gone away at all, and from the previews, it’s a pretty humorous look at mafia mentality translated to other areas of life. Surprisingly, laying low doesn’t last long. Explosions and hilarity ensue. It doesn’t look ground-breaking or anything, but it is an original spin on a dated idea. It could be worth a look. – S

September 13 – The Muslims Are Coming

Starring: A buncha Muslim comedians, political comedians (John Stewart, Lewis Black, etc)

The Muslims Are Coming! is a documentary/stand up comedy centered around Muslim comedians trying to break the race barrier with humor. It’s been years since I’ve seen a stand-up movie in theaters, but as an Arab-American, I feel pretty invested in this. The Muslims Are Coming! started off as a Kickstarter campaign, believe it or not. While it’s sold as a stand-up comedy, my guess is that a majority of the film will use personal encounters with Southerners and a slew of celebrity interviews to try to eliminate Mulsimophobia in the film. It also brings to light the issue of acceptance of Westernized Muslims by traditional Muslims. Muslims raised in America often find themselves trapped in the middle, not being accepted by either traditional Muslims or the mainstream American population. It looks to be a pretty decent movie, boasting, “You’ve never laughed this hard at a Muslim.” – S

September 20 – C.O.G

Starring: David Sedaris’ genius, Johnathan Groff (The Conspirator), Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars)

It’s amazing that a film based off anything of David Sedaris’ life is being made at all.  If you are unfamiliar with who David Sedaris is, let me clue you in.  Sedaris is a bestselling author of creative non-fiction.  I wouldn’t go as far as to say his writings are all memoir, because memoir doesn’t necessarily make people laugh.  Sedaris has written about all his odd jobs, his life with boyfriend Hugh, his time in NYC and Chicago, and his family and childhood in North Carolina.  The reason there has never been a film made of his books and/or stories is because he always felt that his family would be mocked rather than acted and he never wanted them portrayed that way.  That being said, I don’t believe Sedaris’ family will take much of a role in C.O.G.  C.O.G. stands for Child of God.  As a fair warning, this movie is probably not for bigots, homophobes or religious zealots.  The story of C.O.G. will be a mixture of stories David wrote about his early 20’s working the apple season in the northwest and then carving clocks with a friend he makes.  That being said, I cannot wait to see this film.  Sedaris is my favorite author and i know he has had a lot to do with the making of the film.  Be ready to laugh hysterically, be shocked and even come away enlightened. – A

September 27 – Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2

Starring: Bill Hader (SNL), Anna Farris (Scary Movie), Andy Samberg (SNL), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Terry Crews

As the month’s lone family film, Meatballs 2 looks to pick up where the second film left off. Flint and the rest of Swallow Falls return to a land they had to evacuate after Flint’s food machine forced the population out of town. When they return, it gets all Land of the Lost meets the Food Channel. The entire island has evolved and food creatures now rule over the treacherous land. Every creature is some silly play on names, the most hilarious being the Tacodile… SUPREME! It looks to be full of laughs for the whole family, with a few SNL alumni to keep things fresh for kids and adults alike. I really enjoyed the first installment, so I expect the sequel to repeat the formula that made the original so successful. – S

September 27 – Don Jon

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza

Setting aside my total man-crush on JGL (yeah, he has his own acronym), I’m genuinely excited to see Don Jon. In his writing and directing debut, Gordon-Levitt also stars as a sex-addicted bro-guy who unexpectedly falls for Scarlett Johansson and has to decide if he wants to live his life through porn or whether he wants to settle down with a decent girl. Of course, any time you mention Scarlett Johansson and sex-addiction in the same sentence, I’m sold. In all honestly, though, this looks to be a different approach. I’m sure there will be gratuitous sex in Don Jon, but I think that it will be limited. I see Joseph Gordon-Levitt adding depth to a seemingly shallow film. Don Jon looks like it will be a fun independent film, and hopefully will put JGL on the map as more than just an awesome actor. It’s the film I’m most excited for this month. – S

September 27 – As I Lay Dying

Starring: James Franco, Danny McBride

You may have thought right off the bat that a movie starring James Franco and Danny McBride would be a sequel to this summer’s This is the End.  But a second glance at the title, and you may be reminded of William Faulkner’s classic American novel of the same name.  As a bibliophile myself, I am always excited to see moviemakers ideas about a book.  William Faulkner is one of the best authors in American history, so it shouldn’t be too hard to make a quality film of his genius.  James Franco not only plays the main character, Darl, but he also directs the film.  The main plot is a family of brothers and sisters must bury their dead mother in a nearby town.  Keep in mind that the book was written in 1930, so this will be a period piece.  I look forward to seeing where this adaptation takes the viewer. – A

September 27 – Rush

Starring: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Daniel Brühl (famous German actor), Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy, Butter, House, drooooool….)

Blah blah blah, Olivia Wilde, blah blah blah, racing. Wait, what? Olivia Wilde? Sold! Rush is a Ron Howard film about the rivalry between Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda that is more about the two driving each other to be the best than it is about winning. Lauda is severely injured in a crash (actual footage shown below) and he tries to make a comeback, with the help of Hunt pushing him. While it looks like it would make a really cool ESPN 30 for 30 documentary,  I don’t know that I could watch the movie without thinking of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Help me, Tom Cruise, it has Olivia Wilde in it, so I’m automatically interested. – S

That’s quite a bit of movies for September! Look out for October’s preview in a month.

Written by Sherif Elkhatib and Adrian Puryear