Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now lives in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, he is the son of a leather goods manufacturer (who had hoped hoped that Karl would follow in his footsteps). His first acting role was when he was 8 -- he had a line on a television show. However, he did not act again until after high school. He was offered a role in the NZ drama Shortland Street, as he was preparing to attend Victoria University. After appearing on the show for the 1993-1994 season he attended the university for one year, then left to pursue his acting career. Over the next few years, he landed several theater roles in the Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to Auckland where a number of guest roles in NZ television followed. One of his first roles was that of a heroin addict in the drama _"Shark In the Park" (1989)_ . He was in a movie as well, entitled Once in Chunuck Bay (AKA Chunuk Bair). Other television roles followed, including a guest starring role in the series White Fang. Karl's biggest role yet is Éomer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.


He is, and has almost always been, very active. He worked on his aunt and uncle's farm for many years doing odd jobs. For filming the "Lord of the Rings" movies, he realized that Eomer was a consummate horseman and he was nowhere near that level, so he invested a lot of time learning--six to eight weeks, five days a week, two hours a day. He wanted to learn to neck rein, a method of steering a horse using one hand while leaving the other hand free to wield a sword. He wanted to be so at one with the horse that he wasn't conscious or concerned about what the horse was doing. In addition, he also enjoys indoor rock climbing. Hobbies include fishing, surfing, golf, and gardening. Primary school classmate of Jack Yan. Has a son, Hunter Urban (born November 1, 2000), with wife, Natalie Dennis. His character of Cupid was originally written into the "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995) Season 5 finale episode "Motherhood", but Urban was unavailable because he was filming "The Lord of the Rings" elsewhere in New Zealand. As compensation, Robert G. Tapert wrote the Season 6 episode "When Fates Collide" specifically for him, this time for his more popular character of Julius Caesar. Tapert also used this episode as an opportunity to bid farewell to two other fan favorite recurring characters; Alti and Brutus, portrayed by Claire Stansfield and David Franklin. "When Fates Collide" became one of the most popular episodes of the entire series. Is good friends with co-stars Viggo Mortensen from "Lord of the Rings" and Renée O'Connor from "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995). Appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which was previously made as an animated film with the voice of John Huston. Urban later appeared in "Comanche Moon" (2008), a prequel to "Lonesome Dove" (1989), which featured Anjelica Huston. Has played the younger versions of iconic characters in two "prequels." He plays Woodrow Call in the "Lonesome Dove" (1989) prequel "Comanche Moon" (2008) and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek (2009).