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 (1992), 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 (1992)).
Urban was seen on the internationally syndicated American television shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in which he played both Cupid and Julius Caesar from 1996 to 2001. These shows were filmed in New Zealand. He won the New Zealand Film and TV Awards for his role in the 2000 film The Price of Milk. Urban's Hollywood break did not come until his role in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, Karl has worked on many blockbusters including The The Lord of the Rings trilogy (in which he played Éomer of Rohan), The Bourne Supremacy and The Chronicles of Riddick. He played John "Reaper" Grimm, one of the lead characters in Universal Pictures' Doom which was released in October 2005. Following his role in Doom, he played the lead in the Viking film Pathfinder, which was released in April 2007.