Urban Renewal

Karl Urban has long since done his time in the fields of Middle-Earth on the Queensland, Australia set of Ghost Ship. Urban, who essays the role of Éomer in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and next year's The Return of the King, is reading his script in preparation for the afternoon's Ship work, and the New Zealand actor seems rather surprised but happy to talk about his burgeoning career.

He's enjoying the Ship experience. "First, for me, it's really lovely to be stuck on the Gold Coast for three months," he laughs. "I've had such a great time here, and it has really been half holiday, half work. This is not a new experience for me, though, because I've worked on the biggest film on the planet, The Lord of the Rings, so I guess the difference is that it's another country. That's the new element for me. A great chance for me to work abroad. I'm really enjoying it."

Urban's credits include a number of Kiwi productions, including the lead in Glenn Standring's The Irrefutable Truth About Demons, though it was a non-genre movie that pointed him toward his Lord of the Rings role. "I did a film called The Price of Milk, which was directed by Harry Sinclair," he explains. "Harry is good friends with Peter Jackson, and after Harry had finished his first cut, he took it to Pete and they discussed it—they're quite collaborative like that—and so Harry went away and did some more work on it. I guess I just happened to be in Pete's face when he was looking to cast someone for the role of Éomer. So I was quite fortunate to be able to sidestep the whole audition process."

This was quite a different experience from the rest of the locally cast Lord of the Rings performers. "They did an amazing cattle call audition where they saw everyone in the country," Urban reveals. "It was a really lovely thing to do, because there have been some New Zealand productions where roles were just not available to you and they didn't even give you the courtesy, the consideration, to put your card in the hat. But to their credit, they saw everybody, and they won the cooperation and respect of the New Zealand acting fraternity because they went about it the right way. Peter is a man of great integrity. He's very laid-back, but he's also very specific and knows what he wants."

Discussing the specifics of his role in Lord of the Rings at this stage, however, may result in him being thrown into the deepest reaches of MOrdor forever. "I have to be very careful in what I talk about, because I've signed a contract saying that I'm not allowed to discuss it until it comes out, and even then I have to talk to New Line about it," Urban notes. "I can tell you that Éomer is the chief rider for the Riders of Rohan, and nephew to Théoden. If you've read the books, you know that Éomer has his function to play in the story. He serves a purpose when we first meet the Fellowship, after they run off at the end of the first film. They come across Éomer and he has a pivotal function there. And later on in the story, he meets up with the Fellowship again."

As to whether his character diverges from how he was written in J.R.R. Tolkien's novels, Urban emphatically states, "No. Pete, Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] were very aware that this trilogy has a massive following and that it would be sacrilegious to go in there and change things. I'm sure there were some things, in adapting the books to film, they had to change, but I was really impressed with the way they so ardently stuck to the novels. You've seen in the first film that it's pretty much verbatim to what happens in the book, and that's their attitude toward the whole trilogy."

Urban, who claims that he was happy to stay well clear of the prosthetics required for many of the other Rings actors, was even more pleased by the positive worldwide recognition to The Fellowship of the Ring. "I'm so elated and relieved that it has been such a phenomenal success," he says. "I knew it would be, but I believe a lot of people didn't. It's unprecedented that a studio would spend that much money on three films and have them all bought and paid for and shot before the first one is released. That takes some serious balls. I'm so proud of being a part of it, and I'm in awe of having the opportunity to experience that, and of Pete Jackson. He's one of the most amazing directors I have ever, or will ever, work with. Without a doubt, it was a great experience."

While Urban first came to genre fans' attention as the cruel but fair bouncer called the Sweeper in Scott Reynolds's twisted 1999 thriller Heaven, the actor has also been visible to American viewers playing Julius Caesar and other roles in two episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and about a dozen of Xena: The Warrior Princess. Nonetheless, "I don't necessarily feel that my work on Xena was my introduction to the U.S. market," the actor says. "It's difficult for me to be objective, but the reason I was picked up by managers and agents and producers was actually some of the films I've done. Mainly, The Price of Milk. That was quite a big door-opener. Some people saw that in Toronto and Cannes, and it's from that that they were interested.

"And of course, once Lord of the Rings was tagged on, although no one had seen it, that's what people identify with. Xena has a certain demographic audience, and it was great to work on. It was the first time in my career that I had worked on a show with higher production values than anything that had previously been shot in New Zealand. And a lot of what I learned on Xena was helpful in preparing me to work on subsequent projects."

Including Ghost Ship, in which he appears opposite established stars like Julianna Margulies and Garbiel Byrne as part of a salvage crew struggling for their lives aboard the titular haunted vessel. Of his character Munder, Urban offers, "He's a smart-arsed guy but, on the flip side, he's also very, very good at what he does. He is a marine engineer, a first-class welder, and that's one of the elements that attracted me to playing Munder—the polarity. On one hand he's a joker, but on the other he's very skilled."

The role requires some underwater work, which Urban was enthusiastic about tackling. "One thing I love about my job is that, in the course of playing different characters, I get to pick up new skills. On this one it was getting my dive certificate, and learning about diving and the structure of ships and welding and all that sort of stuff. I went and got my dive ticket as soon as I got to Surfers Paradise, and it was amazing.

"By and large, Ghost Ship hasn't been a difficult shoot," he continues. "Actually, it has been one of the easiest shoots that I've ever had the pleasure of working on. The scene I enjoyed filming the most was where the entire crew is sitting around the tugboat cabin, having just found the Antonia Graza and deciding what to do. The reason I like it is because every single character is in the scene, and you get to see the functioning working relationships and the dynamics of the different characters. From an acting perspective, it was the most stimulating thing."

The actor also professes a passion for horror fare, and pulls out a copy of Halloween to prove his point. "I've had this film on, and every night I plug it in and play it over and over again. It's more than 20 years old and it still stands up. I'm definitely a fan of the genre. I love science fiction. I love horror films. I love gore when it's done well and actually serves to improve the story. If I'm seeing a science fiction or horror film, I expect that it's not necessarily going to be about the acting; from the safety of my seat, I want to be freaked out. The Price of Milk I would consider as my first lead, but in terms of working schedule and commitment, The Irrefutable Truth About Demons was probably the first time where I was in every single scene of the film."

Demons cast Urban as Harry Ballard, whose cult-busting work becomes personal when he is abducted and his girlfriend killed by a particularly savage group of occultists. Though his character is an expert on the supernatural, Urban didn't conduct too much in the way of his own research. "I looked at a lot of websites," he recalls, "but I didn't really delve too deeply into it. I didn't feel I had to go and immerse myself in all the dark shit to get the point of that particular story across."

Understandably, Urban had to save his energy for the more physical demands of the role. "It was a very arduous shoot," he says. "The entire thing was shot at night—six weeks of night shots—and it was quite relentless, shot in Wellington in the middle of winter. Ghost Ship is a walk in the park compared to that."

The Irrefutable Truth About Demons proved to be one of New Zealand's most successful cinematic exports, though Urban is reserved in his own praise for his work in it. "I'm hypercritical of everything I do," he admits. "I'm very seldom totally happy with anything I've done. There were things about it that I'm happy with and things I would like to have done differently. But an actor is only one element in the structure of film, and there's only so much you can do and only so much effect you can have. But at the end of the day, for a film that was made for about $1.2 million New Zealand, it has done remarkably well."

He notes that the film's positive international reception didn't translate into an increase in offers for his acting services. "I have had interest that came from The Irrefutable Truth About Demons, but no actual concrete work was generated. I got scripts from Germany but, at the end of the day, nothing. But that's fine. You can't expect that to happen from every film."

While Hollywood has serious problems with runaway U.S. productions giving work to the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand industries, many members of those communities have expressed their own concerns over these cultural invaders. Urban disagrees with that point of view, however. "Personally, I feel it's great for the New Zealand film industry to have a reasonably steady stream of offshore projects come in, because I don't believe New Zealand has enough productions to sustain the whole industry year-round," he says. "The films we make there are funded by the New Zealand Film Commission, which was set up by the governement, and they are allotted a certain amount of funding each year. But after Xena and Hercules and all their subsidiary shows finished, there was a wealth of talented, trained crewmembers and no work.

Many of them went straight on to Lord of the Rings," he continues, "but I would hope that it means, from an international perspective, that New Zealand would be seen as a highly viable place to shoot films. Not only because of the exchange rate but also, and more importantly, because we have an amazing array of talented people. I was so chuffed to see Richard Taylor winning an Oscar, because the attention to detail in Lord of the Rings is phenomenal. There's stuff in those costumes that you will never see—but it's there. The little hand-riveted domes, the little swirls on leather straps on a buckle."

The actor points out that Renaissance Pictures, the company behind Hercules and Xena, was a positive influence on local production. "That was probably the first time in my career that I truly felt like I was being treated with and accorded the proper respect," he says. "Just through their approach to people, they had a really positive effect on the New Zealand film industry, because it brought a new level of professionalism with regard to how production interacts with actors. In my opinion, some of the productions I had previously worked on in New Zealand were sorely lacking in that element. Eric Gruendemann and Rob Tapert are really lovely guys, really approachable. Producers who return your phone call and who listen to you if you've got valid points to make or things that concern you or elements you may want to change—they recognize that it's your goal to try and improve the project and make it as good as it can be. It was quite a collaboration, and I appreciated that."

One hybrid production Urban took part in was Heaven, which was backed (and unfortunately dumped) by Miramax, with the Kiwi Reynolds directing American stars Martin Donovan, Joanna Going and Richard Schiff. "Heaven was my second feature," Urban says, "and it was the first time I had worked on a production with that budget and international actors. It was a fun, crazy time. Scott is a very intense director. The good thing about him is that he knows what he wants. He's so specific, down to the way a character should lean on a bar or how he should punch someone in the face or how the style of fighting should be. I really appreciate that in a director, because it makes my job so much easier.

"And just watching the different styles and methods of the actors—Richard Schiff on the one hand and Martin Donovan on the other. I was really pleased. It was a good little film in the end, very cleverly edited and put together, and I loved the way Simon Raby shot it. It looked beautiful. Richard and Martin were fantastic to work with and their performances were terrific. So, a good little flick. Obviously not to everyone's taste. It's quite dark, but I like that."

His experiences with the Ghost Ship cast have been equally memorable. "It's a real thrill to work with Gabriel," Urban raves. "I've been such a fan of his work for a long time—Miller's Crossing is the best gangster film ever made, in my opinion. Some of the fondest memories I'll have of this will be sitting around, like the rest of the cast, listening to Gabriel and all the tales he has to tell. He's been in this business for so long and has hundreds of funny stories. Julianna and Ron [Eldard]—everybody—a real pleasure to work with. There hasn't been a bad scene amongst the cast—which is great. On any job, in any working environment, inevitably there are some people you get on with and people you don't. I've been fortunate that, on this, the majority of people I have got on with. It always amuses me when reporters ask that question. Do you honestly expect any actor to go, 'That guy was a prick'? they can't do that. They've signed contracts that say you can't defame the production."

The only slight pitfall of working on Ghost Ship that Urban can identify is,"I have to adopt an American accent. It's a challenge, but it's just another aspect of the job."

Ghost Ship is the first original script produced by Dark Castle, which previously refashioned House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts, but Urban has no basis for comparing the projects. "I haven't seen any of the Dark Castle films," he notes, "but I have seen a lot of [producer] Joel Silver's pictures. The initial attraction for me was that there's an element in this script which is quite unique. That is the visual of seeing the rusting hulk of the 1950s ocean liner suddenly looming out of the mist and having it dwarf the Artic Warrior beside it. To me, it takes the audience out of their zone of comfort and security. Because there you are, out on your own on the big ocean—no one to save you, no safety net. An interesting premise—when things suddenly go wrong, there's no one there to help you."

While genre fare has taken up quite a bit of Urban's résumé so far, he notes that a horrific or fantastical nature doesn't automatically attract him to a role. "I'm interested in working in anything that gets me going, that appeals to me, and genre is not necessarly a deciding factor. For me, it primarily comes down to what the character is and the story they're trying to tell. If that's intriguing and if I start to feel stuff while reading a script, then that's the film I want to make. I have a natural predispostion toward sci-fi, but I wouldn't spend my whole career just doing that stuff. There are a whole lot of other things out there that interest me. It would be suicidal to limit myself to just being a genre actor.

"One thing I've learned about acting," he concludes, "is that you really have no right to expect anything, and I've tried to live with that viewpoint, and that way I won't be disappointed when nothing happens and I'll be pleasantly surprised when somethign does. Obviously I just want to continue to work and to collaborate with people of the caliber of those I have already been fortunate to work with. I've been pretty blessed so far, and I hope that continues."