Karl Urban Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters

In true Boys fashion,

if you make the right choice you get rewarded,

and if you make the wrong choice you get punished.

And Butcher has a tendency of like

nine times outta 10, he will make the wrong choice.

[dynamic music]

The Boys.

Who the hell are you?

How do you know that?

The name's Butcher, Billy Butcher.

The fantastic thing about working on The Boys,

it's a very collaborative process.

If you come up with an idea that has some merit,

you pitch it to Kripke, he's fantastic.

He plays best idea wins.

When we were shooting the first season,

and there's a scene where Butcher is trying to convince

Hughie to go into Vought and plant a listening device.

Then, go back into the boardroom, sit down, big smiles,

plant the bug underneath the table.

Easy peasy, Japanesey.

Bob's your uncle.

That's that.

That's that?

To me, it seemed very like the threshold

of the rabbit going down the rabbit hole

in Alice in Wonderland.

And also reminded me a bit of The Matrix.

With that in mind, I pitched Kripke an idea

that Butcher would reference The Matrix.

And it's like, this is this moment.

And then we shot that.

And that's the one that they ended up using.

I stuffed it up.

The story, I got the pills confused,

which was an absolute accident in the moment.

It just ended up being comedy genius,

which is, it's very Butcher.

Crying into your chai tea, green latte, what the [beeps].

Or, you could take the blue pill, or was it the red pill?

Anyway, take the other pill and quit being a--

Which pill do you want me to take?

Just quit being a [beeps].

That's what I'm saying.

I think, as far as Butcher's relationship

with Hughie goes, the sort of underlying connection

between the two, Butcher is on a path of revenge.

The incorrect path to be on.

Hughie was really on the path for justice,

for what happened to Robin.

And that's obviously the correct path.

In true Boys fashion,

if you make the right choice you get rewarded,

and if you make the wrong choice you get punished.

And Butcher has a tendency of like

nine times outta 10, he will make the wrong choice.

[metal rattling]

Sorry about the mess.

The whale is probably one of the most crazy scenes

that I've ever shot in my career, to tell you the truth.

That was me actually driving the speed boat.

And the day that we picked was actually a pretty stormy day.

And so, and I was going at

a considerable amount of speed.

And I was like, actually getting air off the waves.

Poor Jack Quaid is, I think, never been in a speed boat,

let alone a speed boat that's jumping waves

and flying through the air.

And he was freaked out.

He had a safety word, which was Carl.

And he's sitting up at the front of the boat,

and he's not facing me.

Apparently he's screaming at the top of his lungs.

He's like Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl!

I didn't hear him.

But we ended at the run,

and this poor kid was white as a sheet.

And I thought it was just that he was seasick or something,

but he was terrified.

We ended up swapping him out and we had somebody else come

and put Hughie's clothes on.

And this guy loved it.

He was having a ball.

And the whale itself was an actual

gigantic sort of 60 foot whale.

They built it on a beach.

And we had a boat on a track,

which we slammed into that.

And it was a fully interior exterior set,

where they had organs still pumping inside.

I mean, it was gross.

We were covered in blood.

But, a lot of fun.

Well, I think where we find Butcher

at the beginning of season three,

he's in a state where he hasn't processed

the death of Becca at all.

He is struggling to be some kind of paternal figure to Ryan,

which he dearly wants to be.

And to honor his promise to Becca to protect him.

But you know, that task is completely at odds

with Butcher's fundamental core mission,

which is to get revenge on Homelander.

And so obviously, something's gotta give.

And really the season is about

how far are you willing to go?

Are you willing to turn yourself into a monster

in order to defeat that monster?

And obviously, in Butcher's case, he's like, yeah.

Sure, why not?

Still a thing, eh?

That's my thing.

I founded it in '52.

Me and this other supe, Liberty.

Man, was she a firecracker.

Butcher really comes in at the end of it.

So I didn't get the full brunt of the herogasm experience.

Jensen tells this great story where he's walking on set

one day, and he sees one of the cameramen on a box

eating a sandwich, and he goes, hey, how's it going?

And the cameraman looks up at him

with this thousand-yard stare, and goes,

dude, I've seen some shit. [laughing]

I really felt for the crew 'cause they,

they really got put through it on that one.

And just hearing the first AD give directions to the extras.

Okay, can you please put your hand on his, yeah.

And then can you put her, your.

I mean, it was just like, what are we shooting here?

It was wild.

It was a lot of fun.

Star Trek.

Jim Kirk.

McCoy, Leonard McCoy.

[dramatic music]

Well, there was certainly points there

where I definitely felt the weight

and responsibility of getting it right.

Stepping into such an iconic character

that was played so wonderfully well by the late

great DeForest Kelley, and really a beloved character.

JJ was very adamant that we should go in there

and make these characters our own, to some extent I did.

But I also felt like as a long term fan of Star Trek,

that it was important to see some sort of recognizability,

particularly in the character of Bones.

For me, it was really about sort of cherry picking

some of the essence of what DeForest Kelley did,

and sort of imbuing it into the character,

without sort of slipping into some kind of imitation,

which wouldn't have been a good move.

Ship's being hit, shields at 60%.

I understand.

Well, should we, I dunno, fire back?

No.

Of course not.

And it was fun.

And again, JJ was also a wonderfully collaborative director,

and we were all very blessed to be in a situation

where he was open to collaborating, to work with you,

and to help build those characters.

Such technology could theoretically be manipulated

to create a tunnel through space time.

Dammit man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist.

Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?

If you eliminate the impossible,

whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

How poetic.

It's just great to be able to get together

every now and then and make one of those movies.

And it's the best hang.

You don't stop laughing.

From Simon Pegg, to Chris Pine and John Cho,

they're incredibly funny guys.

I mean, you're literally in hysterics all day long.

And the last one was the best.

Sadly, it was after that,

that we lost Anton, tragically, and that really hurt.

Was such an amazing guy, so intelligent,

and had such a massive future ahead of him.

He was gonna get into directing,

and an extraordinary actor as well.

Very well respected.

And for us to lose him was a real tragedy.

But that summer, where we shot Star Trek Beyond

was probably my favorite Star Trek movie that we shot.

We were up in Vancouver and we were tight.

It was good fun.

Xena: Warrior Princess.

I had done a bunch of stuff in New Zealand.

And then Rob Tapert, who's an amazing producer,

brought a show to New Zealand called Hercules.

And off that was spun off Xena: Warrior Princess,

which was Lucy Lawless' show.

And that was an incredible experience

for a multitude of reasons.

It was the first time that a show of that production value

had really been shot in New Zealand.

And it really upskilled everybody, not only just actors,

but also the crew.

And in actual fact, many of the crew

were then cherry picked by Peter Jackson,

and they went on to work on Lord of the Rings.

Ngila Dickson, who did the wardrobe for those shows,

went on to win an Oscar.

As did Richard Taylor, and with her.

So, that show was really vital

for the New Zealand film industry in a lot of ways.

And was an incredible learning experience for all of us.

I really always enjoy playing the villains.

Interesting.

Roman design.

I can't believe you would double cross me,

just as I was about to double cross you.

How'd you know?

Those characters that you have are just

so driven and so focused.

And you have a lot of fun playing them, as you can see.

So for me, yeah, I mean, it's like

anytime I had an opportunity to play a villain

on that show was a good day.

[dynamic music]

Having the opportunity to work with Lucy Lawless

and to see how a number one drives the ship,

was an invaluable, inspirational experience.

She's got her eye on the clock and she's like,

all right, come on, lots to do.

And she's just sort of gently getting everybody to,

when the crew gets tired, to sort of focus,

and sort of drive forward.

And I still think of her, even today,

when I'm shooting The Boys, and the example that she set.

She's an amazing woman.

Lord of the Rings.

What business does an elf, a man, and a dwarf

have in the Riddermark?

Speak quickly!

Give me your name, horsemaster.

I had done a small New Zealand film

called The Price of Milk.

And the director of that

was very good friends with Peter Jackson.

And he took a rough cut of The Price of Milk

down to show Peter.

And I just happened to be in Peter's face

when he was looking for someone

to cast in the roll of Eomer.

We kind of get this call out of the blue,

inviting me to come down and play with them.

And I was absolutely elated.

This was like a dream come true.

Theoden king stands alone.

Not alone.

Rohirrim!

The battle scenes in Lord of the Rings,

I mean, were pretty insane.

Sure, there's a certain amount that was generated,

where a lot that was generated on a computer.

But they also went to such extreme measures

to put some serious numbers on the field.

And I remember when we were shooting,

I think one of the charges of Minas Tirith,

they put out a call in the South Island to all

able-bodied horse riders to bring your horse

to this location, on this day.

And hundreds and hundreds of people turned up,

a lot of women turned up.

And they slapped beards on them,

and put them in these fantastic costumes.

And we had a significant, like hundreds of riders there,

charging down the field.

And the sound of it, I'll never forget the sound of,

the earth was literally shaking.

I mean, I saw more of my country shooting that

over the three years than I had living there my entire life.

The friendships that were formed in that

were, really endured.

You felt like you went through something.

Peter Jackson is such a genius.

He's literally like working with an Einstein of film.

His knowledge is so impressive.

Just to be in the company of

such incredibly talented people,

right throughout the production.

And if you just look at that cast,

likes of Viggo Mortensen, and Ian McKellen,

Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Brad Dourif,

I mean, these guys were incredible.

And I remember taking any opportunity I could

to actually watch these guys work.

And I remember watching, Viggo for example,

and just seeing the way that he would subtly

put the emphasis in different places, every single take.

And that was a really huge lesson for me,

that he had the confidence in not only himself,

but then also the process,

the director, the editor to do that.

Honestly, it was one of the most

amazing experiences of my life.

Dredd.

I didn't read many comics at all.

In fact, pretty much Dredd was the only one.

But I really responded to the world of Dredd.

The character, the dark sort of satirical

look at this dystopian future.

And also the character, who could be heroic at times,

but he could also be a villain.

And as a representative of a very

sort of right wing regime establishment,

it's set in a time where politicians

have been dispensed with and the judges

have literally taken power, and are now

patrolling the streets dispensing on the spot justice.

And it's a ruthless kind of justice.

Working with Alex Garland, who was the writer,

and pretty much the director of the whole project,

was an invaluable experience.

Most of Dredd was shot at Cape Town Film Studios.

We did a little bit exterior work in a couple of locations,

driving the Lawmaster motorbike, that was a lot of fun.

But yeah, so for the most part, it was all in the studio.

And I remember a lot of practical effects,

there were a lot of explosions.

And we were firing weapons that were actually real weapons,

that had a casing built around it

to make them look like futuristic Lawmaster weapons.

But yeah, it was a lot of fun.

I'd actually met Lena years ago

on the set of Bourne Supremacy.

I remember, we were shooting some pickups in London,

and it was a scene where Dredd comes in at the end,

and they sort of face each other.

And I come on set, and I'm wearing the Dredd helmet,

and she's standing at the far end of the set.

And she just, she looks at me

and just starts maniacally laughing.

Let's just say it added good motivation to the scene.

I mean, she was crazy.

She's brilliant in the film.

Do you know how many people live in this block?

This isn't a negotiation.

The sentence is death.

You can't afford to take the risk.

And I certainly would be interested

to revisit the character.

There's just such a great depth of material there

that was written by John Wagner,

and various writers over the years.

Particularly stories revolving around Judge Death.

And a lot of great stories.

To me, it doesn't bother me if I get the opportunity

to play Dredd again, or it's someone else.

I would just love to see those stories.

I mean, I'd be excited for anybody

who gets their hands on the rights to do that.

That'd be incredible.

Thor: Ragnarok.

Behold.

My stuff.

Ooh!

I'm particularly fond of these.

I pulled 'em out of a place on Midgard called Tex-as.

I really just got a call from Taika

out of the blue saying, hey, do you wanna come and play?

I've got this really cool role of Skurge.

You'd be working with Cate Blanchett.

I'm like, sign me up.

I don't need to read anything.

I'll stop you there.

What I meant was, what's your ambition?

I just want a chance to prove myself.

It was fantastic.

I mean, I remember turning up to work one day on set

and there's Sam Neil, Anthony Hopkins,

and just sitting around.

And that, to me, is probably one of my favorite days

when you're sitting around with Tony Hopkins,

and Sam Neill, shooting the shirt.

Sam Neill was probably one of the actors

that had really inspired me to be an actor,

coming from New Zealand,

getting in an international career.

And same with Anthony Hopkins.

And the thing that I loved about working with Taika

is that the take wasn't sacrilegious.

You'd be in the middle of a take, doing a dialogue,

and he would come and go, hey,

why don't you try and say this or that?

Or why don't you come pick up that, or do that?

And it was really kind of liberating in a way,

because there was nothing precious about it.

And it just became like a lot more free-flowing,

and a lot more improvisational.

For Asgard.

[dramatic music]

There was actually a scene that didn't make the final cut.

'Cause the character has a really wonderful arc,

that first of all, out of self preservation,

he aligns himself with Hela.

Because he could see that if he doesn't

he's gonna be killed.

But then, through the course of the film,

he gets more and more sickened by what he's required to do

in order to hold that decision up, to work for her.

And there's a scene where he chops the head off

this young girl in a town square because Hela asks him to.

And then post that scene, there's a scene

which didn't make the final cut,

is he is absolutely sickened to the core.

We find him in some corner.

And he's actually being physically sick by what he's done.

And that was really sort of the genesis

for this turn that he takes,

and the guilt that he feels about what he's done,

and how he's going to, at the right point in time,

make it right.

And that's always fun when you have a character

that you can take him in one direction,

and then have a pivot.

I always, if I can find the opportunity to do that, I will.

That's one of the things I look for in a role.

And another one is to make sure

that the character has a real utility, a real function.

Like if you can tell the story without your character,

then that's not something that you wanna do.

If the character serves no utility, no purpose, no function,

don't do the role.

[gun popping]

Out of the Blue.

I ran into a friend of mine and she said, oh,

my husband's producing this movie.

And I remember, and the movie was about

a small town massacre in the South Island,

in, I'm gonna say, 19, early 1990s.

And I think it was tragically

about 12 or 13 people were shot.

And that, we'd never experienced anything like that before.

Psychopathic gunman went loose.

And I remember that vividly.

I remember it as it unfolded.

And I sort of thought, well that might be something

that I'd be interested in being a part of.

And so I met with the director, and I read the script.

And I sort of took on the role of this small town cop

who's sort of really struggling

to deal with the tragedy as it unfolds.

[mysterious music]

The situation was completely different in those days.

If you were to take down an armed defender,

you actually had to radio back to your base to say,

I have a shot, can I take the shot?

There was no SWAT team, no armed defender's squad.

That incidence was really the birth in New Zealand

of that element of the police.

Sort of an important historical

sort of point in New Zealand,

particularly for the New Zealand community.

[character crying]

Probably the heaviest film that I've ever worked on.

And when I finished it, I thought

that I didn't wanna make anything like that ever again.

The people who were there and involved,

and the community that we were shooting in,

we were shooting one bay over from where it happened,

they didn't want us there.

They just wanted to let that story rest.

I was grateful to have been a part of it.

And again, there's some incredibly

talented people involved in that.

Greig Fraser, the DP, has gone on,

he's now working with Denis Villeneuve on the Dune movies.

It was a heavy but amazing experience.

Bourne Supremacy.

Here's my friend.

There's been a death in the family.

And I wonder if you've seen him.

Well, I had seen the first Bourne movie.

I remember being in a movie theater in New Zealand,

going to the first one, and going, man,

that's exactly the kind of film that I'd love to do.

I had just done a couple of films for Universal.

And off the back of that,

they offered me the role of Kirill, the assassin in Bourne.

And I just, I was like, I'm off, I'm gonna do it.

[tires screeching]

[horn honking]

[water whooshing]

That character was pretty cold.

He was just working on the other side.

But it's, a lot of people say, oh, he was the bad guy,

But yes, yeah, he was.

But, from my perspective, I wasn't playing him like that.

I was playing him as a guy who was following his orders.

It's just no emotion.

He's just doing a job,

Nothing personal.

[dramatic music]

That Moscow car chase,

we shot a huge portion of it in Russia.

We shot some of it in Berlin.

But the Russian stuff was incredible.

The production had to pay the local cops to shut off roads

so we could shoot it.

For whatever reason, we didn't get the permit to shoot.

So we were going around Moscow, literally stealing shots.

We'd have one cop on a bike,

and he would literally walk out into the street,

hold his hand up, stop the traffic and go, okay, go.

And I'm in a seven series BMW.

And it's like, and I'm flooring it.

Really sort of cowboy sort of stuff.

But that's how we were getting the shots.

And then they trained me out to do a reverse 180

in a Mercedes G-Wagon.

And that was a lot of fun.

And then actually let me do it.

If you watch the movie,

there's a camera station behind me in the G-Wagon.

As I spin the wheel, going in reverse,

you'll just see the background just go sideways.

And that's not CGI.

That's actually, they let me do it.

I can never look at a Mercedes G-Wagon the same way.