Karl Urban is back on the big screen this week as he takes on the role of Judge Dredd in Dredd - a re-imagining of the iconic comic book character.
The actor has so far enjoyed a career that has spanned over twenty years and seen him be part of some of cinema's biggest movies and franchises.
Urban kicked off his career in TV his debut role coming in police drama Shark in the Park before going on to Shortland Street.
From 1992 the film roles began rolling and Chunck Bair was his first big screen part. During the nineties he juggled his TV work with some film roles.
The biggest of his TV roles came in the form of Xena: Warrior Princess as he stayed with the show from 1996-2001.
But in 2002 his first Hollywood role came in the form of Ghost Ship as the actor team up with director Steve Beck.
But it was to be The Lord of the Rings movies that were to be the major breakthrough for the actor.
He took on the role of Eomer and it was The Two Towers when we saw the actor appear in the movie for the first time.
The Lord of the Rings movies went on to become one of the biggest franchises of all time - The Return of the King went on to break the $1 billion barrier.
Since then the actor has seen his Hollywood career soar as he went on to star in the likes of The Chronicles of Riddick, The Bourne Supremacy and Doom.
More recently it has been the role of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the re-vamp of the Star Trek franchise that has put the actor on the map.
In 2009 J.J. Abrams took the story of the Enterprise and her crew right back to the beginning as Urban was joined on the cast list by Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Simon Pegg.
The movie was a critical and commercial hit and we will be seeing the actor reprise the role next year in the sequel. Filming on the movie is complete and it promises to be bigger and better that its predecessor.
Since then RED and Priest were two of his biggest role but this September sees the actor return - and he is meaner than ever.
We haven't seen the character of Judge Dredd on the big screen since 1995 but this week Pete Travis has brought his interpretation of the character to the big screen.
Urban is set to kick some ass as Dredd and he is joined on the cast list by Lena Headley and Olivia Thirlby.
In Dredd, the future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One- a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets.
The only force of order lies with the urban cops called 'Judges' who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner.
Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of 'Slo-Mo' experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.
During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation.
And we are going to be seeing plenty of the actor over the next twelve months as the Star Trek sequel and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking are on the horizon.
Dredd is released 7th September
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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