The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been wildly successful since the first movie was released in 2001.
Now, new and old fans have come together thanks to Amazon Prime Video’s new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power television series. One of the most popular characters in The Lord of the Rings movies is Éomer, played by Karl Urban.
So, how did Karl Urban land the role of Éomer?
Karl Urban as Éomer in the 2002 epic fantasy adventure film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Credit: New Line Cinema)
A Backstory on Karl Urban
To understand the magnitude of how and why Karl Urban received the role of a lifetime, it’s important to understand who Karl Urban is.
Karl Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 7, 1972. His mother worked in the film industry, and through this, Urban was exposed to the performing arts at a young age.
His first role on television was in the series Pioneer Women when he was only eight years old. He didn’t appear in anything else until after high school when he dropped out of college to pursue his true passion for acting.
Ron Eldard as Dodge, Julianna Margulies as Maureen Epps, and Karl Urban as Munder in the 2002 supernatural horror film Ghost Ship (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)
The first starring role that Karl Urban ever received was in the movie Ghost Ship, which premiered in 2002. Ironically, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers premiered in the same year, so how did Urban manage to get such a huge role so quickly?
Landing the Role of Éomer in The Lord of the Rings
Karl Urban had a brief stint in Australia before moving back to New Zealand and deciding to dedicate himself to the New Zealand film scene.
Urban quickly got busy booking roles, and one of the movies that he worked on was called The Price of Milk, which was directed by Harry Sinclair.
While Sinclair was working on editing the film, Peter Jackson, who is the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was working on casting the films. Sinclair showed Jackson a rough cut of The Price of Milk, and Jackson knew instantly who his Éomer was going to be.
Karl Urban as Éomer in the 2002 epic fantasy adventure film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Credit: New Line Cinema)
In an interview with The Guardian, Urban stated, “I’m a firm believer in the philosophy ‘An opportunity neglected does not often return.’”
“So I went back to New Zealand and did a bunch of New Zealand films,” he continued. “One of them was a little film called The Price of Milk, which was directed by Harry Sinclair. Harry was a good friend of Peter Jackson, so he took a rough cut down to show Peter. And I just happened to be in Peter’s face when he was looking for someone to cast as Éomer in The Lord of the Rings.”
Karl Urban as Éomer in the 2003 epic fantasy adventure film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Credit: New Line Cinema)
What Has Karl Urban Been in Since The Lord of the Rings?
The Lord of the Rings helped to kick off Karl Urban’s career, but it didn’t hang it up!
After the trilogy, Urban starred in several other films, including Doom, Out of the Blue, Pathfinder, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and most recently, The Sea Beast.
Karl Urban doing the Vulcan salute at the premiere of Star Trek held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 30, 2009 (Credit: Scott Kirkland / INFevents)
As for his television appearances, he’s been in several popular series such as White Fang, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Ark: The Animated Series.
Urban also voiced his character Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek video game that came out in 2013.
Karl Urban attending the premiere of Thor: Ragnarok in Los Angeles, California, on October 10, 2017 (Credit: Media Punch / INSTARimages)
Thanks to sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time, Karl Urban has had an extremely successful career that has branched far past New Zealand’s borders.