Help me with Karl Urban!

[Admiral James Kirk]

I've long suspected that the most difficult character to cast for this new movie would be Bones. Of all the characters he has the sad privilege of standing out when sandwiched in between Kirk and Spock. I mean the actor who plays Kirk gets to be flashy and dynamic. The guy who plays Spock gets to be intense and mysterious. But Bones is the guy who's a hero without being THE hero and a smart guy who isn't THE intellectual. He's got to be an emotional and humanistic counterpoint between the two. He's got to be big enough to not get overshadowed by Kirk but low key enough to help ground the character of Spock. And he's got to be the comedy relief of the three while still being a serious dramatic character.

In short Bones McCoy had to be a bitch to cast. Now fandom had their Gary Sinise card which unfortunately feel through and an actor named Karl Urban was cast.

Now I'm not at all familiar with this guy but looking at him I don't see McCoy the same way I see Kirk and Spock when I look at Pine and Quinto. Are there any movies any of you can recommend that might show me just why this guy would be right for Bones?

I've always loved the McCoy character and I think I'll have fewer fears about this movie if I know he's in good hands.

 

[Dale]

He did some good ambiguous scowling in T2T and ROTK... a little sympathy with a lot of disapproval and mistrust...

 

[Guy Gardener]

He's from New Zealand.

Nothing else matters.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Guy Gardener said:
He's from New Zealand.

Nothing else matters.

I don't know what that means.

 

[Michael Chris]

It's a country.

 

[ialfan]

He was great on Xena.

 

[Rulius]

Well i have no problem with the guy.. but shouldn't the actor to play McCoy be.. well older?
Just a thought.

 

[Kelso]

Rulius said:
Well i have no problem with the guy.. but shouldn't the actor to play McCoy be.. well older?
Just a thought.

He's 8 years older than Pine and 5 years older than Quinto. Only 2 years younger than Pegg.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Urban in a previous science fiction role:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=926icFvL4Y8

Seriously. That's him.

 

[I am not Spock]

I was hoping Urban would be cast in XI as a villain, but I am finding trouble in seeing him as McCoy. He doesn't look like DeForrest Kelly at all. Gary Sinise for McCoy I think.

 

[Christopher]

Admiral James Kirk said:
And he's got to be the comedy relief of the three while still being a serious dramatic character.

I agree with the rest of what you said about McCoy but not this. Kirk and Spock were a great comedy team; they didn't need comic relief.

Now fandom had their Gary Sinise card which unfortunately feel through and an actor named Karl Urban was cast.

I wouldn't say it fell through; it was never on the table, since Sinise was way too old for the period in which the movie is set. Which is a shame, since he would've been great.

I am not Spock said:
I was hoping Urban would be cast in XI as a villain, but I am finding trouble in seeing him as McCoy. He doesn't look like DeForrest Kelly at all.

I think his look is reasonably close to be convincing as a younger McCoy -- certainly closer than Pegg is to Scotty or Cho to Sulu. It's his voice and delivery I'm not so sure about. He's a rather low-key actor, and McCoy is an intense, highly expressive person.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Christopher said:

Admiral James Kirk said:
And he's got to be the comedy relief of the three while still being a serious dramatic character.

I agree with the rest of what you said about McCoy but not this. Kirk and Spock were a great comedy team; they didn't need comic relief.

That is true but McCoy always has the best one-liners and retorts of the trio.

Now fandom had their Gary Sinise card which unfortunately feel through and an actor named Karl Urban was cast.

I wouldn't say it fell through; it was never on the table, since Sinise was way too old for the period in which the movie is set. Which is a shame, since he would've been great.

That's true. I suppose that what I meant was that fan's hopes for Sinise as McCoy fell through. And oh yeah, Sinise would have been terrific.

I am not Spock said:
I was hoping Urban would be cast in XI as a villain, but I am finding trouble in seeing him as McCoy. He doesn't look like DeForrest Kelly at all.

I think his look is reasonably close to be convincing as a younger McCoy -- certainly closer than Pegg is to Scotty or Cho to Sulu. It's his voice and delivery I'm not so sure about. He's a rather low-key actor, and McCoy is an intense, highly expressive person.

Looks-wise there is a certain McCoyness about Urban. Maybe it's his bone structure or the way his eyes sit on his face or the scowl I've seen in his photos but . . . I am concerned about a couple of things. One of course is his intensity and ability to emote. One of the most important things about McCoy is his emotionalism and the actor that they choose need to be able to emote.

The other thing that concerns me about Urban is his accent. While I'm sure he could probably do an American accent I'm wondering if he'll be able to sort of do that subtle Southern drawl that De Kelley had. I mean Kelley was never Foghorn Leghorn but his accent was definately there. I remember that when Ewan MacGregor was cast as Obi-Wan that he was paired with a vocal coach who helped him achieve that young Alec Guiness accent. I hope they do the same thing with Urban.

I suppose the accent is a silly thing to worry about.

 

[Christopher]

Admiral James Kirk said:
The other thing that concerns me about Urban is his accent. While I'm sure he could probably do an American accent I'm wondering if he'll be able to sort of do that subtle Southern drawl that De Kelley had.

He can definitely do an American accent; in fact, I found an interview with him on YouTube, and even speaking as himself, he spoke in a mostly American-sounding accent with just a subtle Kiwi flavor. And he used an American accent in his Xena/Hercules roles.

Of course, that doesn't mean he can easily capture that touch of Georgia, as you say.

 

[davejames]

I doubt Urban will be able to pull off EVERY aspect that Kelley brought to the role. Probably my favorite side of McCoy is when he would just throw up his hands in exasperation after a long argument with somebody, and say something like "what in blazes is WRONG with you people??"

I can't see Urban (or anybody else frankly) doing that as well as Kelley. But if Urban is able to capture the "southern gentlemen" side of McCoy, and show us someone who gets grouchy at times but is ultimately a big softy at heart, that'll be good enough for me.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

I just have this fear that he'll be wooden and completely miscase in the role. Kind of like John Kelley from New Voyages. Personally I love NV and like the cast a lot but John Kelley lacked a basic McCoyness that the part called for. He had no bite. He was too soft. McCoy is a combination of sweet and sour.

As for Urban's ability to create an American Southern accent I'm going to check out the miniseries Comanche Moon when it airs next month. He's playing Woodrow Call a Texas ranger. It'll give me more of a clue as to his range. Thank you IMDB!

 

[davejames]

^ Interesting. I wonder if Abrams got an early look at him in that movie, and realized he might be good for McCoy. A lot of people seem to get cast in Hollywood that way.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Admiral James Kirk said:

As for Urban's ability to create an American Southern accent I'm going to check out the miniseries Comanche Moon when it airs next month. He's playing Woodrow Call a Texas ranger. It'll give me more of a clue as to his range. Thank you IMDB!

So he's playing a younger version of character once played by Tommy Lee Jones (another Southener)?

 

[Cary L. Brown]

I can easily see Urban playing the role. The trick is that they can't play him up as a "sexy star action figure" type.

It's worth mentioning that De Kelley, before Star Trek, was best known as an actor who specialized in VILLAINS in westerns. He'd done one non-western that I'm aware of... a pilot for Roddenberry where he'd played a cutthroat (but "good") lawyer.

My point? Kelley was a bit of an "action figure" prior to Trek... didn't prevent him from playing the role.

This is a younger McCoy... probably recently divorced and just through having had to let his father die. Not QUITE the "old country doctor" we all think of now, but not really all that dissimilar to the guy we saw in "The Man Trap."

Ignore all the rest... assuming that Urban can do a Georgian accent (which I suspect will require a bit of "voice coaching" but isn't beyond his capabilities), can you picture Urban playing a "first season" McCoy.

 

[Stardate]

Didn't Urban play a funny character in Xena the Warrior Princess?. I think so thou i am not 100%. Why don't you then try to watch his clips from Xena the Warrior Princess.

 

[Christopher]

In Xena, Urban had recurring roles as Julius Caesar -- not a funny character -- and as the god Cupid -- who appeared in more comic episodes but who I wouldn't exactly call a funny character in and of himself, more like a rebellious teenager type. He also had two other one-time roles on the show, neither of which was likely to be comical depending on the episode descriptions.