Urban: New-found Fame And Star Trek XII
3 min readKarl Urban has taken lessons from another actor on how to handle being recognized in public, and is ready to see where Star Trek XII will go.
After the success of Star Trek XI, Urban has to deal with people recognizing him, and uses a strategy that Bruce Willis uses. “Yeah, I do get [recognized] a bit,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be like Bruce walking down the street. I mean, he would attract a crowd of people. He’s got the rule of ‘no eye contact.’ That’s it. Think about it, if you make eye contact with someone, then they will, more likely than not, come up to you and want to interact with you. So that’s how he gets through situations like that.”
But even though Urban is using that avoidance tactic, he is OK with being recognized. “No, I don’t mind it at all,” he said. “I think that it’s par for the course. You wouldn’t be in this business if you had an issue with people coming up and wanting to interact with you on the street. And they’re the customers. And sometimes it’s nice to know that what you’ve done has been appreciated. It’s not like theater where you get that instant response, negative or positive. So, yeah, there’s been a bit of that.”
Urban will get even more recognition if the next Star Trek film does as well as the first one did. Like other Star Trek XI actors, he is eager to see where the story will lead and has confidence in the writers and producers. “I haven’t seen the script,” he said. “I just know it is going to be good. I am really looking forward to getting on board that one. And I feel now that we have introduced all these great characters and it is just going to be really interesting to see where we can take it.”
Signed on for two sequels, Urban does not rule out a third. “I think that is sort of dependent upon many factors,” he said. “I mean that is entirely dependent, I guess, on…You know, like anything, whether you are in a long running TV show or a play, if you are running out of new territory or new gold to mine, then sure, that could potentially stagnate. But the thing, specifically, about Trek is you can have a look at who is involved. I mean, you know, J.J. [Abrams], and Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman are all incredibly creative. So I’ve got faith in them. If it goes beyond three, then, you know, I’d go for it.”
Urban has no special requests for his character, trusting that those involved in the creative process will do a good job. “I kind of think…you know, I kind of think they are geniuses. We should just let them do what they do. Officially bestow a genius label on them and just let them do it. You know, I’ve just got full faith that whatever they come up with is going to equal and surpass the first installment.”
In October, Urban can be seen in RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous) where he will play William Cooper. RED is the story of a former black-ops CIA agent (played by Bruce Willis) who is living a quiet life until an assassin shows up and attempts to kill him.
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