Karl Urban weighs in on Star Trek sequel and Priest

While on a recent set visit, Karl Urban talked a bit about his villainous role in the upcoming PRIEST as well as a few nuggets on STAR TREK.

Urban started by telling us a bit about his character and how he has yet to see any dailies, “I haven’t seen anything. I heard the other day they showed the film to Sam Raimi and a bunch of execs over of at Sony, and they were just really thrilled with it. I haven’t seen it. I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I play a character called Black Hat, who is the villain of the film. And I think that’s coming out early next year, I believe. He quite enjoyed playing the villain, and says that it’s a nod back to the silent movie days. However, there is no mustache twirling, “No, no. I think that’s a mistake. You go into a generic area there. I guess the thing about that character is that he was a former priest and his job was to hunt down vampires. Then he was captured and turned into one, and found himself on the other side. And I guess it’s sort of a do or die situation. It’s more fun playing the villain, though, because they’re more complex. There’s a lot more layers to them. I would think, as an actor, it’s just much more fun to be the bad guy.”

Obviously vampires are the big trend right now, but Urban didn’t have a fear of being part of the bandwagon, “No, no I wasn’t at all, actually. I thought, “Well, I can take that one off. I’ve done that.” I’d love to…I just want to…You know, that is what interests me. If I can find something that I haven’t done before, then that is an immediate…it piques my interest. Like, this was interesting to me because I am playing a hit man, which I have played before, but not a hit man with a family. Not a hit man who goes on a journey through the film and he ends up at a completely different point of view than when he begins. So, you know, obviously that and working with such a stellar cast and a great director is why I am here. To Urban, he thinks that the vampire appeal has a lot to do with the mystery and of course, the sexiness.

On to what you really want to hear about, STAR TREK sequel news. Urban didn’t know too much about how his character was evolving nor did he know any info about the script. He noted that the second installment should begin shooting sometime at the beginning of next year. There’s no word on whether it will be a trilogy, but Urban is definitely along for the ride. But does he ever think he’ll grow bored of it? Nah, the guy seems like he’s up to any challenge. “Yeah. Well, 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., 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.”