Karl Urban has played many memorable and different characters over the years.
The New Zealand star has also been a franchise favorite with his presence in Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek, and his most recognizable role as Billy Butcher in Amazon’s super hit satire series, The Boys. His brooding protagonist was one of the favorite characters on television across fandoms.
Having had a very different career path in Hollywood when compared to other actors, Karl Urban has created a special niche for himself. The celebrity is also well known for his small but significant cameo in the MCU in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok in which he shared some interesting experiences with the director.
Karl Urban Got His Head Shaved By Taika Waititi
One of the significant physical features of Karl Urban’s character in The Boys was his thick mane of hair. The actor though, had to come to terms with shaving it all off for his role as Skurge the Executioner in Thor: Ragnarok. According to Urban, the director of the film and fellow New Zealander Taika Waititi was absolutely sure about how he wanted the look of the character to be and took it upon himself personally to create the image.
“I turned up on set and Taika, our esteemed director, greeted me. He literally stopped directing the movie and came out and shaved my head and then went back to directing.”
Taika Waititi shaved Karl Urban’s head for Thor: Ragnarok
The clips of Waititi actually shaving Urban’s hair went viral online. The Lord Of the Rings star confessed that as far as the filmmaker was concerned, there was no changing his mind about his decision for the character which led to Urban wholeheartedly embracing the look.
Karl Urban’s Skurge Was Given A Fun Makeover in Thor: Ragnarok
In Marvel comics, the character of Skurge the Executioner is seen as a grim and serious villain who is out to either exact revenge on Thor or gain some power over the planet. However, Taika Waititi’s penchant for offbeat humor led to the character being reinvented into a goofy and endearing antagonist which worked very well with audiences and critics. Karl Urban who essayed the role, was an instant hit as his hulking frame was an interesting dichotomy for the quirkiness of his character.
Karl Urban as Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok
Urban’s funniest moment in the film happens when Skurge shows off his collection of pilfered goods to a couple of Asgardian women which included his twin rifles named Des and Troy. In an interesting franchise crossover, the character shows off his skills with a Shake Weight which belonged to Waititi himself who confessed that he bought the item during his time on the sets of Green Lantern in which he played the engineer Thomas Kalmaku.
Source: Twitter