By Kate Rodger
It's a big night for the New Zealand entertainment industry, with a red carpet premiere in Auckland for the new Judge Dredd film.
The new Judge Dredd is played by Kiwi actor Karl Urban, who's been getting rave reviews around the world.
It’s a big role for Urban – his first meaty lead role in fact, after high-profile outings in Bourne and Star Trek, and it’s rocketing him right up the Hollywood A-list ladder.
Dredd has, of course already had a big screen outing in the mid-1990s. Fans of the original comic hated it – mainly for committing the cardinal Dredd sin of removing his helmet.
We never see Dredd's face in the new film, and for Urban it meant having to give good chin to convey the Dredd.
“Oh it was a huge challenge,” he says. “It was a scary proposition, but I pretty quickly discovered if you think the thought and feel the emotion it’s pretty amazing what transmits through that helmet.”
This latest outing is not for your granny. It’s R18 and jam-packed with graphic violence. And while this Dredd won't be taking his kids, he knows it's the way the fans wanted it.
“It was very clear from the script that totally it was going to be very different, more realistic and gritty, more attention to detail on keeping the character true to its origins,” says Urban.
Urban's chin has now graced the cover of two of the most influential film geek mags in the world. Total Film's headline called him a "megastar".
So does all this fuss mean he's ‘made it’?
“I'll let you know when I do,” he says.
3 News
source: newshub archive
