Karl Urban Karl - Heinz Urban , known simply as Karl Urban , is an actor hailing from Wellington , New Zealand who played in . Initial reports claimed that he had been offered the role of the Romulan villain in the film , but these were later debunked . Urban reprised his role as McCoy in the sequel , the video game " " , and . Urban also appeared on card # 35 , titled Recruit L . McCoy , card # 55 , titled Cadet L . McCoy , card # 82 , titled Medical Officer L . McCoy , and card # 98 , titled Chief Medical Officer L . McCoy , of the virtual collectible card battle game " " . Outside of " Star Trek " , Urban is known for his portrayal of Éomer in the second and third installments of ' s " The Lord of the Rings " film trilogy , " The Two Towers " and " The Return of the King " . He is also known for his supporting roles in such films as " The Chronicles of Riddick " , " The Bourne Supremacy " and " RED " and for his lead roles in films such as " Pathfinder " and " Dredd " . In 2009 , Urban was part of the " Star Trek " ensemble which received a Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award nomination in the category Best Ensemble and won a Boston Society of Film Critics Award in the category Best Ensemble Cast . He shared these awards with Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldana , John Cho , Leonard Nimoy , Simon Pegg , Anton Yelchin , Ben Cross , Eric Bana , Clifton Collins , Jr . , Bruce Greenwood , Jennifer Morrison , Chris Hemsworth , Winona Ryder , Faran Tahir , and Tyler Perry . In 2010 , Urban was part of the ensemble which received a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination in the category Best Acting Ensemble for " Star Trek " . In addition , Urban won the Constellation Award for Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Film , TV Movie or Miniseries for his work on " Star Trek " . Urban has said his favorite Star Trek film is . Early life and New Zealand career . Urban was educated at St . Mark ' s Church School in Wellington and later attended Wellington College , where he began to pursue acting . After graduating from secondary school , Urban won the role of homosexual paramedic Jamie Forrest on the hit New Zealand television series " Shortland Street " . He appeared on the show during the 1993 - 1994 season . He then attended the Victoria University of Wellington , but left after one year to continue his acting career . Shortly after leaving Victoria University , he began appearing on the hit series " Xena : Warrior Princess " and " Hercules : The Legendary Journeys " , both of which were filmed in his native New Zealand . Between 1996 and 2001 , Urban appeared in twelve episodes of " Xena " and two episodes of " Hercules " , playing four different characters , primarily those of Cupid and Julius Caesar . He even played a character named Kor , not to be confused with the Klingon of the same name . Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman , the writers and two of the executive producers of " Star Trek " , were writers and co - executive producers on both " Hercules " and " Xena " . Urban ' s first major film role was in the thriller " Heaven " , which was filmed in New Zealand and which opened in the United States in 1999 . He continued working in New Zealand , starring in the 2000 films " The Irrefutable Truth About Demons " , for which he received a New Zealand Screen Award nomination as Best Actor , and " The Price of Milk " . His performance in the latter film won Urban acclaim as well as a nomination from the New Zealand Film and TV Awards . In 2000 , Urban was cast as Éomer for " The Lord of the Rings " film trilogy , which was filmed in New Zealand . Among the other " Star Trek " alumni who appeared in these films were Brad Dourif and John Rhys - Davies . With his prominent roles in the Hercules / Xena and LOTR series , in 2009 he would be interviewed in , a documentary , narrated by Rhys - Davies , about swordsmanship in Hollywood . In 2006 , he played a New Zealand police officer in " Out of the Blue " based on the infamous 1990 Aramoana Massacre , which won him a New Zealand Film Award in 2008 . International career . Before he was even cast as McCoy in " Star Trek " , Urban already had one connection with : he co - starred with Walter Koenig ( the original Pavel Chekov ) in an unsold science fiction pilot called " The Privateers " . Several other " Star Trek " alumni appeared in this movie , including Jack Donner , Ray Proscia , Benjamin Lum , and Urban ' s " Star Trek " co - star , David Jean Thomas . Urban ' s first Hollywood production was the 2002 horror thriller " Ghost Ship " , although the film itself was shot primarily in Australia . Following the releases of " The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers " ( 2002 ) and " The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King " ( 2003 ) , Urban had supporting roles in two 2004 summer blockbusters : " The Chronicles of Riddick " and " The Bourne Supremacy " . In the former , he played the role of Vaako and worked with Roger Cross ; he reprised this role in the sequel , " Riddick " , in 2013 . In " The Bourne Supremacy " he played the Russian assassin Kirill , who was responsible for killing Jason Bourne ' s girlfriend , Marie . Bourne was played by Matt Damon , who was approached for a role in " Star Trek " . Afterward , Urban played the lead role in the 2005 adaptation of the video game " Doom " , opposite Dwayne " The Rock " Johnson . He then played the lead in the Viking adventure film " Pathfinder " , in which he worked alongside Clancy Brown . Urban returned to his native New Zealand to star in the 2006 crime drama " Out of the Blue " , which won him a New Zealand Film Award in the category Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Film . He then played the role of Woodrow Call in the CBS mini - series " Comanche Moon " ( 2008 ) . Urban starred in the 2009 crime drama " Black Water Transit " , in which he worked with Bill Cobbs . The following year , he was seen in the supporting role of CIA agent William Cooper in the hit action - comedy " RED " . He then played the vampire villain Black Hat in the action - fantasy film " Priest " , based on the comic book published by TokyoPop which centers on a war between Humans and vampires . This film also featured Madchen Amick , Alan Dale , Brad Dourif , and Christopher Plummer in the cast ; Michael De Luca was one of the producers . More recently , Urban starred in the 2012 sci - fi action film " Dredd " , in which he played the eponymous role of , based on the comic strip character of the same name . His films include thriller " The Loft " ( 2014 ) and the aforementioned " Riddick " ( 2013 ) . Urban also starred in the pilot for a FOX science fiction series titled " Almost Human " , which was executive - produced by " Star Trek " and " Star Trek Into Darkness " producers J . J . Abrams and Bryan Burk through their Bad Robot banner . FOX picked up " Almost Human " to series on 8 May 2013 and Urban returned to continue his role as the show ' s main character for the first season . He also starred in fantasy adventure " The Wonder " and plays the role of Gavin in " Pete ' s Dragon " . " Star Trek " appearances . Urban appeared as McCoy in