Karl Urban Star Trek star in Sydney for SupaNova Pop Culture Expo

HE HAS battled orcs in the Lord of the Rings films and shared the screen with Matt Damon, Vin Diesel and The Rock, but it is his latest role in the recent box office spectacular Star Trek that has won him a whole new legion of fans.

Karl Urban, who assumed the iconic role of Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the JJ Abrams-directed reboot, will be in Sydney this weekend as the main attraction at the SupaNova Pop Culture Expo starting on Saturday at Homebush.

"It's my way of saying thank you to the Australian fans who made Star Trek such a smash hit," said Urban, who used to live in Bondi.

Star Trek sequel talks


Landing the role in the big budget film was a dream come true for New Zealand-born Urban, a long-time Star Trek fan.

"I watched it as a kid so I felt very comfortable that I knew the characters and I knew the relationships," he said.

"The challenge for me was to try to define the essence of Bones, played so well by DeForest Kelley for 40 years, and funnel that through an interpretation of what a younger version of that character would be like."

Urban admits his recent roles in action films didn't make him the obvious pick to be Bones McCoy.

"For me, it was a process of meeting JJ (Abrams), who decided he would like to see me screen test for the character of McCoy," he said. "I literally did one take and he was laughing all the way through it. He said: 'Wow, that's it - that's Bones'. So I had a pretty good idea that I'd won the role right there and then."

The SupaNova Expo runs Saturday and Sunday at The Dome in Homebush with other guests including Twilight star Rachelle Lefevre and some of the original Battlestar Galactica cast members.
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