Urban Legend
In the divergent roles of Cupid and Julius Caesar, actor Karl Urban has brought more than his fair share of love and hate to the Xenaverse. David Bassom gains an audience with the man behind the myths.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 06
Many men have dreamed of winning Xena’s affections. Others have yearned to kill the Warrior Princess and end her struggle against the forces of darkness. But only Julius Caesar can claim to have achieved both of these contrasting goals.
During his three-season campaign across the Xenaverse, Caesar pursued a quest for vengeance which culminated in the crucifixion of both Xena and her longtime companion, Gabrielle. Along the way, the character also provided a unique and unforgettable showcase for 27- year-old actor Karl Urban.
“Caesar was the first arch enemy I'd ever played, and it was just a lot of fun,” he explains. “Playing a villain is great because they get to do and say a lot of things that are forbidden in ordinary life. It was fun to be so maniacal and arrogant and all those things. It’s also been great to see the response he’s been getting from viewers. From what feedback I’ve received, Caesar is a character a lot of people love, but also someone a lot of people love to hate. He definitely seems to have made a strong impact, which is terrific.”
Urban made his electrifying debut as Julius Caesar in the second season Xena epic Destiny. Prior to shooting the episode, he researched the role by reading a number of Caesar biographies, including Colleen McCullough’s Fortune’s Favourites. Ultimately, though, he insists that his portrayal of the character isn’t meant to be 100 per cent historically accurate.
“Xena takes a lot of artistic licence,” notes Urban. “Obviously it’s a sci-fi/fantasy show, and its main purpose is to entertain. So I don't think the Caesar portrayed in Xena is supposed to be a carbon copy of the actual man. From what I’ve read - and I have read a lot about Julius Caesar - I think he is more of an amalgamation of a lot of people and characters from that time... He's kind of there to represent the arrogance and power of the Roman Empire.”
In one of the show's many detours from the history books, Caesar's activities in Xena are largely driven by his relationship with the Warrior Princess. And, as Urban explains, the characters’ feelings for one another change dramatically following their first encounter in Destiny. “When Caesar first lays his eyes upon Xena, he’s intrigued. He's not frightened of anything, because he knows his destiny and he knows he is untouchable. And obviously he feels an intense attraction, which leads to them becoming lovers. But in that first episode, Caesar uses Xena. He betrays her and ultimately she means nothing to him.
“It’s not really until the later episode When in Rome... that Xena starts to become a bit more of an element in Caesar's life. He is simply mystified that someone he thought he had executed can come boldly marching into his inner sanctum. So it's at that point that he realises Xena is a major player. And he then tries to turn that to his advantage.”
Caesar’s struggle against Xena spanned a total of seven episodes, from Destiny to the fourth season cliffhanger, Ides of March. Never one to sit on his laurels, the character also battled the mighty Hercules in the fifth season legendary journey Render Under Caesar…
While Urban enjoyed each of Caesar’s forays into the Xenaverse, he cites two early appearances as personal favourites.
“I really liked Destiny and When in Rome..., not just because they were exciting for me to play, but because upon viewing I was actually pleased with the shows as a whole,” he reveals. “I loved their storylines and the interaction between all the characters.”
To the obvious envy of many viewers, Caesar found himself being seduced by Xena in the aforementioned Destiny. Urban recalls the filming of that now legendary scene very well indeed. “It was really funny actually,” he remembers. “We were on the bed and Lucy [Lawless, Xena] was wearing that stunning red dress. She starts doing this seductive, tigress-like crawl across the bed, and I’m watching unblinkingly as she comes towards me.
“But just as she got halfway across the bed, one of my contact lenses flipped off my eye. I had this blinking attack as I tried to get it back on my eye, and Lucy just cracked up laughing. It was her shot and the camera was just on her, so everyone started yelling at Lucy for ruining the shot. And she was going, ‘It was him! It was him!’ It was a very funny moment.”
Urban was neither shocked nor disappointed that Caesar’s struggle against Xena came to an end with the fourth season cliff-hanger. “I knew it wasn't a good sign when I read the episode’s title, Ides of March,” he laughs. “And if you break Xena’s legs [as Caesar did in Destiny], you just know your life expectancy dwindles!
“So I wasn’t surprised by Caesar's death. And I was totally okay with it. I would have relished the opportunity to do a few more episodes, but at the same time it was nice to have a bit of closure to it.”
Caesar was actually Karl Urban’s third Xena incarnation. He originally crossed swords with the Warrior Princess as another villain, the misogynist Mael, in the first season episode Altared States. “That was my first experience with Xena,” he recalls, “and it was a good little eye- opener into that world for me.
“My most vivid memory of that episode is of rehearsing my first scene with Lucy. I'd talked to Lucy beforehand, but I’d never seen her fully made up as Xena. So when we started the rehearsal, I came charging on the set with a knife to Gabrielle's throat, and I was just blown away to be faced by Lucy and that piercing Clint Eastwood gaze that she does. I was playing the villain, but my immediate instinct was to run away as fast as I could!”
While Mael didn’t live long enough to see the closing credits of Altared States, Urban’s striking performance caught the imagination of the Xena franchise’s producers, who subsequently offered him the role of Cupid in the third season Hercules instalment Green-Eyed Monster. This particular assignment, however, proved far more demanding than most people would probably imagine.
“I spent a solid two months going to the gym getting into prime physical condition for that episode,” explains Urban. “And it wasn’t just because I wanted to have a ‘god-like physique.’ I knew I needed to be fit to endure the 16-hour working days that the role and the costume entailed. They didn't originally know how long Cupid's wings would take to put on, and scheduled it for three hours every morning, which often meant a 3am start for me.
“So I changed my whole diet for that. I went high protein and almost vegetarian. After a while, I found I had a whole energy that I hadn’t actually felt as a person before. And I think that energy helped me to play Cupid, because he lives off his emotions and is a very energetic character. It was quite an amazing experience really. I learned a lot from doing it.”
Urban’s devotion to duty certainly paid dividends. His engaging portrayal of Cupid proved irresistible to most viewers (especially those of the female gender for some strange reason), and inspired the character’s reappearance in two further Xena adventures. And all those long hours in the make-up trailer ultimately ensured that Urban was on hand when Hercules and Xenu Executive Producer Rob Tapert was looking for someone to play Caesar.
“I was actually having my wings taken off when Rob Tapert asked me if I’d like to audition for the part of Julius Caesar,” confirms Urban. “He was preparing to direct Destiny, and they had to have the audition rather quickly. So I put down an audition at the end of a rather long day, and I thought it was absolutely atrocious! But he obviously knew what he wanted and gave me the part.”
In the wake of his enormous success as both Cupid and Caesar, Urban was offered a regular role in a proposed Renaissance Pictures television series entitled Amazon High. Unfortunately, the show’s pilot episode failed to secure funding for a full series, and the project was shelved. “I played a cannibal in Amazon High who went around growling at people and eating people,” recalls Urban with a chuckle. “He was a good cannibal, though; he didn’t eat his friends! We had fun shooting that, but I don’t know what they're going to do with it. The last I heard was that [the producers] want to formulate a certain amount of it into a Xena episode. But I really don’t know for sure.”
Regardless of what happens to Amazon High, Xena and Hercules clearly represent early milestones for Urban's career. Prior to guest-starring in the two shows, the Wellington native had cut his acting teeth with roles in such local New Zealand productions as Shortland Street, Once in Chunuck Bay, White Fang and Riding High. But it was his adventures in the ancient world which really introduced him to an international audience, and also provided Urban with his first taste of big-budget television production.
“Xena and Hercules have both been great shows to work on,” he explains. “It's been quite an amazing learning experience. My time on those shows enhanced my knowledge of the technical process of filmmaking and made me a lot more comfortable on a set.
“It's also been a lot of fun. Everyone works really hard on those shows, but there is room in there to have a laugh now and then, which is great. And it was terrific to get to work with the likes of Alexandra Tydings [Aphrodite], Ted Raimi [Joxer], Renee O’Connor [Gabrielle], Kevin Sorbo [Hercules] and of course, Lucy Lawless. Lucy is an inspiration, not just to me, I think, but to the entire acting community in New Zealand. What she’s achieved is incredible.
“I think the thing I love most about Xena is that there's such a New Zealand feeling to the whole show. It's like a big family. And the crew operate really well together.”
Urban has certainly been quick to put his new-found screen acting skills to good use. During the past three years, he has appeared in a number of small budget feature films, including Heaven and Via Satellite, and will next be seen in two independent films, The Irrefutable Truth about Demons and The Price of Milk. A host of further projects are currently in the works, including “a very big film” which could well be his ticket to mainstream movie stardom.
Despite his busy schedule, Urban would renew his association with Renaissance Pictures at the drop of a toga. He would simply love to guest star in another Xena episode, and has been excited by rumours of a new episode featuring Cupid. Alternatively, he would be happy to appear in either - or indeed, both - of the company's latest series, Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525. In fact, the only thing Karl Urban is discounting is a return visit by Julius Caesar.
“Caesar will not be back!” he declares with a laugh. “You never know what could happen on Xena, but I really doubt they’d bring him back. I'm sure that Ides of March was the end of Caesar - 52 stab wounds in the back seems pretty final to me!
“It was fun while it lasted, but it’s over.”