Karl Urban: I tried to steal the Dredd helmet three times!

Karl Urban: I tried to steal the Dredd helmet three times!MSN Movies grabbed Judge Dredd Karl Urban for a webchat about Dredd 3D, fan pressure and Star Trek… Felicity ThistlethwaiteStaff Writer, MSN Entertainment 2012-08-31T09:30:59What do The Bourne Supremacy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Trek and now Dredd have in common? Not only are they all epic Hollywood movies, oh no, they all boast the amazing acting skills of hunky New Zealand actor Karl Urban!MSN Movies managed to grab the man of the moment for a webchat about Dredd, fan pressure and the next Star Trek movie...Karl Urban suited and booted. (phwoar!)MSN: Let's talk about your costume. How uncomfortable was it on a scale of 1 to 10?Karl: It was probably about a 5 and a half! But the cool thing about it was that as soon as you put it on you really felt like the character.MSN: Did you get to keep the helmet from "Dredd"?Karl: I tried to steal the helmet three times before they finally gave it to me!MSN: Do you think there will be a sequel?Karl: I had a great time making this film, if we get the opportunity to make another one i'd love to do it. If this is a one off I'm proud of it, this is a cult classic. I think that's just about acknowledging those people who have been so supportive to us, and um, they're important and we want to take the opportunity to acknowledge that.Jayke: Comparisons will be made between your Dredd and Sly's. Who's is closest to the comic version?Karl: Well, our Dredd keeps his helmet on so from that stand point I would respectfully argue that Alex Garland's film is a more authentic representation to the creationKarl as Judge Dredd in Dredd 3DJD: love your resume, like a wishlist of my own BUT if the memory's not too painful, are there any roles you really wanted and didn't get?Karl: Good question... I can't think of any - apologies - off the top of my head.MSN: How much pressure is there when you take a role like this because of the fans?Karl: Well, being a long term fan I certainly placed a decent amount of pressure on myself to get it right and I felt confident in the fact that Alex Garland collaborated with John Wagner regarding the script, so I felt I was in good hands.Lou Park: what was your favourite part about filming dredd? And are you going to be in red 2?Karl: My favourite part was working with Olivia, she's a fantastic actor and she does an extraordinary job, we formed a solid partnership and I love her, she's a good mate.We both realised early on it was important for us to work as a team, every day we would meet before we started filming and just check in and make sure we were on the same page.Aware to a certain extent but you know you are always surprised when you see the film, because there's obviously a difference between what you imagine the film will look like and the eventual final productAsh5467: How does wearing this helmet compare to say wearing Eomer'sKarl: Well my Dredd helmet has built-in sunglasses...Karl in Hollywood movie RedAsh: Any story from the comic that you'd like to see adapted for a possible sequel?Karl: Yeah I'd love to see Origins adapted for a sequel or perhaps Dead Man's Walk into an Acropolis, but origins is a good one because it deals with the back story of Dredd and the world and how it got that way.The thing about Origins is that it is written form the perspective of an older Dredd remembering his beginnings in the Law Academy and the collapse of democracy and the rise of the judges. I got to discover a plethora of storiesI hadn't read and what i discovered was a wonderful maturity of writing and a great evolution in the character of Dredd.MSN: What's your favourite comic book character (besides Judge Dredd)?Karl: Anderson!MSN: Can you tell us anything about Star Trek for next year?Karl: No! Sorry! I should say we had a great time filming it, we had a lot of laughs but I Can't reveal too much about the story except to say it's going to be AWESOMEKarl Urban in the MSN offices!MSN: how do you get the voice?Karl: It's a process of knowing technically what a microphone can achieve and where to place your voice in the register.Ash5467: You are already in shape from what i can tell, was their much physical training you had to do for the role ?Karl: I trained for about 14 weeks to get into peak physical condition I found that process to be brutal gruelling and miserable but ultimately worth it.Thanks for all of your support, if you ever happen to see me, don't hesitate to come up and we can have a chat. And, enjoy the film. I hope you have as much fun watching it as I had making it.Phew! Thank you to Karl - who's excited about Dredd now...? (We are!)