Urban takes lessons

“Like it or not, I’ve become a global citizen,” Auckland actor Karl Urban tells The Kansas City Star. “The challenge is to maintain your cultural identity, especially back in your home country, where it’s all too easy to be perceived as someone who ran off to Hollywood. So while I may work internationally, I live in New Zealand and plan to always do so.” Meanwhile, he’s all over the place. Recent film shoots have seen Urban on sets in South Africa (212’s Dredd), Argentina (And Soon the Darkness) and New Orleans (Black Water Transit). In his latest film Red Urban, 38, portrays a deadly government agent assigned to eliminate retired CIA spies played by Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich. For an actor, Urban said, working with that bunch was like an extended master class. “There was such a huge collective amount of experience going into this project. And it wasn’t about anybody being the star … It’s very much an ensemble piece. So it was a fantastic experience to collaborate with people of this calibre.”