This week’s Take Ten guest is Karl Urban. It’s the eve of the fifth and final season of Prime Video series The Boys and Urban popped into Deadline HQ to let us know that the show’s end “will make you cry.”
“The new season of The Boys is explosive, heartfelt, tragic, fun and hilarious,” Urban said. “I’m excited for the audience to see how this mothership lands. It’s a hell of a ride, and it’s been an incredible four seasons – and the fifth season is ballistic.”
Karl Urban (Billy Butcher) in Season 5 of ‘The Boys’
Prime Video
In The Boys, Urban plays William “Billy” Butcher, leader of a ragtag group of people dead set on putting an end to corrupt superheroes. Season 5 sees Butcher grappling with the newfound superstrength that allows him to even the odds against his superpowered enemies. However, the dangerous serum that granted him the abilities has resulted in a cancerous brain tumor.
Urban said what he’ll miss most about the show is the “cast and fantastic Toronto crew. We’ve been together since 2018, and most of those seasons were shot in Toronto winters. So, we’ve been through a lot,” he said. “Out of everything, [I’ll miss] the brother and sisterhood connections. Those people are like family. And that’s a rarity in this business when you come together and work for a long period of time.”
Karl Urban (Billy Butcher) in Season 5 of ‘The Boys’
Prime Video
With many epic fight sequences in Urban’s career, we also got into how he keeps himself agile. “You have to be in pretty good shape,” he said. “But you know, you have to approach those elements with the utmost respect. You can not only injure yourself, but you can also injure other people. On an average day on The Boys set, we’re talking through what we’re going to do: Butcher punches Bombsight in the face, Bombsight punches Butcher, then Bombsight grabs Butcher and goes flying across the room into a brick wall, and then Butcher gets up. So, that way, I know where the line is as to what I will happily do, and what I will hand over to my stunt double, Garreth Hadfield, who is absolutely amazing.”
Next month, Urban will star as another combat-fueled team leader named Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II. “This was the most challenging film, physically and technically, that I’ve ever embarked on in my career,” Urban revealed. “I’m super proud of it. And I can’t wait for the audience to see it. There’s a fight in the middle of the film that Johnny has with Baraka that’s probably the most fun thing that I’ve ever had the opportunity to do.”
Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade and Karl Urban as Johnny Cage in ‘Mortal Kombat II’
Warner Bros.
To find out about which one of his The Boys co-stars he’d like to fight crime with, why a quote from James Cameron influenced his career trajectory, and which actors have made a huge impact in his life, click the video above.
The Boys Season 5 debuts on Prime Video on April 8 at 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET.
