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Karl Urban becomes GHOST in PathFinder

Movie Pathfinder Posted By: Tim / Source

As production began in earnest, Marcus Nispel set out to find an actor to
play the hero of PATHFINDER – the orphaned Viking child who grows up to
become the Indian warrior named Ghost and a divided man ready to wage his
own relentless war against his brutal former countrymen. Nispel wanted a
fresh persona for Ghost, rather than someone who came with an already
set-in-stone image. After seeing Karl Urban in supporting roles in the hit
thriller The Bourne Supremacy and in the epic Lord of the Rings, Nispel was
struck with the feeling that he was staring at a leading action hero of the
future. Urban clearly had personality to spare and none of the drawbacks of
a blockbuster star.

"We were looking for someone who could really make you believe in our David
versus Goliath story,” explains Nispel. "And when Karl came along it was
very apparent that he was a guy who could elevate every element of this
tale. As a painter, I was fascinated by his face and eyes, which have so
much depth to them. He also obviously knew how to use a sword and ride a
horse, so we wouldn’t have to spend months training him. Equally important,
he didn’t have any kind of cookie-cutter image already attached. A lot of
well-known young actors I talked to about the role were worried that
running around in a loincloth would effect their image – and I was thinking
about what a tragedy it would have been if Peter O’Toole had felt that way
about the outfit he had to wear for Lawrence of Arabia! With Karl that
wasn’t an issue.”

Urban was attracted to the role because it was so different from anything
else he’d ever read. "This is an action-adventure story,” notes Urban, "but
Ghost is also a unique and complex character. Having been shipwrecked at a
young age and adopted by Native American Indians, he has tried to
assimilate and fit into their culture. But there’s something within himself
that just won’t shift. He’s not all Indian and he’s not all Viking; he’s
somewhere in between. In a sense, he’s the first melting pot American. And
now he has to face up to his past demons – almost literally – to prove his
loyalty and his worth both to himself and to his new people.”

Urban was especially attracted to the gritty, primeval nature of the role –
one that would take him deep into the fiercest forms of forested battle and
the darkest zones of a warrior’s divided heart. "I like that the character
is a natural survivor,” he continues. "Throughout the course of the film,
Ghost is relentlessly hunted and pursued and he has to make it through this
arduous test of his body, will and soul. In the end, the story becomes
about how he transforms himself into a true warrior – and a man worthy of
his culture.”

To go deeper into the role, Urban not only had to familiarize himself with
Viking lore but with the early Wampanoag Indian cultures, which fascinated
him. "One of the things that attracted me to doing this film was the
opportunity to better understand American Indian culture because I feel a
real affinity with them,” he says. "They were the people of the dawn, the
first people in America and they had such a holistic view of their place in
the world and how everything functions. I think it’s a view that modern man
could really take to heart.”

He also thought a lot about the ideals that make a true warrior. "One of
the themes of the film is that you can’t really win simply by using blind
rage and fury to deal with your enemy,” he observes. "You have to use your
smarts. You have to know your enemy from the inside and figure out how to
use their own weaknesses against them.”

Yet nothing could prepare Urban for the intense physical challenges he
would face as Ghost, from climbing treacherously steep cliffs to engaging
in one-on-one combat against savage Viking weaponry. "This was by far the
most grueling, dangerous film I’ve done,” he admits. "From day one I knew I
would be fighting a constant uphill battle against pain and injury the
whole time, but like Ghost, I was determined that nothing would stop me
from doing my job.”

Even as Ghost is physically ravaged by his battles, he is emotionally
changed by his growing feelings for his equally strong comrade in battle,
the Native American woman Starfire, played by Moon Bloodgood. Urban sees
their love story, unfolding as it does in the middle of violence and chaos,
as a turning point in Ghost’s development. "I think Starfire is really
instrumental in saving Ghost from this journey of blind vengeance he’s on,”
comments Urban. "She shows him another way, and reveals he has a different
choice he can make. Moon did such a fantastic job of portraying a gutsy,
intelligent, feminine woman who is also a fighter and a leader.”

On the set, Urban also found that working with Marcus Nispel was a perfect
match for the film’s non-stop suspense and action. "Marcus works at a
blistering pace that I’ve never encountered before,” he explains. "He works
fast and loose and I really liked it. Some days we did as many as 60 shots
so you never had time to overanalyze or get into your head too much.
Overall, it was a very invigorating experience. Visually, Marcus is just
incredible. He paints pictures on the screen.”