Karel Roden (born 18 May 1962) is a Czech actor, popularly known for his roles in Hellboy and The Bourne Supremacy, and his voice work in Grand Theft Auto IV.
Karel Roden | |
|---|---|
 Roden at the 43rd KVIFF in July 2008 | |
| Born | 18 May 1962 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Partner | Ivana Chýlková (1985–1994) |
Life and career
editRoden followed his father and grandfather into acting. Roden first graduated from the Comprehensive Art Secondary School for Ceramics before being admitted to the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Roden's feature film career began almost simultaneous with his theatre work in 1984 as Honza, a medical student in the 2nd part of a trilogy entitled "How the poets are losing their illusions" (Jak básníci přicházejí o iluze), a lighthearted, comic look at life through the lives of young university students. Roden's Honza also appeared in the final installation of the trilogy, "How poets are enjoying their lives" (Jak básníkům chutná život).
Other comic turns include Roden's Captain Tuma in Who's That Soldier?, a humoristic look at life as a soldier in the socialist Czech army, the character Dragan in the action-thriller Dead Fish with Gary Oldman and Terence Stamp. In the comedy crime-thriller Shut Up and Shoot Me, Roden plays the hen-pecked husband hired to assassinate a grieving widow.[1]
During the 1990s, he spent some time in London, which improved his English and gave him necessary exposure and access to the international scene. Hence, since being outside of Czechoslovakia he has become known mostly for his character actor roles which began in 2001 when Roden secured his first major role in the American psychological thriller, 15 Minutes, where he played the criminal Emil Slovak partnered with Oleg Taktarov opposite NYPD cop Flemming played by Robert De Niro. This was followed by a similar role, as the lawyer Carter Kounen, in the service of a vampire clan, in the movie Blade II in 2002.[citation needed]
This was followed by what became a series of typecast roles, including the action movie Bulletproof Monk, where he plays the Nazi megalomaniac Strucker. This was no doubt due to his heavy accent and distinct features, which bring him close to the stereotyped Hollywood villain, although his voice was dubbed over by another actor in Blade II. This greatly understates, however, the plethora of characters he has portrayed throughout his career, particularly in Czechoslovakia.[citation needed]
His movie roles to date include 15 Minutes (2001), Blade II (2002), Bulletproof Monk (2003), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), as Grigori Rasputin in Hellboy (2004), Running Scared (2006), Largo Winch (2008), RocknRolla (2008), and Orphan (2009). He also played the Russian movie critic Emil Dachevsky in the film Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007). He played Noble Thurzo in Bathory (2008), co-production movie filmed by Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko, A Lonely Place to Die (2011) and a role as the Czech mobster Karel Benes in the TV series McMafia (2019).
For his main character in Guard No. 47, Karel Roden received the Czech Lion Award for Best Actor in Leading Role.[2] 8 years later, he received the same award for the portrayal of Jan Masaryk in A Prominent Patient. He also received Alfréd Radok Award in 1998 for performing Bruno in Le Cocu Magnifique by Fernand Crommelynck. Other notable role was Don Juan in Grabbe's Don Juan and Faust (Divadlo v Dlouhé). He also appeared in two plays with his brother Marian. He was also a member of the prestigious Prague National Theatre. At the moment he can be found at Theatre Studio DVA in several performances.[3]
Roden has also voiced Mikhail Faustin and Wade "The Fixer" Johnson in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Film | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Who's That Soldier? | Captain Tůma | Czechoslovakia |
| 1990 | Masseba | Tall Youth | Czechoslovakia |
| 1997 | Pták Ohnivák | Skeleton | Czech Republic |
| 2000 | Wild Flowers | Dead Man - Soldier | Czech Republic |
| 2001 | 15 Minutes | Emil Slovák | United States, Germany |
| 2002 | Blade II | Karel Kounen | United States |
| 2003 | Bulletproof Monk | Strucker | United States |
| 2004 | The Bourne Supremacy | Yuri Gretkov | United States |
| Hellboy | Grigori Rasputin | United States | |
| 2005 | Dead Fish | Dragan | United States |
| Shut Up and Shoot Me | Pavel Zeman | Czech Republic | |
| 2006 | Running Scared | Anzor Yugorsky | United States, Germany |
| The Abandoned | Nikolai | Bulgaria, Spain, United Kingdom | |
| 2007 | Mr. Bean's Holiday | Emil Duchevsky | France, United Kingdom, Germany, United States |
| 2008 | Bathory | György Thurzó | Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, United Kingdom |
| Guard No. 47 | Frantisek Dousa | Czech Republic | |
| Largo Winch | Michail Korsky | France | |
| RocknRolla | Uri Omovich | United Kingdom | |
| 2009 | Orphan | Dr. Värava | United States, Canada, Germany, France |
| 2010 | Habermann | Karel Březina | Czech Republic, Germany, Austria |
| 2011 | Lidice | František Šíma | Czech Republic |
| A Lonely Place to Die | Darko | United Kingdom | |
| Alois Nebel | The Mute | Czech Republic | |
| 2013 | Frankenstein's Army | Dr. Viktor Frankenstein | United States, Czech Republic, Netherlands |
| 2015 | Sword of Vengeance | Durant | United Kingdom |
| Photographer | Jan Saudek | Czech Republic | |
| 2016 | Murder in Polná | Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk | Czech Republic |
| A Prominent Patient | Jan Masaryk | Czech Republic | |
| We Are Never Alone | Father | Czech Republic | |
| 2017 | Little Crusader | Bořek | Czech Republic |
| 2020 | The Racer | Viking | Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium |
| 2021 | Večirek | Richard Crha | Czech Republic |
| 2022 | Medieval | Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia | Czech Republic |
| TBA | The Way of the Wind | Mamon | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Spooks | Miroslav Gradic | United Kingdom |
| 2011 | Terapie | Dr. Marek Pošta | Czech Republic |
| 2012 | Missing | Viktor Azimoff | United States |
| 2013 | The Wrong Mans | Marat Malankovic | United Kingdom |
| 2018 | McMafia | Karel Benes | United Kingdom |
Video Game
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | Mikhail Faustin / Wade "The Fixer" Johnson |
References
edit- ^ "Karel Roden – Juraj Thurzo – Actors – Bathory – Czech Television – Czech Television". Ceskatelevize.cz. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ Spáčilová, Tereza; Efler, Vojtěch; Záhorková, Jana (7 March 2009). "Filmem roku se stali Karamazovi, pro Českého lva si došel i Havel". idnes.cz (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ "Roden Karel « Studio DVA divadlo". www.studiodva.cz. Retrieved 4 March 2019.