Sharlto Copley
Biography
Sharlto Copley is a South African actor who met Neill Blomkamp soon after high school and let him use computers at his production company. He starred as Wikus van der Merwe in Blomkamp's District 9 (2009), an Afrikaner bureaucrat, and improvised all of his dialogue. He won Favorite Hero and Best Performance at the 2009 IGN Summer Movie awards. He then appeared in The A-Team (2010) as H. M. Murdock, using a Southern American dialect, and later played the villain Agent Kruger in Elysium (2013). Other credits include Europa Report (2013), Maleficent (2014) as King Stefan, the title role in Chappie (2015), and Jimmy in Hardcore Henry (2015). He starred as Christian Walker in two seasons of Powers and played Leo Bonhart in The Witcher. He also appeared in Gringo (2018), Ted K (2021), and Beast (2022). Born in Pretoria, he attended schools in Makhanda and Johannesburg.
52years old
Turns 53 on November 27in 40 days
- Born Pretoria
- Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21
Movie Career
- Films
- 21
- Career span
- 17 years2009 to 2026
Genres
First and latest
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Getting ready for a role
In Blomkamp's 2009 film District 9, Copley played Wikus van der Merwe, an Afrikaner bureaucrat, in the lead role. Copley improvised all of his dialogue for the film.
Languages
For his portrayal of A-Team member H. M. Murdock, Copley spoke in a Southern American dialect. He also worked Scottish, English, Australian and Swahili into the character's rapid-fire style.
Behind the camera
In 2010, Copley wrote, produced and directed a clip for the South African Film and Television Awards titled "Wikus and Charlize", with Charlize Theron. In it he plays Wikus, hunting for Theron in Hollywood so she can help present the Best Afrikaans Pop album award.
A change of course
Copley met Neill Blomkamp soon after finishing high school. At Copley's production company, Blomkamp was given computer access so the company could pitch projects and Blomkamp could develop his talent for 3D animation and design.
Sharlto Copley movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Neill Blomkamp directed three of these films, Ilya Naishuller two. Brandon Auret appears in three of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Brandon Auret's page
Dolph Lundgren's page
Idris Elba's page
Terry Chen's page
Yul Vazquez's page
Neill BlomkampDirector, 3 films, 2009 to 2015
All films by Neill Blomkamp
All films by Ilya Naishuller
Also two films together5 more actors
- Jose Pablo CantilloChappie (2015) and Elysium (2013)
- Sam RileyFree Fire (2017) and Maleficent (2014)
- Dev PatelMonkey Man (2024) and Chappie (2015)
- Robert HobbsChappie (2015) and District 9 (2009)
- Jason CopeChappie (2015) and District 9 (2009)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Sharlto Copley's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$1.7 billion
17 of the 21 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 21 films: 17 worldwide figure; 2 never in cinemas; 2 figure not found.
- 17Worldwide figure
- 2Never in cinemas
- 2Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 98% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$759M45.4% of the total
- 2$286M17.1% of the total
- 3$211M12.6% of the total
- 4$177M10.6% of the total
- 5$104M6.2% of the total
- 6$56M3.4% of the total
- 7$35M2.1% of the total
- 8$17M1.0% of the total
$25.5 millionfrom the other 9 films with a worldwide figure, 2% of the total