Sharlto Copley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sharlto Copley
Copley at the 2024 WonderCon
Born	(1973-11-27) November 27, 1973 (age 51) Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1996–present
Spouse(s)	Tanit Phoenix ​ (m. 2016)​
Children	1

Sharlto Copley (born November 27, 1973) is a well-known actor from South Africa. He has starred in many exciting movies and TV shows. Some of his most famous roles include the science fiction film District 9, the action movie The A-Team, and the fantasy adventure Maleficent. He also played the main robot character in the movie Chappie.

Sharlto Copley is married to Tanit Phoenix, who is also a South African actress and supermodel.

Early Life and Education

Sharlto Copley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He went to school at St. Andrew's Preparatory School and Redhill School. His father, Dr. Bruce Copley, was a university professor. Sharlto also has a brother, Donovan, who is a singer in a band called Hot Water.

Acting Career

After finishing high school, Sharlto Copley met Neill Blomkamp. Neill was six years younger than Sharlto. Sharlto let Neill use computers at his company. This helped Neill develop his skills in 3D animation and design.

Breakthrough in District 9

In 2009, Sharlto Copley starred in Neill Blomkamp's film District 9. He played the main character, Wikus van der Merwe. Wikus was a government worker who had to move aliens living in a slum in Johannesburg. These aliens were often called "prawns". Sharlto made up all of his character's lines as he went along. He won awards for his performance, including "Favorite Hero" and "Best Performance".

The A-Team and Other Roles

In 2010, Sharlto Copley produced, wrote, and directed a short video for the South African Film and Television Awards. It was called "Wikus and Charlize" and featured fellow South African star Charlize Theron.

Later that year, Copley starred in The A-Team movie. He played the character H.M. Murdock. He used a special Southern American accent for this role. He also used other accents like Scottish and Australian. The actor who played Murdock in the original TV show praised Sharlto's acting.

Sharlto Copley also appeared on WWE Raw as a guest host in 2010.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Films

In 2013, Copley played astronaut James Corrigan in the film Europa Report. This movie was about a mission to one of Jupiter's moons. The same year, he played the villain Agent Kruger in Elysium. This was another science fiction film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It also starred Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

Copley took on another villain role as Adrian Pryce in Oldboy. In 2014, he starred alongside Angelina Jolie in the Disney movie Maleficent. He played King Stefan, who was Princess Aurora's father.

In 2015, he played the main robot character, Chappie, in the film Chappie. This movie was also directed by Neill Blomkamp. Sharlto provided the voice and movements for the robot.

Television and Recent Projects

From 2015 to 2016, Sharlto Copley starred in the superhero TV series Powers. He played the character Christian Walker.

He also played Jimmy in the action film Hardcore Henry in 2015. In 2018, he starred in the crime comedy Gringo. More recently, he played the main character in Ted K, a film about Ted Kaczynski. In 2022, he was in the movie Beast.

Personal Life

Sharlto Copley has been with actress and supermodel Tanit Phoenix since 2012. They got married on February 15, 2016, in Cape Town, South Africa. They have one daughter together. Sharlto Copley lives in both Cape Town and Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Web

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sharlto Copley para niños