Arnold Vosloo Explained

Arnold Vosloo
Birth Date:1962 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Education:Technikon Pretoria
Occupation:Actor
Years Active:1983–present

Arnold Vosloo (born 16 June 1962)[1] is a South African-American actor. He is known for roles such as Imhotep in The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001), Colonel Coetzee in Blood Diamond (2006), Pik van Cleef in Hard Target (1993), Dr. Peyton Westlake in Darkman II (1995) and Darkman III (1996), Zartan in (2009) and (2013), sniper Jacob Broadsky in the TV series Bones and terrorist Habib Marwan in the fourth season of 24.

Early life

An Afrikaner of Dutch and German ancestry,[2] Vosloo was born into a Pretoria acting family, his parents having been stage actors. His father ran a drive-in theater in Alberton, Gauteng. He has one sister. After high school and military service (from which he received a medical discharge),[3] he took drama courses at the Technikon Pretoria.[2]

Career

Vosloo began his acting career in South African theatre, where he won several Dalro Awards for his performances in such plays as Don Juan, Hamlet, and Môre is 'n Lang Dag (Tomorrow is a Long Day) and quickly became a regular at Pretoria's State Theatre. He also starred in Torch Song Trilogy and won another award for the TV show, Meisie van Suid-Wes (Girl from South West).[4]

In 1984, Vosloo moved on to film where he continued Dalro Award-winning performances in films such as Boetie gaan Border toe (Boetie goes to the border, a comedy about the Border War) acting alongside fellow South African actor Frank Opperman, and Circles in a Forest (based on the book Kringe in 'n Bos by author Dalene Matthee) in 1990. Vosloo also starred in the "Boetie" sequel, Boetie op maneuvers (Boetie on maneuvers) in 1986. Next was the German three-parter Morenga (1985), Saturday Night at the Palace (based on the play by Paul Slabolepszy about racism in South Africa), Skeleton Coast (1987) and The Rutanga Tapes (1990).

Upon arriving in the U.S., Vosloo returned to the theatre where he appeared in Born in the R.S.A. at Chicago's Northlight Theatre and in the NY's Circle in the Square Uptown's short-lived production of Salomé (1992) together with Al Pacino.[5]

His American film debut was in Gor (1987). He later appeared in the two less successful sequels to the 1990 film Darkman, (1994) and (1996), filling the shoes of Liam Neeson as the title character Darkman.

Vosloo is also known for portraying villains such as in the John Woo film Hard Target (1993), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the title role of the 1999 film The Mummy (starring Brendan Fraser), as well as its 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns. In both films he played Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian high priest. Vosloo also played François Molay, the main villain's henchman, in the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks.

In 2004, The Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opened in both Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood. Vosloo and Fraser were there at both openings to promote the new rides, in which both of them star, as well as featuring a life size image of Vosloo as The Mummy.

Alongside his film career, he guest-starred in several TV series, including The Red Shoe Diaries, American Gothic (1995), Nash Bridges (1995), Charmed (2000), Alias (2004) and NCIS (2009). He was one of the main characters in (2003). He also had a major role in the fourth season of 24 (2005), as terrorist leader Habib Marwan. Vosloo appeared in three episodes of Chuck in 2009 as Fulcrum agent Vincent.

In 2004, Vosloo returned to South Africa to make Forgiveness, about an ex-policeman who seeks out the family of the anti-Apartheid activist that he killed. He played mercenary Colonel Coetzee in the 2006 film Blood Diamond, which was partially filmed in South Africa.

Vosloo has been involved in video games: his likeness, as well as his voice, was chosen for the main hero (Saul Myers) of video game , published in the summer of 2005 by Atari.

Vosloo portrayed the Cobra mercenary and master of disguise, Zartan, in the summer 2009 release , reprising this villainous role in the 2013 release .[6]

Personal life

In 1988, Vosloo became a naturalized United States citizen after marrying his Act of Piracy and Skeleton Coast co-star Nancy Mulford; they divorced three years later. On 16 October 1998, he married Southern California native Silvia Ahí, a Mexican-American marketing director. Vosloo and Ahí are spokespersons for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW.

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Vosloo noted he looked similar to American actor Billy Zane. According to Vosloo, when people came asking him if he was "the guy in Titanic," he would reply, "Of course, of course," as a joke.[7]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983Funny People 2Self - actor at interview
1984Boetie Gaan Border ToeBoetie Van Tonder
1985MorengaV. Schiller
1986Boetie Op ManoeuvresBoetie Van Tonder
1987Saturday Night at the PalaceDougie
1987GorNorman
1987Steel DawnMakker
1988Skeleton Coast'Blade'
1988Act of PiracySean Stevens
1989Reason to DieWesley Wilson
1989The RevengerMackie
1989Circles in a ForestSaul Barnard
1992Guevara
1992The Finishing TouchMikael Gant
1993Hard TargetPik Van Cleef
1995Peyton Westlake / DarkmanDirect-to-video,
replacing Liam Neeson
1996Peyton Westlake / DarkmanDirect-to-video
1997Zeus and RoxanneClaude Carver
1998ProgenyDr. Craig Burton
1999The MummyImhotep
2001The Mummy ReturnsImhotep
2002Con ExpressGeneral Anton SimeonovDirect-to-video
2003Agent Cody BanksFrançois Molay
2003Endangered SpeciesWarden
2004ForgivenessTertius Coetzee
2006Waist DeepPolice Detective #1Uncredited
2006Blood DiamondColonel Coetzee
2006Lennart
2007Living & DyingDetective Rick Devlin
2008Odysseus
2008King Augustin
2009Zartan
2010Black AdamVoice, short film; direct-to-video[8]
2011All-Star SupermanBar-ElVoice, direct-to-video
2011Abin SurVoice, direct-to-video
2013Zartan
2013Odd ThomasTom Jedd
2015Shark KillerNix
2018The HarrowingDr. Franklin Whitney
2020GriekwastadColonel Dick de Waal
2022Silverton SiegeCaptain Johan Langerman
2023Condor's NestColonel Martin Bach

Television

Notes
1983Meisie van SuidwesWillem Dreyer9-parter TV series
1988Killer InstinctAssadTelevision film
1990Buried AliveKen WadeTelevision film
1992Red Shoe DiariesBillEpisode: "Double Dare"
1995American GothicRafael SantoEpisode: "A Tree Grows in Trinity"
1995Fallen AngelsMacManEpisode: "Fly Paper"
1996Nash BridgesAlex AbeEpisode: "Genesis"
1999–2000Strange WorldDark-Haired Man3 episodes
2000CharmedDarklighterEpisode: "Murphy's Luck"
2003–2004Vincent Siminou13 episodes
2004AliasMr. ZismanEpisode: "Crossings"
2004MeltdownKhalid / SandsTelevision film
200524 - (season 4)Habib Marwan17 episodes
2007SharkAndre ZitofskyEpisode: "Gangster Movies"
2008Fire & IceKing AugustinTelevision film
2009ChuckVincent Smith3 episodes
2009–2010NCISMossad Officer Amit Hadar3 episodes
2010PsychJ.T. WaringEpisode: "A Very Juliet Episode"
2011Young JusticeKobraVoice, episode: "Drop-Zone"
2011BonesJacob Broadsky3 episodes
2013ElementaryChristos TheophilusEpisode: "Heroine"
2014CrisisJakob Vries2 episodes
2015GrimmJonathon WildeEpisode: "Maréchaussée"
2016Armand SmitEpisode: "Iqiniso"
2016Cape TownRobin Van Rees6 episodes
2017UlazVoice, episode: "Shiro's Escape"
2017BoschRudy Tafero9 episodes
2019The BlacklistMarko JankowicsEpisode: "Marko Jankowics (No. 58)"
2019Tom Clancy's Jack RyanJost Van Der Byl4 episodes
2022LudikDaan Ludik6 episodes[9]

Video games

YearTitleRole
2005Saul Myers
2007StrangleholdDamon Zakarov

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Celebrity birthdays for the week of June 11–17. The Associated Press. August 5, 2023. June 5, 2023. Actor Arnold Vosloo is 61.
  2. Book: Daniel Jacobs. Die Vosloos: Nuttige Landsburgers. 2003. 1 (2003). 10–234 . T. Vosloo. 9780620309929.
  3. Vosloo . Arnold . Arnold Vosloo . . Arnold Vosloo . 2005-05-03 . . 2020-07-12.
  4. Interview from May 2020 (YouTube)
  5. Laetitia Pople: Pacino verstommend - Arnold Vosloo 'New York is stimulerend én neerdrukkend', Beeld-Kalender, 5 May 1992.
  6. News: Garth . Franklin . Logo, Prez & More "G.I. Joe" Updates . . 18 February 2008 . https://archive.today/20080219232624/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080218e.php . dead . 19 February 2008 . 23 February 2008 .
  7. https://charlierose.com/videos/9607 "Arnold Vosloo"
  8. Web site: Arnold Vosloo (visual voices guide) . May 22, 2024 . Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  9. Web site: Thangevelo . Debashine . Arnold Vosloo helms Netflix's first Afrikaans series 'Ludik' . 2022-07-26 . www.iol.co.za . en.