Sharlto Copley is a South African producer, actor, and director who has produced and co-directed short films which have appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as commercials and music videos. He is perhaps best known for playing the roles of Wikus van der Merwe in the Oscar-nominated science fiction film District 9 and Howling Mad Murdock in the 2010 adaptation of The A-Team. Copley was born in Pretoria and educated at St. Andrew's Preparatory School in Grahamstown and Redhill School in Morningside, Johannesburg. His brother Donovan is a the lead singer/songwriter of the South African... band Hotwater, and his sister Marisa is a fashion designer. He resides alternately in Cape Town and Los Angeles. A year after leaving high school, Copley first met director Neill Blomkamp; Copley was 22 and Blomkamp was 16, and Copley provided Blomkamp with use of computers at his production company to assist the company with pitches for various projects and allow Blomkamp to further pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design.
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