Shortly after leaving high school, Copley met Neill Blomkamp, who is six years younger. Copley allowed Blomkamp to use computers at his production company to help the company pitch various projects and allow Blomkamp to pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design.[8]
In Blomkamp's District 9 (2009), Copley played the lead role of Wikus van der Merwe, an Afrikanerbureaucrat assigned to move a race of extraterrestrial creatures stranded on Earth. In the film, the aliens, popularly and derogatorily referred to as "prawns", must be moved from District 9, a military-guarded slum in Johannesburg, South Africa, to an internment camp outside the city. Copley improvised all of his dialogue.[9] At the 2009 IGN Summer Movie awards, Copley won Favorite Hero [10] and Best Performance.[11]
In 2010 Copley produced, wrote, and directed an insert for the South African Film and Television Awards called "Wikus and Charlize", featuring fellow South African star Charlize Theron. The clip features Copley as Wikus attempting to track down Charlize Theron in Hollywood to help him present the Award for Best Afrikaans Pop album.[12]
In 2013, Copley played fictional astronaut James Corrigan in Europa Report, the story of a crew of international astronauts sent on a private mission to Jupiter's fourth moon. The same year, Copley portrayed the villain Agent Kruger in Elysium,[15] a science fiction film written and directed by Blomkamp, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.[16]
Copley played villain Adrian Pryce in Spike Lee's Oldboy, a remake of the 2003 South Korean film of the same name.[17] He also starred opposite Angelina Jolie in the 2014 Disney film Maleficent and played King Stefan, Princess Aurora's father. He also provided the voice, reference work, and interaction with the cast as Chappie, the titular character of the 2015 film Chappie, also directed by Neill Blomkamp.[18]
In 2015, Copley was announced to star as Christian Walker in the superhero TV series Powers.[19] He later provided the voiceover for the e-tron GT concept promotional video by Audi Sport GmbH.[20]
Also in 2015, Copley played the supporting character Jimmy in the film Hardcore Henry.
In March 2018, Copley starred in the crime comedy film Gringo as Mitch Rusk.[21] Copley portrayed the titular character of a biographical film about Ted Kaczynski titled Ted K.[22]
Personal life
Copley has been in a relationship with actress and supermodel Tanit Phoenix since January 2012.[23] They wed on 15 February 2016, in Cape Town, South Africa.[2][24] The couple have a daughter together.
