Jason Cope is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n actor best known for his work in Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp is an Afrikaner-Canadian film and advertisement writer and director. Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects. He is best known as the co-writer and director of critically acclaimed...

's District 9

District 9

District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...

. In the film Cope plays a variety of different characters including the alien Christopher Johnson and the character Grey Bradnam, one of the narrators of the film. Cope also performed the majority of the background voice work in the film; voicing most of the police, pilot and other background voices in addition to the voice of the cameraman Trent. For the creation of the character of Christopher Johnson the film used a process similar to the creation of the character of Gollum

Gollum

Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....

 played by Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis

Andrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...

 in Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

's Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...

 trilogy using a CGI

Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

 character modeled on the performance of an actor. This allowed for on-camera performances by the actor, allowing the aliens to interact with the other cast members. Cope is the grandson of the South African writer Jack Cope

Jack Cope

Jack Cope was a South African novelist, short story writer, poet, and editor.Jack Cope was born in Natal, South Africa and attended boarding school in Durban, afterwards becoming a journalist on the Natal Mercury and then a political correspondent in London for South African newspapers...

.

Cope trained as a magician at age 9 and briefly worked as a filler act in a South African circus at age 13. He continued to perform professionally on a part-time basis until he completed his schooling. Later, once he had finished school, he went to London to become a street performer.

At the age of 20 he returned to South Africa and performed stand-up comedy at venues and events around the country.

Cope wrote for and acted in the television comedy show The Pure Monate Show.

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