Jason Cope

South African actor Jason Cope not only played the lead alien Christopher Johnson in the 2009 sci-fi sensation "District 9" but he also contributed voices for many minor and background characters in the film. A look at his background indicates that this is unsurprising given his versatility. At the age of nine, he trained as a magician, and at 13 he performed a brief stint in a South African circus. After completing his schooling, the natural showman relocated to London and made his living as a street performer. He returned to his homeland at the age of 20 to pursue stand-up gigs across the country and appeared on "The Pure Monate Show" in 2003. He collaborated with director Neill Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley on the short film" Alive in Joburg," which producer Peter Jackson helped turn into the Oscar-nominated "District 9." The "District 9" team employed a process similar to the creation of the character Gollum in Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, namely the use of a special suit designed to model a CGI character on the actual movements of an actor, which facilitated Cope's natural performance. He went on to appear in the South African period comedy "Spud" and returned to dystopian sci-fi with a supporting part in the 2012 comic-book-based movie "Dredd."