Christopher Judge

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Christopher Judge
Judge in 2015
Born
Occupation(s)Actor, voice actor
Years active1990–present
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1]
Children3, including Cameron

Christopher Judge is an American actor. He is best known for playing Teal'c in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, and for being the second actor to portray Kratos in the God of War video game series, playing the role in God of War (2018) and its sequel God of War Ragnarök (2022). He attended the University of Oregon on a football scholarship and was a Pacific-10 Conference player.

Early life[edit]

Judge wanted to be an actor from an early age, and studied drama in high school.[2] "The television set was my babysitter growing up. I can remember wanting to invoke the feelings that I was getting from television—I wanted to be the one who was the catalyst for those feelings in other people. Performing was something I've always known I was going to do."[1] He always knew that sports would be a stepping stone to an acting career.[3]

Judge received a scholarship from the University of Oregon and played defensive back and safety for the Ducks from 1982 to 1985. He led in kickoff return yardage for 1983-84 and interceptions in 1984, and won the Casanova Award in 1982,[4] awarded to the freshman or newcomer of the year. While at Oregon, Judge was a Pacific-10 Conference Selection in 1984 and played in the 1985 Hula Bowl.[4]

Judge won a contest to host a radio show in Oregon, and in his senior year he won a regional contest to host the West Coast FOX KLSR Morning Show,[5] an "MTV talk show type thing"; he used this experience to get an agent and move back to Los Angeles.[6]

Career[edit]

Acting[edit]

Judge at the 2008 Armageddon Convention in Christchurch, New Zealand

In 1989 Judge began studying at the Howard Fine Studio in Los Angeles.[6] His early roles in the 1990s included Bird on a Wire, Cadence, Neon Rider and MacGyver with future Stargate SG-1 star Richard Dean Anderson. In the ensuing years, Judge had small parts in various television shows and films such as 21 Jump Street (with future SG-1 director Peter DeLuise), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and House Party 2, and as a regular on Sirens from 1994 to 1995.

Judge's largest role came in 1997 with Stargate SG-1. While at a friend's house, he saw his friend's roommate practicing for an audition for the show and was intrigued. While the roommate was away, Judge looked at the audition notes, called his agent, and insisted he get him an audition or lose him as a client.[7] At the audition, there were three actors trying out for each of the other principal roles, but eight or ten for the role of Teal'c. Judge was confident that he had acquired the part when they dismissed everyone who had read for the part except him.[1]

Judge's subsequent work includes guest spots on Andromeda, Stargate Atlantis, The Mentalist, the television film Personal Effects, and the films Snow Dogs and A Dog's Breakfast, the latter written and directed by fellow Stargate actor David Hewlett. Judge appeared in "Anonymous", the October 26, 2010 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, and as one of Bane's henchmen in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises.

Writing[edit]

Judge wrote four Stargate SG-1 episodes: season five's "The Warrior", season six's "The Changeling", season seven's "Birthright", and season eight's "Sacrifices".[citation needed]

After Stargate SG-1 was cancelled, Judge began writing a script for a show called Rage of Angels that would have enabled him to play "the lead in an hour formatted show and prove that a black lead can be commercially viable and sustainable in overseas markets."[8] The script was marketed as a two-hour, back door pilot with MGM,[8] but is now apparently with Direct TV and Starz Media.[9]

Voice work[edit]

Judge during the Toulouse Game Show in 2012

Judge has also done voice acting for animated series and video games, including Magneto on X-Men: Evolution, and the canceled Stargate SG-1: The Alliance.

In the season eight episode, "Avatar", Teal'c informs SG-1 that he plays Def Jam Vendetta, alluding to the fact that Judge had provided the voice of D-Mob, the main antagonist in that game. He once again appeared as D-Mob in the sequel, Def Jam: Fight for NY. He voiced Jericho in Turok.[citation needed]

Judge provided the voice of Zodak on the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon as well as Coach Grey in the Action Man CGI series from 2000.[citation needed]

On June 14, 2016, Judge confirmed he was the voice actor for Kratos in the 2018 God of War, replacing long time Kratos voice actor Terrence C. Carson.[10] He reprised the role in God of War Ragnarök.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Judge is involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and is an avid golfer.[12]

His son, Cameron, is a professional Canadian football linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders; Cameron played college football for UCLA and was drafted 2nd overall in the 2017 CFL Draft.[13] His other son, Christopher Jordan, played college football for Cal Poly and was drafted 71st overall in the 2019 CFL Draft.[14]

According to tweets from Judge, he could not walk in 2019, and he had to undergo surgery to have both his hips replaced, alongside back and knee surgery.[15]

Awards and nominations[edit]

In 2002, Judge was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for his work on Stargate SG-1.[16]

On February 13, 2019 at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, Judge accepted the award for Outstanding Achievement in Character for his performance as Kratos in God of War.[17][18] During 2023's 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, Judge again accepted the award for Outstanding Achievement in Character as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök.[19]

In 2019, Judge was nominated for the British Academy Games Award for Performer at the 15th British Academy Games Awards, but he lost to his co-star Jeremy Davies.[20] He was subsequently nominated for and won the Performer in a Leading Role at the 19th British Academy Games Awards in 2023.[21]

In 2022, Judge won the award for Best Performance at Game Awards 2022 for his role in God of War Ragnarök as Kratos; his acceptance speech went for 7 minutes and 59 seconds.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Bird on a Wire Cop at Cafe Credited as Doug Judge
Cadence Psych. Ward M.P. #1 Credited as Douglas Judge
1991 House Party 2 Miles Credited as D. Christopher Judge
1997 Stargate: Children of the Gods Teal'c Direct-to-video
2001 Out of Line Alfonso James
2002 Snow Dogs Dr. Brooks
Romantic Comedy 101 Nigel Television film
2005 Personal Effects Nate Wall
2007 A Dog's Breakfast Chris
2008 Stargate: The Ark of Truth Teal'c Direct-to-video
Stargate: Continuum
Max Steel: Bio Crisis Jefferson (voice)
2010 Paradox Captain Papillo
2011 Dead Space: Aftermath Nickolas Kuttner[22] Voice; direct-to-video
Rehab Charles
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Mercenary Assassin #3 (as read in official movie credits) Mercenary Security #4 (as read in IMDb credits)
Clash of the Empires Amthar Direct-to-video
2013 Smokin' Jim Short
2014 Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark Jack Turner
A Tiger's Tail Joe Camp
Knock 'em Dead Freddy
To Have and to Hold Sampson
Wraith Wraith Voice; short
The Underground Railroad Bear
Reaper Officer Banks
LA Apocalypse (Doomed Planet) Lt. Grisham
Lowlifes Commander Randall
Nobility Admiral Nev
2015 Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Secret Service Agent
2015 Lord of the Elves Anthar Master of the Hunt
2018 Minutes to Midnight Ranger Taso

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Neon Rider
MacGyver Deron Episode: "Live and Learn", credited as Doug Judge
21 Jump Street Man in Queue Episode: "Unfinished Business", uncredited
Booker Jones/Mover 2 episodes
1994-1995 Sirens Off. Richard Stiles Recurring role, season 2 (22 episodes); credited as D. Christopher Judge
1995 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Workman Episode: "There's the Rub: Part 2", credited as D. Christopher Judge
1997-2007 Stargate SG-1 Teal'c Main role (211 episodes)
2000 Adventures from the Book of Virtues Plato[22] Voice; main role season 3 (13 episodes)
2001 First Wave Xevallah Episode: "Beneath the Black Sky"
Freedom Doctor Roeg Episode: "Mind Game"
2000-2001 Action Man Coach Simon Grey Voice; recurring role (14 episodes)
2002 Just Cause Reverend Lester Stokes Episode: "The Wives of Christmas Past"
2002-2003 Andromeda Hector-Resolution of Hector/Achilles Avatar 3 episodes
2000-2003 X-Men: Evolution Magneto Voice; recurring role (20 episodes)
2003-2004 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Zodak, Zeelahr Voice; 4 episodes, credited as Chris Judge
2007-2008 Stargate: Atlantis Teal'c 2 episodes
2010 NCIS: Los Angeles Assan Refiq Episode: "Anonymous"
2012 The Mentalist Dante Holmes Episode: "Pink Champagne on Ice"
2015 Chainsaw Sally: The Animated Series The Baron Voice
2017 Wacky Races Brick Crashman[22] Voice; main role
2019-2021 Final Space Oreskis Voice, 2 episodes
2022 The Guardians of Justice President Nicholas E. Nukem

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Def Jam Vendetta D-Mob
2004 Def Jam Fight for NY Credited as Chris Judge
World of Warcraft Additional voices
2008 Turok Jericho Credited as Chris Judge
2013 Stargate SG-1: Unleashed Teal'c Voice and likeness
2014 World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Additional voices
2015 StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
2018 God of War Kratos Voice and motion capture[22]
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Akunda / Gorak Tul / Sunwalker Ordel
2021 Marvel's Avengers T'Challa / Black Panther War for Wakanda DLC expansion
2022 God of War Ragnarök Kratos Voice and motion capture

Writing[edit]

Year Title Episode Notes
2002 Stargate SG-1 The Warrior Season 5, episode 18. Aired in January.
2003 The Changeling Season 6, episode 19. Aired in February.
Birthright Season 7, episode 10. Aired in August.
2004 Sacrifices Season 8, episode 09. Aired in September.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Child of the Gods (archived) Archived October 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Ultimate TV Transcript (archived) Archived March 6, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ TV Guide Q&A with Christopher Judge (archived) Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b Oregon Ducks Football History Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Christopher Judge - StargateWiki". www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com.
  6. ^ a b "Christopher Judge interview - Teal'C Stargate SG-1". www.thescifiworld.net.
  7. ^ "Christopher Judge Chat". Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  8. ^ a b "TV Crush Blog".
  9. ^ "Michael Shanks - Conventions". www.michaelshanks-online.com.
  10. ^ Paget, Mat (June 15, 2016). "New God of War Does Not Feature Original Kratos Voice Actor". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  11. ^ Gilliam, Ryan (September 30, 2021). "Kratos actor says God of War Ragnarok was delayed due to his health". Polygon. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  12. ^ "Christopher Judge". Starland. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved October 10, 2010 – via www.starland.com.
  13. ^ "2017 CFL Canadian Amateur Draft". CFLdb Statistics - The Canadian Football Statistics Database. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "2019 CFL Canadian Amateur Draft". CFLdb Statistics - The Canadian Football Statistics Database. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  15. ^ Gilliam, Ryan (2021-09-30). "Kratos actor says God of War Ragnarok was delayed due to his health". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  16. ^ "Stargate takes four Saturn Award nominations". GateWorld. March 15, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  17. ^ "Awards Category Details". www.interactive.org. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  18. ^ "22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Award Winners Revealed". www.interactive.org. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  19. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details God of War Ragnarok". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  20. ^ "BAFTA Games Awards nominations 2019". BAFTA. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  21. ^ "2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d "Christopher Judge - 17 Character Images". Behind The Voice Actors.

External links[edit]