Jason Cope's work in District 9 makes a persuasive case for paying attention to the actor behind the effects. He gives an alien a credible physical presence, though his largely supporting career offers fewer chances to assess him beyond it.
Fi1m perspective
Christopher Johnson in District 9 (2009) is computer-generated, with Jason Cope providing the movements underneath. That physical performance makes the alien believable, even without the actor's own face to help us recognise what he is doing. Cope also plays Grey Bradnam and Trent and supplies other voices, making this an unusually concentrated introduction to his skills. Christopher gives those skills their most substantial task: making an alien matter to us in a film about the treatment of refugees.
Cope's television comedy in The Pure Monate Show (2004) preceded the science fiction. Alive in Joburg (2005) cast him as a UN official and an alien, establishing his working relationship with director Neill Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley. In District 9, that versatility serves motion capture, on-screen narration and extensive voice work. His background in comedy and improvisation is relevant here: changing parts within one production requires precisely the flexibility that such work develops.
We were unsettled by the everyday cruelty in District 9, because Copley's petty bureaucrat is painfully recognisable. Cope's believable alien performance matters in that company, where the human characters have no automatic claim on our sympathy. The prolonged combat eventually distracts from those smaller acts of cruelty, a significant caveat in a film we otherwise recommend.
Spud (2010), in which he plays Mr 'Sparerib' Wilson opposite John Cleese, offers a route away from the alien work. The later parts in Dredd (2012) and Blomkamp's Chappie (2015) are supporting ones, so we should be careful about claiming these credits tell us everything he can do. Another role with Christopher's prominence would be welcome. Begin with District 9, accepting that the gunfire eventually gets more time than it deserves.
Biography
Jason Cope is a British-South African actor. He is best known for his multiple roles in the 2009 science fiction film District 9, in which he portrayed the alien Christopher Johnson, the character Grey Bradnam and the cameraman Trent, and provided the majority of the background voices.
Cope has appeared in other films including Doomsday (2008), Spud (2010), Dredd (2012) and Chappie (2015), and in the television series Black Sails (2014). He has also worked as a writer and location manager, and performed stand-up comedy and in the television show The Pure Monate Show.
