“He was born to play Sub-Zero,” producer Todd Garner told us.
The first actor cast in the film, Taslim credits his son with helping him make the decision. (Ironically, his son was only 10 at the time and therefore not old enough to play the 18-plus-rated game). “When my agent called me about the offer, I asked my son, ‘Which character do you think fits me the best?’ He said ‘Sub-Zero,’” Taslim recalled. “I told my agent not to lose this job.”
Credit: Warner Bros.
If you had told Taslim that not only would he star in a live-action movie about one of his favorite video games, but that he would play opposite one of his real-life heroes, Hiroyuki Sanada (shown just above), who portrays Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion in the film, he wouldn’t have believed you. “Hiroyuki is someone I respect so much. He s kind of like my idol,” Taslim said. “In 2003, I saw
Mortal Kombat is credited with being one of the first games to create backstories and extended universes for its characters and one of the first Western games to feature Asian characters as heroes.
Mortal Kombat was also one of the most heavily criticized video games, and not just because of its gratuitous violence and gore. Like a lot of Asian-inspired entertainment in the 80s and ’90s, much of the lore was based on Western translations of Eastern philosophy and ethnicities, and these stereotypes often led to seemingly innocuous, yet totally bungled, interpretations of Asian aesthetics. (For example, Chinese character Kung Lao’s signature weapon is based on a Korean military hat called a