Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, an actor who left a strong presence in Hollywood, has died. He was 75.
According to Deadline on the 5th (Korea time), Tagawa died in Santa Barbara, California, of complications from a stroke, and his three children were by his side in his final moments.
He perfectly portrayed the villain "Shang Tsung" in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat and built global recognition. He later played the same character across various media, including TV series and video games, becoming the "face of the series."
Born in Tokyo in 1950 to a Japanese actress mother and a Japanese American soldier father, Tagawa grew up moving around with U.S. military bases from an early age. Naturally learning martial arts, he developed into a unique actor combining rugged physicality and an Asian charisma.
He trained in various martial arts in the United States and Japan, including Japanese karate, and before acting he also worked as a massage therapist.
At 35, Tagawa made his first appearance in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. He gained attention for his role as the Chinese eunuch Chang in Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece The Last Emperor (1987), launching his full-fledged Hollywood career.
His filmography is filled with notable works: License to Kill, Rising Sun, Pearl Harbor, Snow Falling on Cedars, Elektra, Memoirs of a Geisha, 47 Ronin, and especially his portrayal of Japanese minister Tagomi in Amazon Prime's alternate history series The Man in the High Castle (2015–2018), which is considered one of his representative late-career works.
At the Mortal Kombat audition, Tagawa reportedly arrived wearing Shang Tsung's costume and even stood on a chair to read his lines. The production team was captivated by his overwhelming energy and cast him immediately. They set the character's age younger than in the original game and minimized makeup that would hinder Tagawa's facial acting.
Tagawa later said the film's strong musical beats and direction perfectly matched the era's sensibility, explaining the reason for its success.
Tagawa converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2015 and obtained Russian citizenship in 2016. He said he felt the Japanese spirit resembled the Russian soul.
Tagawa married Sally in 1984 and quietly raised three children—son Kalen and daughters Burn and Kana—on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
After his obituary was announced, tributes from game and movie fans continued on social media: "Shang Tsung will forever be his face," "Your acting enriched my childhood," "He was a true "warrior" until the end," and others. Hollywood and the gaming industry deeply mourn the loss of an Asian actor who represented an era. His legacy will endure in films, games and the memories of fans.
[Photo] ©Gettyimages (unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited)
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