Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was an actor that everyone would immediately recognize, but perhaps many would struggle to name. Known best for his portrayal of Shang Tsung in 1995’s ridiculous Mortal Kombat movie, and then for voicing the character in the games since 2013, Tagawa had multiple other defining roles across an extraordinary career. Deadline reports he died on December 4, following complications from a stroke.
It’s hard to think of a more iconic role than Shang Tsung, the evil sorcerer in Paul W.S. Anderson’s hokey and adored 1995 adaptation of the Mortal Kombat video game series, as well as 2013’s web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy (then once more in 2015’s abandoned promotional web series, Mortal Kombat X: Generations). But Tagawa had broad range, known more recently for his leading role as the noble and conflicted Nobusuke Tagomi in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle, as well as roles as diverse as Krull in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, Hiroki Watanabe in Lost in Space, and multiple guest roles on a number of popular TV series. He also displayed a splendid lack of brand loyalty when he appeared in 2010’s atrocious movie version of Tekken! (As well as its straight-to-video sequel.)
Tagawa was also a voice actor, portraying Valco in Star Wars: Visions, The Swordmaker in Netflix’s animation Blue Eye Samurai, and Alrich Wren in Star Wars: Rebels, among many others. He was a contributor to video game voice roles, too, again most notably reprising his role as Shang Tsung in various Mortal Kombat games, including Mortal Kombat 11 and its various DLCs. The actor is also heard in World of Warcraft: Legion, and 2003’s Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu as the eponymous criminal. Oh, and rather brilliantly, he appeared in the extraordinary mess of 1997’s FMV game Soldier Boyz, a game that claimed to be co-directed by Darren Aronofsky, given the footage was lifted from an HBO TV show.
The Toyko-born actor trained in martial arts as a child, before studying karate at university. His first movie appearance was Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning The Last Emperor in 1987, before going on to appear in 150 other roles. Tagawa died on Thursday morning, surrounded by his family, aged 75. RIP.
