Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa dies at 75

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, the Japanese American actor who played Shang Tsung in both the 1995 “Mortal Kombat” film and the 2019 video game “Mortal Kombat 11,” died Thursday in Santa Barbara, California at 75. His manager confirmed he died from stroke complications while surrounded by family. Along with work in more than 150 productions, he appeared in “The Last Emperor” (1987), “Pearl Harbor” (2001) and Amazon’s “The Man in the High Castle” (2015-2019) as Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi.

Prolific acting career: Born in Tokyo in 1950, Tagawa moved to the U.S. as a child and began acting professionally in the 1980s. His breakthrough came when Bernardo Bertolucci cast him in “The Last Emperor” (1987), which won nine Academy Awards and introduced him to international audiences. He went on to secure roles in major studio films including “Licence to Kill” (1989), “Planet of the Apes” (2001) and “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005), building a career that spanned action, drama, historical epics and genre television.

Influence and recognition: Tagawa’s performances were frequently cited for bringing nuance to characters that had historically been limited in mainstream Hollywood. His portrayal of Shang Tsung in “Mortal Kombat” became one of the franchise’s most recognizable interpretations and led to later appearances in web series and game adaptations. His work in “The Man in the High Castle” also earned attention for its portrayal of political and cultural tensions in an alternate-history narrative.