Lewis Tan on Mortal Kombat 2 and Asian representation in Hollywood: the martial arts star of Into the Badlands and Netflix’s Iron Fist is ready to direct his first movie – a biopic of his dad
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Mortal Kombat star Lewis Tan on his ‘extremely tough’ rise as an Asian actor in Hollywood
- Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2 co-star talks to Style about how Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and Netflix’s Beef have finally made cinema more welcoming to Asian talent
- Now the British actor wants to make a film about his dad Philip Tan, a pioneering Hollywood choreographer and stuntman on the Batman, Indiana Jones, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises
There is a sincerity in Lewis Tan’s eyes that the cameras don’t quite catch. With chiselled good looks and muscular build, towering at 1.88 metres tall, directors and photographers usually capture a menacing look when it comes to shooting Tan. The kind of press shots fitting for an action star.
Style saw a different side of Tan, when we caught up with him on his way to Australia to reprise his role as Cole Young in the sequel to the HBO pandemic hit, Mortal Kombat – the film spun off the immensely popular video game franchise that debuted back in 1992.
Tan’s ability to perform his own stunts doubtless reinforces his employability – schooled in kick-boxing and Muay Thai, he competed on amateur circuits in his native UK for many years. His love for martial arts goes back to when he was just five years old. “My father would teach me how to kick and how to punch. It was an experience that helped us bond,” explained Tan. “We’d spend time together, watching movies and practising our moves. It’s just rooted in a love for cinema and martial arts.”
If it sounds like Tan has a great appreciation for his father you are not mistaken – the action star is soon set to make his directorial debut with a self-penned script about the life of his father, the Chinese-Singaporean actor and stuntman Philip Tan.
“My dad’s lived a pretty incredible life. As a child he was abandoned and was basically living on the streets of Canton [modern day Guangzhou] until he was about eight years old. Against all these odds he ended up winning the national championship for taekwondo in London,” says Tan, enthralled.
The part about his father’s story that really makes Tan’s eyes light up was that Tan Sr defied the boring, responsible provider trope so commonly assigned to Asian males who achieved success after adversity – by winning a national disco dancing championship in England too.
“The Carl Douglas song from the 1970s ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ was a big hit at the time. My father added elements of martial arts to the dance. It was unheard of for a Chinese guy to be dancing for titles at discos and winning.”
After getting his big break as an actor and fight choreographer working with Peter Sellers on 1980’s The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, Tan Sr went on to work on big-budget productions such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Batman Returns in the 80s. And now his son wants to tell his full story on the silver screen.