I wanted to do justice to the character but I didn’t want to betray the fans, so I used all the materials I got from the internet, the producers and the writers. Why was it important to show us both Bi-Han and Sub-Zero? We meet him first as Bi-Han, the person he was centuries ago, which humanizes Sub-Zero in a surprising way.
#Mortal kombat 6 ar movie#
It can be a challenge to bring details to a character who spends most of the movie wearing a mask. If you want an honest opinion, ask a 10-year-old. I said you can’t play the game, it’s too violent! But somehow behind my back, I don’t know … he’s a kid. This is a definite yes.Īlso, I asked my son for his opinion and he said, ‘All my friends say you look like Sub-Zero. I thought, OK, I don’t need to read more. In the first 10 pages of the story of what started the rivalry between Sub-Zero hooked me straight away. So I read the script and I really liked the beginning of the movie. While they’re both amazing, if they wanted me to be part of it, I’d want to give more. Because I watched the two previous ‘Mortal Kombat’ movies and if they wanted to go in that direction, or they wanted to go more serious. Little Joe inside was like, “Eeeee!” But of course, I needed to read the script. Was it an easy decision to say yes to playing Sub-Zero in a new ‘Mortal Kombat’ movie? “I love ‘ Phantom Thread,’ by Paul Thomas Anderson,” said Taslim. Now, in “Mortal Kombat,” he breathes frosty life into the lethal assassin Sub-Zero - a character he came to view as a tragic figure, not merely a villainous cryomancer with a penchant for centuries-long vendettas and crafting makeshift daggers out of his enemies’ frozen blood.Īnd once again, he’s ready to manifest his next breakthrough role. “That was the start of my career,” Taslim said, grinning.
#Mortal kombat 6 ar plus#
His performance as a sergeant leading his squad through a relentless ambush, opposite co-stars and fight choreographers Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, would propel all three, plus Evans, into action history. “Serbuan maut (The Raid)” would become a groundbreaking showcase for silat, a martial art Taslim wasn’t trained in, but he was a quick study. He was, in fact, making his next movie and invited the self-described “judo guy” to try out. To Taslim’s surprise, Gareth Evans wrote back in minutes. “If you don’t like me, just kick me out of the room.” After finding the filmmaker on social media, he made a Hail Mary via Facebook: “Give me one chance to audition,” he wrote. He’d landed only a few roles before he caught an action film, “Merantau,” that took his breath away. In his late 20s, the national judo champ had finally retired from competitive sports to pursue his lifelong acting dream, inspired by stars like Chuck Norris, Alain Delon and Bruce Lee, whose films had filled him with wonder as a boy.
It was just over a decade ago that Taslim hit “send” on the message that changed his life.
#Mortal kombat 6 ar series#
(A just-announced third season will relocate the series to HBO Max, where “Mortal Kombat” gave the streamer its biggest premiere draw yet.) But while he’s simultaneously found more versatile acting roles back home, Western audiences have yet to see all he can do. Taslim, 39, has also starred for two seasons and counting as the enforcer Li Yong in Cinemax’s martial arts-fueled period drama “ Warrior,” based on the writings of Bruce Lee. I like to sing by myself at, like, midnight.”Īfter breaking out internationally in the 2011 Indonesian hit “The Raid,” Taslim quickly established himself as one of the top action stars of his generation, scoring studio gigs in “The Fast Saga” and “Star Trek Beyond” for director Justin Lin, wielding a blade in the South Korean film “The Swordsman” and facing off against “Raid” co-star Iko Uwais in Timo Tjahjanto’s gory crime movie “The Night Comes for Us.” “‘Ribbon in the Sky’ is my favorite song of Steve Wonder’s,” said Taslim over videochat from Jakarta, Indonesia, revealing his musical passion with a smile. But even action superfans might not guess that between filming intense fights and those brutal fatalities on set in Australia, the Indonesian actor and martial artist could be found in his hotel room playing guitar covers of ‘90s R&B love songs by Babyface, Toni Braxton and Brian McKnight.
If you’ve seen Joe Taslim’s punishing moves in action hits like “ The Raid” and “ Fast & Furious 6,” you can picture him handily wreaking havoc in Warner Bros.’ R-rated “ Mortal Kombat” as Sub-Zero, the video game assassin famous for eviscerating his enemies in gory fashion.