#Bringing Kung Lao to Life Is All About the Hat Says Mortal Kombat Star Max Huang

The popularity of the iconic gaming series Mortal Kombat is largely due to its wide roster of characters, each with their own unique fighting styles, special moves, and brutalities/fatalities. The upcoming live-action Mortal Kombat film will bring a number of characters from the games to the big screen for the first time. Actor Max Huang, who will be playing the role of Kung Lao, revealed in an interview with ComicBook.com the vast amount of history from the games he studied to inform his portrayal of the character.

“So right after I got the part, I went into training and research. So I looked at all the footage and the game and all the fatalities, brutalities that were out there. And I was just like, okay, there’s so much content that I can include and work with but then also adding my own kind of flavor to it. So yeah, actually made a hat out of cardboard in front of the mirror. Wow. The character’s already so cool. But can you do more with that? How can you do to the next level of portraying Kung Lao because it’s actually the first time that this character is being seen on the very big screen.”

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In the games, Kung Lao is one of the last known descendants of the great fighter Kung Lao, a previous Champion of Mortal Kombat who lost the title and his life to the Shokan, Prince Goro, 500 years ago. That proved to be the tipping point that led to the sorcerer Shang Tsung’s rule over the tournament. The present-day Kung Lao was initially chosen to represent the Shaolin in the new Mortal Kombat but declined, and his place was taken by his friend Liu Kang, who in the upcoming film is his cousin.

Kung Lao’s most iconic piece of imagery is his steel-tipped hat, which he can use as a deadly frisbee in the middle of a fight. According to Huang, getting fitted out with the proper hat for the role was a big help in being able to embody Kung Lao.

“It was great because they actually flew me out to New Zealand just for the hat fitting. And once I was holding the hat, the real hat in my hand — I mean it was pretty heavy. So you know a cardboard hat is quite light, I got to do a lot of moves with it. But OK, then you get the heavy hat and it’s quite different. But I mean with the hat you start to really get into the role and really start to become the character I think because that’s what ultimately makes him so special, is the hat.”

Directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, Mortal Kombat stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Bridges, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young and Laura Brent as Allison Young. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16. Remarks about research cane from ComicBook.com while remarks about getting fitted for the iconic hat also came from CB.com

Topics: Mortal Kombat