#Why Sub-Zero Actor Joe Taslim Needed to Be the First One Cast in Mortal Kombat

It is the villainy and then the heroics of the character Sub-Zero that makes up the majority of the Mortal Kombat games and while he is solely tasked to be the big bad of the film as well, he is still going to be in the centre of the action in the film. In fact, such is the importance of the character that when the actors were being considered for the many Kombatants in the film, it was Joe Taslim who was cast first and instantly given the crucial role of Sub-Zero. 

Even in the trailers, Sub-Zero has appeared predominantly, hinting at the level of significance the character holds in the Mortal Kombat film. Recently, the film’s producer, Todd Garner, shed light on the casting of Joe Taslim, how the first character they decided to cast was Sub-Zero, and what role Taslim’s casting played in deciding who would be best to play the rest of Kombatants. 
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“So [Taslim] was the first one in. It was like, we said, ‘Do you want to play Sub-Zero?’ ‘Yes!’ It was that fast. And he said, he’ll tell you, he waited and thought, ‘Are they really making this movie? Because I’m the only actor in it.’ Well, because we had to. It’s a very large chessboard of like Ludi Lin and we had Max Huang, all these guys and you’re like, ‘Oh man, how do we move them all around to make sure that they’re all… not only have the opportunity to be their best, but have a character that’s worthy of them being it.”

Earlier, the film’s director, Simon McQuoid, had shared that Sub-Zero is not only the main villain of the story but will also play a significant role. Soon after the first trailer of Mortal Kombat released, McQuoid broke down the Mortal Kombat trailer and described that the initial scene where he freezes and then rips off Jax’s is to set the tone that Sub-Zero is the “key villain.”

“[Sub-Zero] has no problem freezing the gun, he’s in total control. This was a whole setup to educate what Sub-Zero is doing here and show he, literally in the face of danger, has no problem,” he explained. 

“Joe Taslim did an amazing job [as Sub-Zero.] He represented Indonesia for judo, so the guy is an athlete and he shows it, and the presence he brought to that character was just extraordinary. And [Scorpion actor] Hiroyuki Sanada is a very, very gifted swordsman and athlete in his own ways. Physicality between these two guys was quite extraordinary to watch. Just years and years of experience and ability to do these moves was kind of all baked into them. … That level of brutality and physicality is what I wanted to bring to the film, and those guys certainly delivered,” he added.

Mortal Kombat is all set to be released on April 16, both in theatres and on HBO Max. The news comes to us via ComicBook.

Topics: Mortal Kombat, Video Games