MORTAL KOMBAT Star Lewis Tan Recalls Being "Devastated" About Not Being Cast As Marvel's SHANG CHI

MORTAL KOMBAT Star Lewis Tan Recalls Being "Devastated" About Not Being Cast As Marvel's SHANG CHI MORTAL KOMBAT Star Lewis Tan Recalls Being "Devastated" About Not Being Cast As Marvel's SHANG CHI

Lewis Tan was one of the actors in line to play the title role in Marvel's Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, and the Mortal Kombat star has now spoken about how "devastated" he was to miss out...

By MarkCassidy - Apr 07, 2021 10:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Shang-Chi

Before he landed the lead role in Mortal Kombat, Lewis Tan was one of the actors in contention to play the title character in Marvel's Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, and the actor has now spoken about how disappointed he was to lose the part.

While speaking to ET, Tan revealed that he was being considered for Shang-Chi, but found out that Simu Liu would actually be stepping into the role of the Master of Martial Arts while he was on a flight to Japan.

"I just lost a crazy job - a really, really high-caliber level job," recalls the actor. "And I heard that news on a plane to Japan and I was, like, devastated."

Disappointment soon turned to elation, however, as it wasn't long after this he got the news that he'd be playing Cole Young in the Mortal Kombat reboot.

"I did this mediation course, and I came back and then I was on my way to Nashville, Tennessee, to race cars at NASCAR -- I was like, 'Maybe I'm the first Asian person to ever be in this place before!' -- and all of a sudden I get a phone call saying I got the role in [Mortal Kombat], I was supposed to drive a car that day and I ended up not doing it because I was like, 'Uh oh! I need to be safe now because I've got an opportunity here.'"

In related news, a brief new clip from Mortal Kombat has found its way online following the movie's premiere in Thailand. This means first reactions - and spoilers - will likely be doing the rounds pretty soon, so keep an eye out.

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Blergh
Blergh - 4/7/2021, 10:10 AM
Good for him that he got cast in this, I'm still not sure about his character really being necessary as an audience surrogate.
Could have just been Johnny Cage as well, after all his first dance at the tournament had him be a fish out of water as well. Maybe they wanted to set themselves apart from the original movie but eh.

If he indeed ends up being a descendant of Scorpion necessary to "summon" him for the final fight, cool. If he's just doing a job any other established MK character could have done, boooh.

We have tons of characters that could have served as surrogates, from Johnny to Stryker or Sonya.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 4/7/2021, 10:13 AM
Kyle Larson.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 4/7/2021, 10:16 AM
I like they got Simu Liu from Kim's Convenience for Shang-Chi, but I'm interested to see what Tan will bring to the table with this one.
MovieMonster
MovieMonster - 4/7/2021, 10:17 AM
I'm not familiar with this guy but the CG in that Mortal Kombat clip was pretty bad.

Now that we have a new Black Widow trailer as well as a Loki trailer, I hope a Shang-Chi trailer isn't too far off. Perhaps it will be attached to Mortal Kombat.
inkniron
inkniron - 4/7/2021, 10:17 AM
I probably shouldn't have watched that, but I'm a sucker for spoilers. It seems like the director has a good idea what he's doing with these character. Hype intensifies.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 4/7/2021, 10:22 AM
Isn't he half-Chinese and half-white anyway? Whereas Liu is 100% Chinese?
Whaley87
Whaley87 - 4/7/2021, 10:22 AM
"MORTAL KOMBAT Star Lewis Tan Recalls Being "Devastated" About Not Being Cast As Marvel's SHANG CHI"

And everyone else was overwhelmingly relieved.
OmegaDaGrodd
OmegaDaGrodd - 4/7/2021, 10:29 AM
Damn that linked clip was awesome. They really seem to be honoring what's cool about the games beyond the blood/gore
Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 4/7/2021, 10:31 AM
HOT TAKE: I still think that this guy would've made a better Iron Fist than Finn Jones tbh.
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