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Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, best known for roles in the Mortal Kombat film and the television series The Man in the High Castle, has died at the age of 75 from complications due to a stroke, his agent, Margie Weiner, confirmed to the Associated Press in an emailed statement on Thursday (December 4).
“Cary was a rare soul: generous, thoughtful, and endlessly committed to his craft,” Weiner said. “His loss is immeasurable. My heart is with his family, friends, and all who loved him.”
Tagawa, a native of Japan of was raised mostly in the U.S. South while his Hawaii-born father was assigned to U.S. mainland Army bases, spent decades in film and television, with his first breakthrough role coming in Bernardo Betolucci's Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor in 1987. The actor would later appear in Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes, Tekken and License to Kill.
Tagawa's most prominent role came as arch villain Shang Tsung in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, based on the popular fighting video game series Mortal Kombat developed by Midway Games, which he continued in later television and video game iterations of the franchise, making his final credited appearance as Tsung in the Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate video game released in 2020. Tagawa also played Nobusuke Tagomi in 30 episodes of Amazon Prime Video series The Man in the High Castle from 2015 to 2018 and made his final credited acting appearance as the voice of The Swordmaker in the animated series Blue Eye Samurai.