5 December 2025<\/time>\n <\/p>\nCary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has died aged 75. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mortal Kombat and James Bond star Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa dies aged 75<\/p>\n
\nThe Mortal Kombat actor, who portrayed evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in the film franchise, passed away in Santa Barbara, California, on Thursday (04.12.25). <\/p>\n
\nTagawa’s publicist Penny Vizcarra confirmed to PEOPLE that he died due to complications from a stroke. <\/p>\n
\nHis family said in a statement: “Cary was a rare soul: generous, thoughtful, and endlessly committed to his craft.<\/p>\n
\n“His loss is immeasurable. My heart is with his family, friends, and all who loved him.”<\/p>\n
\nTagawa also featured in James Bond movie Licence to Kill and 2001’s Pearl Harbour.<\/p>\n
\nBut the actor was best known for his portrayal of Shang Tsung, who he first played in 1995 film Mortal Kombat. <\/p>\n
\nHe reprised the role in 1997 movie Mortal Kombat Annihilation and even took on the part in the 2013 TV series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, as well as one episode of 2015’s Mortal Kombat X: Generations. <\/p>\n
\nThe 1995 Mortal Kombat movie earned more than $120 million at box office, from a $20 million budget, and Tagawa believes the film dropped at the “perfect” time when the video game was at peak popularity. <\/p>\n
\nHe previously said: “It was the perfect timing in that Mortal Kombat as a video game, at the time we did the film, was on number four or five and that the impact of the film certainly had to do with the build of the video games.”<\/p>\n
\nThe late star also praised the film’s director Paul W.S. Anderson for matching “really upbeat, driving metal music” with the motion picture. <\/p>\n
\nTagawa added: “He was the first one in martial arts history to apply such music – really upbeat, driving metal music. You couldn\u2019t sit still when you heard the music. And it matched the action so well.”<\/p>\n
\nThe actor was born in Tokyo, but his father, who worked for the US Army, moved their family to Fort Bragg, North Carolina when the star was just five years old, and he later lived in Louisiana and Texas. <\/p>\n
\nTagawa started acting at California’s Duarte High School after his family had relocated to the Golden State. <\/p>\n
\nBut he found it “pretty tough” being Japanese and living in the US in the 1950s. <\/p>\n
\nIn 2010, he told Deadline: “Being Japanese and living in the south during the ’50s was pretty tough.”<\/p>\n
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