Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who starred in films such as the 90s Mortal Kombat series and The Last Emperor, has passed away at the age of 75, Screen Rant reports. Born in Tokyo, Japan, to a military family on September 27, 1950, Tagawa arrived in the U.S. at the age of five, living in various areas around the country. He studied traditional Japanese karate at the University of Southern California and abroad at the Japan Karate Association. Eventually returning to Los Angeles, he taught his own style of martial arts, Chu Shin, while pursuing acting.

After an uncredited role in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, he received his big break in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor in 1987 as Chang, the titular character’s driver. The film would go on to win nine Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.

Tagawa reflected on the experience in 2015, saying,

“It was mind-boggling. You know, to suddenly be working with one of the top-10 directors in the world…I almost blurted out, “How much do I have to pay?” It was just like a dream come true.”

A number of prominent roles in film and guest spots on television would follow, such as License to Kill; Planet of the Apes (2001); Memoirs of a Geisha, Pearl Harbor, MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Miami Vice.

But it would be in the 1995 hit adaptation of the Mortal Kombat video game as the villainous sorcerer Shang Tsung that the actor would find his most iconic role. Describing it as a “career game changer”, Tagawa discussed how the film came about at the perfect time:

“…Mortal Kombat as a video game, at the time we did the film, was on number four or five, and that…impact of the film certainly had to do with the build of the video games.”

Tagawa returned to the role multiple times over the years, including a sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, TV shows, Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Mortal Kombat X: Generations, and even in the video games themselves, Mortal Kombat 11 and Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.

Tagawa’s career continued into the 2010s and 2020s, with his final main role being in the 2015 sci-fi series, The Man in the High Castle.

He is survived by his wife, Sally, his three children, Calen, Byrnne, and Cana; and two grandchildren, River and Thea Clayton.