Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Japanese: 田川洋行, ''Tagawa Hiroyuki''; born September 27, 1950) is a Japanese-born American actor,

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, and

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

. Often cast as villains, he is known for his film roles in '' The Last Emperor'' (1987), the

James Bond film James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

'' Licence to Kill'' (1989), '' Showdown in Little Tokyo'' (1991), '' American Me'' (1992), '' Rising Sun'' (1993), '' The Phantom'' (1996), ''

Snow Falling on Cedars ''Snow Falling on Cedars'' is a 1994 novel by David Guterson. Guterson, a teacher, wrote the book in the early morning hours over ten years then quit his job to write full-time. Plot Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the Strait of Juan ...

'' (1999), '' Pearl Harbor'' (2001), ''Planet of the Apes'' (also 2001), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), ''Tekken'' (2009), ''

47 Ronin 47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to: *47 (number) *47 BC * AD 47 *1947 * 2047 *'47 (brand), an American clothing brand * ''47'' (magazine), an American publication * 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala *47, a song by New Found Glory from the alb ...

'' (2013), '' Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge'' (2014), and '' Kubo and the Two Strings'' (2017). He starred as Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi on the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

television series '' The Man in the High Castle'' (2015–2018) and Hiroki Watanabe on the Netflix series '' Lost in Space'' (2018–2021). Tagawa is known for his role as the evil sorcerer

Shang Tsung The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and f ...

in various works of the ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a v ...

'' franchise: he first played the character in the 1995 film adaptation, and reprised it in 2013 for the television series '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy'' and in 2019 for the video game '' Mortal Kombat 11''.

Early life

Tagawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of Japanese Takarazuka actress Mariko Hata and a Japanese-American father who served in the United States Army and was stationed at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, North Carolina; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Hood, Texas. His mother tongues are English and Japanese but he also speaks some Korean and Spanish. Tagawa was raised in various cities. His family finally settled in Southern California, where he began acting in high school while attending

Duarte High School Duarte High School is a public high school located in Duarte, California and is part of Duarte Unified School District. Duarte High School currently has 950 students enrolled. Their mascot is the falcon. It was recognized as a California Distingu ...

. He attended the University of Southern California and was an exchange student in Japan. He studied

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

and Shotokan karate under Masatoshi Nakayama at the

Japan Karate Association Japan Karate Association (日本空手協会; ''Nihon Karate Kyokai''; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as ''Kyokai'' 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organization in the world. Origins Gichin Funakoshi played a ma ...

Career

Tagawa in 2019 His breakthrough as an actor came when he was cast as the Eunuch Chang in '' The Last Emperor'' (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

). In 1989, he played an undercover agent of the Hong Kong

Narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

Board in the James Bond film '' Licence to Kill''. In 1991, he starred alongside Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee in the action film '' Showdown in Little Tokyo'', where he played the role of Yakuza boss Yoshida. He also starred alongside

James Hong James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

and

Jeff Speakman Jeff Speakman (born November 8, 1958) is an American actor and a martial artist in the art of American Kenpo and Japanese Gōjū-ryū, earning black belts in each. Between 2008 and 2018, he was President of the International Kempo Federation. ...

in the same year in the film '' The Perfect Weapon'', where he played Kai, an assistant to the Korean mafia families. In 1993, he starred as the wayward scion of a Japanese industrialist in '' Rising Sun'', where

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

, Wesley Snipes, and Harvey Keitel played detectives holding various viewpoints about the murder of a young woman that Tagawa's character was being framed for. He appeared in the film ''

'' (1995) as the sorcerer

; he reprised the role in the web series '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy'' in 2013, and in the video game '' Mortal Kombat 11'' in 2019. He also appeared as the deadly pirate leader Kabai Sengh in '' The Phantom'' (1996). Tagawa is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary ''

The Slanted Screen ''The Slanted Screen'' is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi which examines the stereotypical portrayals and absence of East Asian males in the cinema of the United States. The film analyzes Hollywood from the ...

'' (2006), directed by

Jeff Adachi Jeffrey Gordon Adachi (August 29, 1959 – February 22, 2019) was an American attorney, pension reform advocate, and politician who served as the Public Defender of San Francisco from 2003 to 2019. Early life and education Adachi was the ...

, about the representation of Asian and Asian-American men in Hollywood. Tagawa played Heihachi Mishima in ''

Tekken is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The ...

'', the film adaptation of the video game franchise. In 2006, he provided the voice of Brushogun in '' Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo''. He was in the film ''

Johnny Tsunami ''Johnny Tsunami'' is a 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM). The film focuses on a young surfer from Hawaii who must adapt to new challenges when his father's job forces the family to move to Vermont. It was nominated in 2000 for the Humanita ...

'' (1999) and its sequel '' Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board'' (2007). In between those two films, Tagawa played Attar's mentor Krull in Tim Burton's version of '' Planet of the Apes'' (2001). He played Satoshi Takeda in ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'', a powerful

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in Japan and

Emily Thorne Amanda Clarke, formerly known by the pseudonym Emily Thorne (also known as Emily Grayson), is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ABC television series ''Revenge'' (2011–2015), portrayed by Emily VanCamp. Description Emily Th ...

's former mentor in her quest for revenge. In season 2, Tagawa took over the role from Hiroyuki Sanada, who was unable to continue due to scheduling conflicts. Tagawa also plays the role of Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi in the 2013 film'' 47 Ronin''. In 2015, Tagawa was cast as one of the lead characters, Nobusuke Tagomi, the Trade Minister of the Pacific States of America in Amazon's '' The Man in the High Castle'' based on Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name. Also in November 2015, both he and Taimak ('' The Last Dragon'') were honorees for the Fists of Legends Legacy Award at the Urban Action Showcase & Expo. In 2013, Tagawa started working with Russian film actors

Pyotr Mamonov Pyotr Nikolayevich Mamonov (russian: link=no, Пётр Никола́евич Мамо́нов, ; 14 April 1951 – 15 July 2021) was a Russian rock musician and the frontman of the Moscow band Zvuki Mu. Early life Pyotr Nikolayevich Mamonov ...

and

Ivan Okhlobystin Ivan Ivanovich Okhlobystin (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Охлобы́стин; born 22 July 1966) is a Russian actor, director, screenwriter, and former Orthodox priest. He is currently defrocked by the ministry of the Russian Ort ...

Personal life

In 2015, Tagawa converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, and in 2016, he acquired Russian citizenship.Seeking new citizenship: 10 foreign celebrities that now call Russia home
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Short films

Television

Web

Video games

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tagawa, Cary-Hiroyuki 1950 births American emigrants to Russia American male actors of Japanese descent American male film actors American male karateka American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American film actors of Asian descent Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodox Christians from Japan Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese emigrants to Russia Japanese male film actors Japanese male karateka Japanese male television actors Japanese male video game actors Japanese male voice actors Living people Male actors from Tokyo Russian Orthodox Christians from the United States Russian people of American descent Russian people of Japanese descent University of Southern California alumni People with acquired Russian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Russia