Actor Ludi Lin made the first Mortal Kombat movie more Chinese with acupuncture scene

SINGAPORE – The traditional Chinese healing practice of acupuncture made its way into martial arts movie Mortal Kombat (2021) because filming the actioner was chaotic, says Chinese-Canadian cast member Ludi Lin.

Based on the popular video game of the same name, it was shot in 2019 in Adelaide, South Australia.

“The script and the fight scenes were changing all the time. The first movie was a kind of test run. They knew they wanted to do a Mortal Kombat movie, but were not sure what the entry point was going to be,” the 38-year-old actor tells The Straits Times at Frasers House hotel in Middle Road.

He was in town in March to promote the sequel Mortal Kombat II, which opens in Singapore cinemas on May 7.

According to industry reports, the screenplay went through several revisions over the years, with film-makers struggling to weave in the video game’s dense lore to attract gamers while striving to keep the story accessible. Its Australian director, Simon McQuoid, had never made a feature film.

The freewheeling nature of the shoot inspired Lin to add cultural depth to his character of Shaolin warrior-monk Liu Kang.

He pitched McQuoid the idea of using acupuncture in a scene in which Liu Kang uses fire magic to heal wounds on protagonist Cole Young, a washed-up mixed-martial arts fighter played by Chinese-English actor Lewis Tan.

“I told him that it was a traditional Chinese practice that has not been seen much in Hollywood movies. It would be cool to see Liu Kang use his powers to heat up the needles,” says Lin.

Adding acupuncture to the shot required new props, prosthetics, special effects and camera angles.

“The idea was just out of left field. Movies are not made like that, they are usually very pre-planned,” says Lin. But McQuoid liked the idea, and the looseness of the shoot allowed this spur-of-the-moment idea to appear on-screen, and everyone hustled to make it happen.

Someone, however, was less than keen on the idea. Even though they were just props, his co-star Tan hated the sight of needles coming out of his flesh.

“He doesn’t like needles at all. I don’t think he was acting when he was wincing. We got the scene done. No acting needed,” says Lin.

The sequel, also helmed by McQuoid, broadens the universe by showing the Mortal Kombat tournaments, which sees fighters from Earthrealm – including returning characters Liu Kang, Cole, Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) – entering the contest.

A new character, has-been Hollywood action star Johnny Cage – played by New Zealand actor Karl Urban – joins the battle to save Earth from invasion by Outworld villains, who include the soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung (Singaporean actor Chin Han).

The first movie was a modest success that earned US$84 million (S$106.9 million) globally, so a sequel was assured. The filming, which took place at Village Roadshow Studios on Queensland’s Gold Coast, was far less disorganised.

“For the second one, for both the director and the cast, we just had a deeper understanding of the material, and we knew how to work together,” says Lin.

The former model first gained attention in China with the fantasy adventure Monster Hunt (2015) before breaking into Hollywood as Zack Taylor, the Black Power Ranger, in the superhero film Power Rangers (2017).

He has since appeared as Atlantean army officer Murk in the superhero movie Aquaman (2018) and is reprising one of his more prominent big-screen roles in Mortal Kombat II.

The sequel will also see the introduction of massively muscled new villains, such as Shao Kahn, the immortal emperor of Outworld.

He is portrayed by British bodybuilder-turned-actor Martyn Ford, whose imposing 2.03m-tall, over 140kg physique matches the look of the character in the games.

To make the fights look more evenly matched on screen, Lin had to bulk up. The vegan actor – who recently turned pescatarian – took on an intense training regimen and a diet heavy in calories and protein.

“I was eating six to seven avocados a day, eight bananas and, in the morning, just pounds and pounds of oatmeal,” he says. This was supplemented by plant protein such as tempeh (fermented soya bean cake) or hemp powder.

It is not a diet he would advise others to take up.

“I don’t recommend it – this is not dietary advice, okay? It was an exhausting amount of food.”