Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Highest Rated: 97% Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Lowest Rated: 0% Showdown in Manila (2018)

Birthday: Sep 27, 1950

Birthplace: Not Available

Charismatic, muscular, handsome, and often exuding a dangerous sexuality, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa specializes in playing the evilest of vile villains, most of whom despite their exceptional martial arts skills, are skilled in spectacular manners. Tagawa's willingness to accept villainous roles such as that of the wicked sorcerer Shang Tsung in Mortal Combat (1995) has drawn criticism from certain Asian American groups, who fear that he is perpetuating negative stereotypes, but Tagawa offers an interesting perspective, citing the fact that the action film is the most popular genre worldwide. When Tagawa plays a bad guy, he plays it to the hilt, trying to imbue his villains with depth to demonstrate that in order to be so successful at being bad, they must possess a certain amount of positive qualities, including discipline, intelligence, and commitment. In his personal life, Tagawa is the antithesis of the characters he plays. He is known for his unusual courtesy, non-violent demeanor, his wisdom, and for his unflagging devotion to helping young people. A deeply spiritual man, Tagawa has developed a unique philosophical approach to martial arts, Chun Shin, which primarily centers on developing the inner state and spirituality of the practitioner rather than on the physical movements of fighting. The purpose of the exercises of Chun Shin is to release the energy centers within, creating a harmony between mind and body. Tagawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of a Japanese American father and a Tokyo actress. His father, a native of Hawaii, worked for the U.S. military and when Tagawa was five, his family moved to Texas. This was during the 1950s, when racism was rampant throughout the South. For Tagawa, the change from a supportive environment to a hostile one was a great shock. As a young adult, Tagawa briefly attended the University of Southern California where he studied martial arts. The following year, he returned to Japan to further his studies at a prestigious school under the tutelage of master Nakayama, one of the most highly regarded fighters in Japan. But for Tagawa, there was a spiritual component missing from training -- that, and perhaps the feeling that he was not accepted into Japanese society, led him to return to the U.S.Although he had been interested in acting for many years, Tagawa did not become an actor until he was 36 years old. He made his feature film debut in The Last Emperor (1984) and went on to work steadily in feature films and on television. Many of his film appearances have been in the direct-to-video category. Still, Tagawa has managed to develop a devoted following and has at least one web site devoted to him on the Internet. As mentioned, Tagawa specializes in villains, but occasionally he plays different roles as he did in the much-honored independent drama Picture Bride (1994) in which he plays a sugar cane farmer who orders a Japanese mail-order bride 25 years younger than himself. The latter 1990s also found Tagawa's Hollywood work coming more frequently and in larger profile releases. After small roles in such films as Vampires (1998) and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), Tagawa could be seen in such eagerly anticipated large-scale productions as Pearl Harbor and Planet of the Apes (both 2001).

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

		Credit
0%	Showdown in Manila	Actor	—	2018
97%	Kubo and the Two Strings	Hashi	$48.1M	2016
24%	Little Boy	Hashimoto	$5M	2015
No Score Yet	L'homme aux poings de fer 2	The Mayor	—	2015
No Score Yet	The Man with the Iron Fists 2	Lord Pi	—	2015
No Score Yet	Ninja Apocalypse	Fumitaka	—	2014
No Score Yet	Tekken: A Man Called X (Tekken: Kazuya's Revenge)	Heihachi Mishima	—	2014
16%	47 Ronin	Shogun Tsunayoshi	$20.6M	2013
No Score Yet	Black Cobra	Actor	—	2012
64%	Hachi: A Dog's Tale	Ken	—	2009
No Score Yet	Tekken	Heihachi Mishima	—	2009
No Score Yet	By the Will of Genghis Khan	Bodyguard	—	2009
No Score Yet	Bodyguard: A New Beginning	Kai	—	2008
No Score Yet	The Tomb	Len Burris	—	2008
21%	Balls of Fury	Mysterious Asian Man	$32.9M	2007
No Score Yet	Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board	Actor	—	2007
No Score Yet	Ichijiku no kao (Faces of a Fig Tree)	Oto Kadowaki Jr.	—	2006
No Score Yet	The Slanted Screen	Actor	—	2006
35%	Memoirs of a Geisha	The Baron	$57.1M	2005
No Score Yet	Faith of My Fathers	Cat	—	2005
11%	Elektra	Roshi	$24.2M	2005
No Score Yet	Baywatch Hawaiian Wedding	Mason Sato	—	2003
40%	The Last Warrior (Coastwatcher)	Imperial Marine	—	2001
44%	Planet of the Apes	Krull	$178.1M	2001
24%	Pearl Harbor	Minoru Genda	$197.8M	2001
16%	The Art of War	David Chan	$29.5M	2000
No Score Yet	The Ghost	Actor	—	2000
39%	Snow Falling on Cedars	Zenhichi Miyamoto	—	1999
No Score Yet	Top of the World	Capt. Heller	—	1999
No Score Yet	Johnny Tsunami	Johnny Tsunami	—	1999
No Score Yet	Bridge of Dragons	Ruechang	—	1999
No Score Yet	Tom Clancy's 'Netforce'	Leong Cheng	—	1999
40%	John Carpenter's Vampires	David Deyo	—	1998
No Score Yet	The Provocatuer	Actor	—	1998
No Score Yet	Provocateur	Actor	—	1998
42%	The Phantom	Kabai Sengh	—	1996
No Score Yet	Danger Zone	Chang	—	1996
No Score Yet	White Tiger	Chow	—	1996
No Score Yet	Soldier Boyz	Vinh Moc	—	1996
No Score Yet	Natural Causes	Somchai	—	1995
47%	Mortal Kombat	Shang Tsung	—	1995
82%	Picture Bride	Kanzaki	—	1995
No Score Yet	Thunder in Paradise III	Actor	—	1995
No Score Yet	The Dangerous	Kon	—	1994
33%	Rising Sun	Eddie Sakamura	—	1993
No Score Yet	Nemesis	Angie-Liv	—	1993
78%	American Me	El Japo	—	1992
No Score Yet	Mission of the Shark	Hashimoto	—	1991
45%	The Perfect Weapon	Kai	—	1991
No Score Yet	Not of This World	Yamamoto	—	1991
33%	Showdown in Little Tokyo	Funekei Yoshida	—	1991
20%	Kickboxer 2: The Road Back	Sangha	—	1990
No Score Yet	L.A. Takedown	Hugh Denny	—	1989
76%	Licence To Kill	Kwang	—	1989
44%	Twins	Oriental Man	—	1988
No Score Yet	Spellbinder	Lt. Lee	—	1988
No Score Yet	Bulletproof	Actor	—	1988
90%	The Last Emperor	Chang	—	1987
77%	Big Trouble in Little China	Actor	—	1986
No Score Yet	Armed Response	Toshi	—	1986

TV

		Credit
75%	Lost in Space 2018-2019	Hiroki Watanabe	2019
84%	The Man in the High Castle 2015-2019	Tagomi	2018 2016 2015
89%	Grimm 2011-2017		2016
69%	Revenge 2011-2015	Takeda Tagawa	2013 2012 2011
No Score Yet	Hawaii Five-0 2010	Hiro Noshimuri	2011
20%	Hawaii 2004	Capt. Terry Harada	2004
No Score Yet	Walker, Texas Ranger 1993-2001	Master Ko	2000
No Score Yet	Nash Bridges 1996-2001	Lt. A.T. Shimamura	2000 1999 1996
No Score Yet	Seven Days 1998-2001	Peter	1999
No Score Yet	Stargate SG-1 1997-2007	Turghan	1997
No Score Yet	Babylon 5 1993-1998	Morishi	1995
No Score Yet	Baywatch 1989-2001		1992
43%	Alien Nation 1989-1990	Yamato	1989
97%	Moonlighting 1985-1989	Artist	1989
89%	Star Trek: The Next Generation 1987-1994	Mandarin Bailiff	1989 1987
No Score Yet	Miami Vice 1984-1990	Tegoro Fujitsu	1989 1987 1986
0%	Space Rangers 1994	Zylyn

QUOTES FROM Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa CHARACTERS

Cate Wilson says: It's been a while.

Ken says: It certainly has.

Cate Wilson says: It's ten years. Can you believe it?

Shogun Tsunayoshi says: For the crime of disobedience, you should all be executed as common criminals, but you and your men follow the old ways of Bushido, to honor your lord and avenge treachery. I see only samurai before me.

Shang Tsung says: One last chance, Sonya. Fight me in Mortal Kombat.

Sonya Blade says: Go to hell.

Shang Tsung says: (Laughs) Take her away, the emperor will be overjoyed.

Shang Tsung says: Take her away, the emperor will be overjoyed.

Sonya Blade says: My friends will come.

Johnny Cage says: They're already here.

Shang Tsung says: It has begun!

Liu Kang says: All those souls you've stole are one of your own. I pity you sorcerer.

Shang Tsung says: Save your pity for the weak.

Liu Kang says: Surrender, it's over.

Shang Tsung says: Flawless victory.

Shang Tsung says: Finish him!

Shang Tsung says: Your brother's soul is mine.

Chan says: LIU!!

Chan says: Liu!

Shang Tsung says: You will be next.

The Baron says: Mameha asked me to show you my kimono collection. It's quite venerated. My grandfather and father collected kimonos. I've given a number of valuable kimonos to Mameha; I like to give presents to beautiful girls.

Shang Tsung says: Your soul is mine!

Ken says: [Talking in Japanese] It's been a year, hasn't it? I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and think about Parker. He was a good friend. I understand how you feel. Hachi, my friend, Parker is never coming home. But if Hachiko wants to wait, then Hachiko should wait. You want to wait for him, don't you? Have a long life, Hachi.

Ken says: [talking in Japanese] It's been a year, hasn't it? I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and think about Parker. He was a good friend. I understand how you feel. Hachi, my friend, Parker is never coming home. But if Hachiko wants to wait, then Hachiko should wait. You want to wait for him, don't you? Have a long life, Hachi.

Shang Tsung says: Fatality.

Shang Tsung says: Let Mortal Kombat begin.

Sonya Blade says: When I want back-up, I'll radio for it.

Johnny Cage says: Got that radio handy.

Shang Tsung says: Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Deadliest of enemies but slaves under my power.

Ken says: Ronnie - 11 years: Where did Grandpa find Hachi?

Cate Wilson says: Ronnie, actually, Hachi found your grandfather.