Lewis Tan personifies a warrior’s spirit. Determination, tenacity, drive and skill have propelled the talented actor into action-hero status. Best known for roles in Mortal Kombat, Deadpool, Shadow and Bone, Iron Fist, Wu Assassins, and Into the Badlands, Tan executes his own fight sequences, action choreography and stunts. His latest project, Safe House, combines his martial art prowess with a new set of acting opportunities.
Released to theaters and on demand on October 31, Safe House finds Tan portraying Agent Choi, one of six federal agents under remote lockdown after a terrorist attack in Los Angeles. However, with no exit strategy and tensions mounting, the group begins to suspect that one among them is the actual bomber.
Tan – sporting a Kill Bill t-shirt during our Zoom interview – spoke to ComicBook about the action-thriller-whodunit, breaking new ground, Mortal Kombat II casualties, bone-crunching tournament battles, Shatterstar’s future, adopting the Nightwing mantle, and more.
ComicBook: Looking back at your resume, what role did you consider your first big break and what role impacted your career the most?
Lewis Tan: That’s a good question. I would say Into the Badlands was probably my first big break. I got a lot of attention from a small role in Marvel’s Iron Fist, but Into the Badlands was my first series regular. It took people that had an open mind to cast someone like me. Miles Millar and Al Gough, who are now doing Wednesday, they made this show. The whole point of the show was to bring really incredible, Hong Kong style martial arts to a Western TV series. I was proud to be a part of that. It took those worlds to collide in order for people to accept somebody like me. I am a mixed Asian-actor, who does martial arts. I saw Al Gough at the Emmys the other day. He started my career. I owe him a big thank you.
Dozens and dozens of action scripts must come your way. What specifically did you gravitate towards in Safe House?
A lot of the action films I have been doing are fantasy-based. Into the Badlands, Wu Assassins, Mortal Kombat, Shadow and Bone… These are all amazing projects, but they are more based in a fantasy world. There are some elements of sci-fi and magic and many different unbelievable aspects. What I was looking for was a super-grounded script, that felt like it wasn’t a martial arts project. It’s an action film. It’s a thriller, but it’s very grounded in reality.
So much so that it’s kind of like a Reservoir Dogs-style feeling, where there’s a few people stuck in a room and they need to find out who the snitch is, while they are being attacked by all these terrorists. I just love that. I’ve always loved those movies and gravitated towards those films, and I haven’t gotten to do one yet. I have been looking for a script like this. And you are right. There are a lot of scripts that come my way, but we are trying to pick carefully. Hopefully, people really enjoy this script. I thought it was smart and keeps you guessing. I still got to do some pretty cool action, so I was happy.
Ass-kicking and gunplay ensue. What did you get to do in this film that you have never done before?
Dramatically, those things I have been waiting to do, that I didn’t really get to deliver… In this movie, I am working with an incredible cast. Holt McCallany. Hannah John-Kamen from Thunderbolts*. Lucian Laviscount. And there’s very few of us in this film. I think there is five or six actors, really, if you include the side characters. But really there is a main group of people. You get to experience so many different levels of drama, that I haven’t got to showcase in my career. If I did, it’s over a long series – eight to 10 episodes, with multiple different storylines. This one is direct and in your face. I was happy to deliver that level of drama that people haven’t seen from me yet, which I know I can do and have been wanting to do. It is just finding the right project. I would say getting to showcase many different levels of a character, that is really based in reality.
As far as the action is concerned, my character is Special Forces. He works for the vice president, so the style of fighting and action is much different. It’s less martial arts-based and more grounded in thinking fast, using everything around me, and coming up with how to solve this puzzle in the best way possible, and basically survive.
Turning anything handy into a weapon is reminiscent of Jason Statham…
I love to use props. I always loved Jackie Chan movies. It can be part of the psychology of the character. How do you think? How smart can they be when you are in a room with limited resources and your gun runs out? How can you get from point A to point B? How can you dismantle two different people without weapons and using what is around you? It makes stuff creative. It gives you something to play with and feels visceral and real. I love using props. Anything in my vicinity can be used as a weapon.
Introduce us to your character Agent Choi and what was the secret to capturing his voice and energy?
Everybody in this film is holding some sort of secret and some sort of cards they don’t want to show. That is typically how it works with different departments in the security world or the police. They don’t always share information with other departments. I guess it’s an ego thing or red tape here and red tape there. There’s the CIA versus the FBI versus the police. There are all these cards you want to hold to yourself. But with Choi, I wanted to make him very unreadable. Everything he does is very direct. Everything that he tells, there is a reason, whether it is in his body language or things he is saying. If he’s not, he is not giving anything away. I wanted to make him feel very still, very methodical, and just put everything in the eyes and the way he observes. He’s very still. He’s a very scary, very violent and mysterious character.
As you mentioned, somebody in this group is a snitch. What is fun about a good whodunit?
I love those films. Those are like classics. Ever play the game Clue? And the movie is so much fun. I love movies where you can be shouting with your friends at the TV. “It must be him because he did this.” It was cool to be a part of that. I guess it’s the classic nature of storytelling to have a good whodunit. It almost feels like a play, in a way.
We got to shoot this movie in Los Angeles and I haven’t shot a movie there in 10 years. It was really special to shoot downtown LA, in the middle of the streets, blowing up cars.
The Safe House trailer alone looks physically demanding. How many nights did you go home with bumps and bruises?
Normally, I perform all my action sequences in my films, at least 100 percent of my fight scenes. For this film, we weren’t working with any stunt doubles at all. Even the actors, who didn’t have as much action experience, didn’t have doubles. We didn’t have the time for doubles. We didn’t have the resources. Everyone in this film, and we shot in consecutive order… it just gets crazier and crazier. By the last week of shooting, I was like I am in any film. I was a wreck. But, because we shot in order, it kinda helps so you can stay in character. The more tired and exhausted, the more sleep-deprived and sore, with cuts and bumps and bruises all over, it just ends up working for the movie. It was a hard one, but what you see on the camera is legit.
Let’s talk Mortal Kombat II. How do you feel they are ramping up the sequel and raising the stakes for the sequel?
To be honest, producer Todd Garner really took into mind what fans were saying from the first movie. Obviously, we want to please the fans. It’s such a huge franchise. There are hundreds of different characters. There were a lot of things we learned from the first film, that we wanted to do better. The second film really allows us to run wild with the action. It was something I wanted to do in the first film, but you don’t always get your way the first time. But Todd Garner really listened to the fans and you have some of the craziest fights ever in the second film. You have a sharp script written by Jeremy Slater.
Because I saw every single frame of the first movie, when I watched the film, I wasn’t really surprised. I was there for almost all of it. In the second movie, there’s a lot of stuff where my character wasn’t there, and I wasn’t on set for it. So, I was surprised when I saw the first and final cut on the second movie. It really blew my mind, which is why they moved the release date. It scored so high with the test ratings at Warner Brothers. They think it could be a summer blockbuster, and I do, too. I am super-proud of it. It’s an incredible film.
A film can’t cast Lewis Tan without featuring some epic choreography. How long is your character, Cole’s, most memorable battle and how many takes did it require?
I do have an epic fight in Mortal Kombat II. I can’t tell you who it is with, but when you know who it is with, you will know why it’s so epic. It is in one of my favorite video game locations. I was super-grateful to get that location because it’s such a cool design. That one took about three weeks to film, which is a long time. The style of the fight is very unique. You’ll get to see some moves you didn’t see in the first one, some character special moves. When the first movie ends, Cole had just discovered these new powers. You will see some new stuff that is very cool. It’s a fan-favorite fight, for sure. How many takes? We shot that baby over three weeks.
Jeremy Slater previously revealed he doesn’t layout every beat-for-beat in those combat sequences. As a master of martial arts, how much input do you have in your scraps?
That’s right, and Jeremy is smart for doing that. He’s leaving that creativity to the action scene. The action was a little bit held back for the first movie in many ways, especially the way it was edited. We changed all that. The fights are just phenomenal. Normally, what happens is they design a choreography and, then, I’ll come in and watch the design that they’ve made. We have a little bit of a collaboration if maybe there’s a certain move I want to do. Or, I love this part, but maybe I can add this and add a little of my flare. With some of the actors who actually do martial arts, they were very collaborative. The fight they designed for me was pretty amazing. I was very happy with it. Shout out to them.
How bone-crunching brutal or bloody does it get between Cole and his opponent?
I think it is one of the bloodiest, bone-crunching fights out of all of them. It’s definitely top three.
It sounds like the movie’s tagline could be Mortal Kombat II: Nobody is Safe. How concerned should fans be for Cole’s well-being?
They should be worried for everyone, to be honest. In different versions of the script, different people died. I was like, “No way.” Then, they changed it and switched it. By the end of it, nobody is safe. Anybody could die… and there’s a lot of fatalities in the second movie. If your favorite character dies, it’s not the end. Death is only the beginning. Don’t be too upset, but there are a lot of fatalities. Some people are going to be happy and some are going to be really pissed off.
Fans were also upset that you weren’t cast as Iron Fist in the Netflix series. How close did you get to landing the role?
I’m not sure about how close. You never know in the film industry. You do an audition, you do a callback and a director’s meeting. When they start to ask about your schedule, that’s usually when you are getting down to the final mix. I would say it was close. I don’t know how close, but it was close. Everything happens for a reason. The timing just wasn’t right for some reason. It ended up being a blessing because the character I did end up playing got a lot of attention. I know some fans were pushing for me to be that character, and some fans were pushing against it. For me, it was like, “When can we finally get an Asian superhero?” This was way before Shang-Chi and Crazy Rich Asians, before it was trendy to allow those types of things. I think I spoke up before it was a trend, but I stand by what I said.
Any thoughts on how the online community is rooting for you to become Nightwing?
I love that project. I saw some of the fancast. I’m very appreciative of it. I love that character. That would be one of the characters I would want to play. Nightwing is an incredible character, that I could bring something unique to. I also like Red Hood. I think I could make a darker, more violent version of that one day. I love those characters.
As Shatterstar, you appeared in two Deadpool flicks. The extraterrestrial super-being has so much untapped potential. What would you like them to explore with the character moving forward?
Realistically, the best way to approach it would be similar to how they are approaching Channing Tatum’s character as Gambit. You did a cameo, people liked it and they are going to do a more fleshed-out version of him in a more serious way. I read in an interview he was saying it was going to be less comedic now. I feel we could do the same type of thing with Shatterstar. I have had cameos in both Deadpool and Deadpool and Wolverine, but they never really fleshed out that character much. It would be nice to see Mojoworld. It’s so timely now with AI and obsessions with screens and social media. That is Mojoworld. That planet is basically this giant Mad Max universe, where they are obsessed with seeing people die on television. They have these gladiator matches as entertainment. It’s a very timely subject that could be a cool world.
Mojo may reign supreme in that world, but Shatterstar versus Spiral could be the ultimate smackdown.
That would be sick. Yes. That is a good idea. I am going to keep that idea for when they come to me.
You mentioned Shang-Chi. Asian representation is so important to you. Is that sequel on your radar?
I auditioned for the first Shang-Chi and I got close to getting that role, too. It came down to me and Simu Liu and maybe one other person. Simu got the job and that’s his baby. I haven’t really thought about it too much. They did such a killer job on the first one. I know a lot of those guys on that action team. Andy Cheng, who I worked with on Into the Badlands… Shang-Chi is Simu’s baby. I will let him handle that.
What do viewers have to do to get more Wu Assassins or another Fistful of Vengeance movie? Where do you stand on that property?
It’s a real shame. I’m really proud of the last two episodes of Wu Assassins, as well, and some of the best fight choreography. It was number one in 88 countries and the first Asian-American Netflix original. I do think it would be cool to circle back and get that going again. It was just on the cusp of these things being popular. It was a little before its time. Now, it would crush. If it comes around again, I would love to be a part of that. If they don’t want to come again, I have plenty of other ideas for some badass, Asian content.
You posted on X how much you enjoyed Sinners and Weapons in 2025. How open would you be to doing a horror?
Oh hell, yeah. In a heartbeat. I am looking for one. If there is a good script you guys hear of, send it my way. Definitely looking for one. I am actually writing something that is elevated horror. I’m a big fan. That is on my radar for next year.
Lastly, your Safe House co-star Hannah John-Kamen is also part of the MCU. How would a confrontation between Shatterstar and the Ghost play out?
Oh my God. Ghost is hard to kill. She is hard to see. I will say this. You get a hint of it when you watch Safe House. We don’t have superpowers, but you will see some fighting in there. You can guess from that how it would go down.
Safe House is out now.
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The post Lewis Tan Talks Mortal Kombat 2, His MCU & DC Dreams & New Thriller Safe House (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
