CARY Hiroyuki Tagawa, actor in the Mortal Kombat films and The Man in the High Castle series, has died. He passed away on Thursday, December 4, 2025, in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 75, due to complications from a stroke.
The sad news was confirmed by Penny Vizcarra, Chief Executive of PV Public Relations, Tagawa's public relations officer. In a report published by the Los Angeles Times, Vizcarra described Tagawa as a highly talented and extraordinary man. "Our entire team loved working with him and appreciated how he treated everyone with compassion and respect," Vizcarra added.
Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa's Biography
Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, on September 27, 1950. His mother was a Japanese actress, and his father served in the United States Army.According to Entertainment Weekly, Tagawa's family was forced to move around frequently due to his father's military service. The family lived for periods in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas before finally settling in South Carolina. There, Tagawa began to fall in love with acting while attending Duarte High School.
Tagawa's parents adopted a slightly different parenting style due to the shadow of Japan's internment policy during World War II. "We know that Japanese people were not well received after the war. So, ten years after the war, I grew up in South America," he said in a 2001 interview.
Tagawa began training in Kendo in junior high school before focusing on traditional Japanese karate while attending the University of Southern California. To hone his karate skills, he even returned to Japan to study specifically with Master Nakayama at the Japan Karate Association.
These experiences accustomed Tagawa to facing difficult situations from an early age. This later shaped his character and led Tagawa to become one of the most consistent action film actors for over four decades.
Film Career
Tagawa's name immediately soared when he played the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in Paul W.S. Anderson's 1995 film Mortal Kombat. He also played the character in the television series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Within the same franchise, Tagawa also voiced Tsung in the video game Mortal Kombat 11.In addition to the Mortal Kombat franchise, Deadline notes that Tagawa has also starred in prominent roles in various big budget films. These include The Last Emperor, License to Kill, Pearl Harbor, Planet of the Apes, and 47 Ronin.
Of all the films Tagawa has starred in, the majority involve a fusion of Asian and Western cultures. Most of the roles he plays always utilize the actor's martial arts skills.