The Surprising Johnny Cage Detail That Made Karl Urban Take The Role | Mortal Kombat II

0:00 What was fun and different about this is

0:02 the way Kano interacts with new characters and particularly Johnny.

0:06 And that relationship, I think, really unlocked something that was unexpected.

0:12 NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO USE THOSE POWERS, MATE.

0:15 YOU WANT TO KNOW MY POWERS?

0:16 I am Johnny Cage.

0:18 When you were announced as playing Johnny Cage in this movie,

0:21 it was pretty much unanimously agreed to be perfect casting.

0:25 What was the thing about this script that made it an easy yes for you?

0:29 Well, thank you.

0:29 Yeah.

0:30 Uh, I think what made this project an easy yes for me

0:33 when I read the script and saw that Jeremy had quite wisely

0:38 steered away from making the character that classic ego-driven Johnny Cage um

0:43 that we just know from all the plethora of games and movies.

0:47 So, he really stripped the character back and started him

0:49 at a point where he uh he has neglected his martial arts training.

0:53 His career is in the tank.

0:55 He has zero self-confidence.

0:57 And it's at this very juncture that he gets called upon,

1:00 you know, by Raiden and and Sonia to sensibly save the world.

1:04 And I just thought that was so cool and interesting and um and also,

1:10 you know, easy to relate to cuz we've all been down in the dumps, you know.

1:13 Um so yeah, I just found that the the writing had

1:16 a lot of heart and it sort of set it apart from being,

1:19 you know, just a fight movie.

1:21 Uno must ad seem a little down, Johnny.

1:24 You're normally a little more animated.

1:26 your characters sort of anchor the story a little bit

1:29 being our main characters from one that cross back over here.

1:32 What was the thing that you were most excited to sort

1:34 of double down on or revisit about your characters this time out?

1:38 I was looking forward to getting to uh

1:40 do our own little buddy buddy comedy sideshow.

1:44 Like we didn't really get to have much fun together

1:46 in the first one because he was like in a state, you know.

1:50 I mean, you know, you needed a hand.

1:51 I needed a hand.

1:52 Oh, nice.

1:53 You needed a couple hands.

1:54 Yeah.

1:54 So, I was unarmed.

2:00 It's going to be a long interview.

2:01 It's really disarming.

2:02 You know what I mean?

2:03 I was excited to get to have some fun

2:05 with him and develop our kind of like relationship.

2:08 Got Ludy.

2:08 How about you?

2:09 Um, just get more into his monk monkhood.

2:13 His monkeyness monkey business.

2:17 Yeah.

2:17 And his relationship with Kung Lao.

2:19 I was happy to revisit that.

2:20 I I was I was excited to to explore

2:22 something more than just uh Jax's pain and rage.

2:25 There was there was some vulnerability in the second one.

2:27 There's some levity.

2:29 So, yeah, just just becoming more of a full spectrum of the character.

2:32 And Josh, obviously, you're back as Kano,

2:34 but Kano's back in kind of a surprising way, and I won't give away how that is.

2:37 Suffice to say, he's he's a little more

2:39 himself than some of the other returning characters.

2:42 What was fun about doubling down on a Kano that's living

2:45 in sort of a more morally gray zone than we may expect?

2:49 Look, that's where that's the fun stuff.

2:51 You know, he is a morally gray character even in the lore of Mortal Kombat.

2:57 You know, he he he sort of changes up his allegiances all the time.

3:02 And I think uh that's on brand, you know,

3:05 in this film that kind of you sort of don't know if you

3:08 trust him and you sort of want to trust him and you need him,

3:11 but all this sort of stuff goes on.

3:13 What was fun and different about this is

3:16 the way Kano interacts with new characters and particularly Johnny.

3:20 You know that brings out a whole different side

3:22 of Kano because suddenly he's now threatened by you know

3:27 this good-looking uh you know very capable guy

3:30 and that relationship I think really unlocked something that was unexpected.

3:38 Subzero I am reborn.

3:40 Behon makes the transition from Subzero to noob Saibot

3:44 in this movie uh my favorite character from the games

3:46 for whatever that's worth expertly done by you in sort

3:49 of making that transition to that new version of the character.

3:51 Did that necessitate approaching the martial arts in any sort of different way?

3:56 I think skill-wise is still the same

3:58 behind with his skills and transform to himself.

4:01 just different different force, right?

4:04 The Subzero has ice power and this one is just shadow and he's more darker.

4:11 Well, actually the question is like I I asked Simon why he

4:14 has that alter ego where where this this alter ego comes from.

4:17 If you watch the first Mortal Kombat,

4:20 you see if you really pay close, there's something in his face.

4:24 There's something you can say there's the darkness

4:26 always inside of them and then Hanzo's fire in the end of the MK1 actually

4:32 release that darkness and becomes the alter ego.

4:34 That's a storytelling that we want the people to see because we

4:38 don't want it because it's cooler to have a shadow fighting for you.

4:42 It has to have has to have a foundation story.

4:45 Why?

4:45 You know, I think we got it then

4:47 that for me that give me justice to play that character.

4:51 Your characters have very iconic weapons

4:53 that are folded into their fight styles.

4:56 What were some of the challenges in working with those in your fight scenes?

4:59 The challenge didn't come from my weapons.

5:02 I think learning the actual fight choreography was,

5:05 I'd say, the most difficult part,

5:07 but the fans in some ways felt like an extension of my arms.

5:11 And so it felt very natural incorporating them into uh all the sequences.

5:17 For me, it was learning.

5:18 I have experience with the bow staff.

5:19 Um, I grew up doing karate.

5:21 Um, and for this though, I was learning a Chinese style of bow staff,

5:25 which is much tighter, a lot quicker.

5:27 Um, so that was the biggest challenge for me was unlearning to relearn.

5:31 Um, which yeah, it messes with your brain a little bit.

5:35 Challenge, but good fun challenge.

5:38 Kahan's using his iconic hammer through much of this movie,

5:42 and I have to imagine that working that into fight

5:44 scenes must be a little bit of a project.

5:46 Can you talk about working the hammer?

5:47 You're a nightmare.

5:49 Yeah.

5:49 Swinging that thing around was tough.

5:51 It was Well, we we we obviously did all our prep and rehearsals.

5:55 Um and because the costume was still being made at this point,

5:58 we kind of just went the head with a hammer and well,

6:01 it was a broomstick and that was the depth of budget we had.

6:04 It was came with a nice broom.

6:07 We had this we had this broomstick which we

6:08 worked on with the with the sequences which is essential.

6:12 You don't want to be using a real hammer when you're practicing.

6:14 Yeah.

6:15 So, it's kind of a stage process that we go through.

6:18 So, obviously worked with the brim,

6:20 then we worked with the the actual hammer itself, we got one to use.

6:23 Um, and went through all those stages.

6:25 And then when we got the costume and the hammer,

6:28 we realized we had a problem because

6:30 the mobility in the shoulders was a problem.

6:32 The helmet was a problem.

6:33 So, we had to fix and move and change certain things.

6:37 Uh and then once we got around around that, it's it's

6:41 kind of like uh like like a sport, like a game.

6:44 You can practice and practice and practice,

6:46 but when you come to play the real game day,

6:49 situations, circumstances, the weather can change.

6:51 And we did this one day on set where um

6:54 we were we were filming this massive swing with the hammer.

6:57 I was taking someone out.

6:58 I remember doing a couple of rehearsals and I

7:00 was I was getting hot at this point.

7:01 I was sweating.

7:02 My hands were drooping.

7:02 It was horrendous.

7:04 I've launched this massive swing of the hammer.

7:06 the hammer's gone flying that way, hit the light.

7:09 And uh that was the the reality of working

7:12 with a heavy hammer and prosthetics that were very slippy.

7:15 It you didn't have full control on on on that at all.

7:19 So there was as great as it looks,

7:21 there was some there were some times it became very

7:24 difficult and a a love to hate kind of weapon.

7:29 I noticed Johnny Cage shades there, dude.

7:32 Yeah, man.

7:32 I just wanted to see what you thought of these things.

7:33 I just wanted to like What do you think?

7:35 They look nice on me, huh?

7:37 Dude, they're pretty.

7:38 Oh god, they look expensive.

7:39 That's cool.

7:40 They're my grandfathers.

7:41 Yeah, they're so sentimental, though.

7:43 How do I rock them?

7:45 Zero out of 10.

7:46 What do you think?

7:46 Zero out of 10.

7:47 I think they're pretty good.

7:48 Can they Could they stand up to a fight?

7:51 Whoa.

7:51 Oh, I don't Oh __] dude.

7:54 Sorry.

7:56 Yeah, that's the grandpa that's dead.

7:57 Sorry about that, dude.

7:58 That's cool.

7:58 Don't worry about it.

7:59 More combat in theaters whenever.

8:01 I'd give you these ones, but they are prescriptive.

8:05 So, yeah.

8:07 But we'll send you some.

8:08 Can we get him some?

8:09 Can we get him glasses?

8:11 Yeah.

8:11 Say hi to your grandfather for me.

8:13 Oh, no.

8:15 Johnny Cage wins.

8:17 Fatality.