‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Adds Martyn Ford, Desmond Chiam – The Hollywood Reporter

Martyn Ford, Desmond Chiam, Ana Thu Nguyen and Damon Herriman

Courtesy of Keith Higgott.; Melly Lee; Nicole Schumacher; Don Arnold/WireImage

Martyn Ford, Desmond Chiam, Ana Thu Nguyen and Damon Herriman have stepped into the ring for New Line’s face-crunching sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat.

At the same time, New Line has closed a slew of deals bringing back members of that first installment, including Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade and Josh Lawson as Kano.

Also returning are Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion, and Max Huang as Kung Lao.

The actors join Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, and Tati Gabrielle, who have marquee roles in the sequel that is being helmed by Simon McQuoid, who directed the previous movie based on the video game franchise.

Written by Jeremy Slater, the sequel continues the story of a group of ragtag fighters, versed in the ways of martial arts, who defend our reality, which is known as Earthrealm, against the Outworld. The first movie, released during the pandemic in both theaters and on HBO Max, remains one of the streamer’s biggest hits to date.

Ford will play a character named Shao Kahn while Chiam plays King Jerrod. Nguyen dons the role of Sindel and Herriman will be Quan Chi.

Producing Kombat 2 are Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear, and Broken Road Productions’ Todd Garner. McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh are also producing.

Ford is bodybuilder who has appeared in recent films such as The Machine and F9: The Fast Saga as well as Netflix’s The Sandman. He will next be seen in Millennium’s Red Sonja.  

Chiam is one of the stars in the upcoming Lionsgate film Joy Ride opposite Stephanie Hsu and Ashley Park, due out in theaters July 7, and will reprise his role as “Nick Zhao” in the second season of the GLAAD outstanding new TV Series nominee With Love. He also appeared in Marvel’s The Falcon and Winter Soldier,

Nguyen will next be seen in the upcoming feature Suka. Recent feature film credits include Get Free and The Spy Who Never Dies where she stars as the assassin Lollypop.

Australian actor Herriman portrayed infamous cult leader Charles Manson in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He counts Disney’s The Lone Ranger and Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar amongst his credits.

Ford is repped by The BWH Agency while Chiam is repped by The Rosenzweig Group, Gersh, Australia’s Active Artists Management , and Lichter, Grossman. Nguyen is repped by The X Division and Goodman Genow and Herriman is repped by APA, Australia’s Lisa Mann Creative Management, and Art/Work Management.