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Ho-Sung Pak (Korean: 박호성; born November 6, 1967) is a South Korean-born American martial artist, actor, stuntman, and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat video game series, and for his role as "Superstar" on the 1990s television series WMAC Masters. He has also been a stunt performer, coordinator, and fight choreographer on numerous film and television productions.
Ho-Sung Pak | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ho-Sung Pak November 6, 1967 |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (MBA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 박호성 |
| Revised Romanization | Bak Ho-seong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Pak Hosŏng |
Early life and martial arts
editPak was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Master's of Business Administration in Engineering and Business.
Pak began studying Taekwondo at the age of 8, and later studied kung fu (Northern Praying Mantis, Shaolin, Tibetan White Crane),[2] and wushu under Wu Bin. He was a Professional Karate Association (PKA) and North American Sports Karate Association (NASKA) forms champion, and won the 1991 Diamond Nationals Grand Championship in Mens' Forms.[3] That same year, he became the youngest entrant to date into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame.[4]
Life and career
editPak was a stunt coordinator for the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze as well as a stunt double for Raphael; he later reprised his role of stunt double in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.
In 1994, he was cast by director Lau Kar-leung as a villain in the Jackie Chan film The Legend of Drunken Master.
In 2002, he played the leading role in the martial arts movie Book of Swords. In it he portrayed Lang, an Asian cop who after witnessing the death of his brother during a drug bust gone wrong, leaves town only to come back three years later for revenge. The movie also starred MK actors Daniel Pesina, Katalin Zamiar and Richard Divizio. In a nod to his Mortal Kombat alter ego Liu Kang, Pak is shown wearing a red headband during the final part of the movie, while the other three actors are also seen in similar MK clothing/roles throughout the movie.
In 2009, Pak produced and starred in the martial film Fist of the Warrior, directed by Wayne A. Kennedy, also starring Roger Guenveur Smith, Peter Greene, Rosa Blasi and Sherilyn Fenn. The film was produced together with the film company GenOne.[5][6]
In the 1995-1997 TV show WMAC Masters, his ki-symbol was "Superstar", which is a translation of his given Korean name.[7] The show featured his older brother, Ho Young Pak ("Star Warrior"), as well as fellow Mortal Kombat actors Chris Casamassa ("Red Dragon") and Hakim Alston ("The Machine").
Mortal Kombat
editPak played lead character Liu Kang in the first Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, as well as the original elderly version of Shang Tsung in the first game. Pak, along with other actors from the first two Mortal Kombat games, refused to appear in Mortal Kombat 3 due to a royalty dispute with developer Midway over the use of their likenesses across various console versions of the first two games, resulting in the casting of new actors for some of the returning characters.[8][9] This also led Pak to lose the opportunity to audition for the game's 1995 film adaptation.
In 1995, Pak and fellow Mortal Kombat actors Daniel Pesina, Katalin Zamiar, and Phillip Ahn lent their likenesses to a fighting game produced exclusively for the Atari Jaguar titled Thea Realm Fighters, but it was cancelled after Atari discontinued the failed system later that year.
Filmography
edit| Year | Film/television | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze | Raphael | Stunt double / Stunt coordinator |
| 1992 | Mortal Kombat | Liu Kang / Shang Tsung | Video game |
| 1993 | Mortal Kombat II | Liu Kang | Video game |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III | Raphael | Stunt double | |
| 1994 | The Legend of Drunken Master | Henry | Alt. title: Jui kuen II, Drunken Fist II |
| Common Enemy | Short / unreleased | ||
| 1995 | Thea Realm Fighters | Prince Pak / fight consultant | (game / unreleased) |
| 1995-97 | WMAC Masters | Superstar / Himself / Stunts | |
| 1999 | Angel | Stunts | |
| 2000 | Epoch of Lotus | Mortis / Action choreographer | Short |
| 2001 | Madonna: Drowned World Tour 2001 | Choreographer | Documentary |
| Alias | Stunts | ||
| 2003 | Batman: Dark Tomorrow | Motion capture team | Video game |
| 2004 | Fight Club - video game | Action choreographer | |
| Torque | Stunts | ||
| 2005 | Entourage | Stunt gangster | episode: Chinatown |
| BloodRayne | Kagan Vampire Guard #4 | ||
| Alone in the Dark | Agent Marko | ||
| 2006 | Dead and Deader | Superstar Merc / Stunt coordinator | |
| 18 Fingers of Death! | Young Buford | ||
| 2007 | Fist of the Warrior | Lee Choe / Fight choreographer / Writer / Producer / Editor | Alt. title: Blood Money / Lesser of Three Evils / Manhattan Samoerai |
| Book of Swords | Lang / Fight choreographer / Writer / Producer | ||
| 2008 | I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell | Pong | Alt. title: Chinaman's Chance |
| 2010 | The Last Airbender | Stunt fighter | |
| Game of Death | Agent #2 / Big mental | ||
| 2011 | Chicago Code | Stunts | |
| Femme Fatales | Superstar Assassin / The Ghost / Fight choreographer | 6 episodes | |
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Stunts | ||
| A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas | Stunt double: John Cho | ||
| 2012 | Vamps | Stunts | |
| Love and Honor | Stunts | Alt. title: AWOL | |
| Jinn | Stunts | ||
| Red Dawn | Stunt soldier | ||
| The Citizen | Motel worker | ||
| Legend of the Red Reaper | Special thanks | ||
| You Can't Kill Stephen King | Special thanks | ||
| 2013 | BodyWeapon: The Black Ryu | ||
| 2022 | Bullet Train | Stunt | |
| Dawn of the Predator | Jason |
References
edit- ^ "모탈컴뱃: 그리고 류캉, 박호성의 이야기 [Mortal Kombat: And, the story of 'Liu Kang' Pak Sung-ho]", I Love Character, March 2009, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved September 26, 2011
- ^ Haberfelner, Mike (June 2010). "An Interview with Ho-Sung Pak, Actor and Martial Artist". www.searchmytrash.com. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
- ^ Nationals, Diamond. "Diamond Nationals". Diamond Nationals. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
- ^ Team, Black Belt (2023-10-09). "Hall of Fame 1990-1999 Member Profiles". Black Belt Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
- ^ GenOne Films Archived 2009-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lionsgate Publicity: February 2009 Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Mortal Kombat II - Behind the Scenes". Video Games: 46. April 1994.
- ^ Contributors, Ars (2022-10-08). "The actor who claims he co-created Mortal Kombat". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Greenburg, Jan Crawford (1994-08-02). "KARATE ACE BATTLES 6 CORPORATE GIANTS IN ARCADE-GAME SUIT". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
External links
edit- Ho-Sung Pak at IMDb
- The Book of Swords (2003)
- Lost Games: Thea Realm Fighters
- Ho-Sung Pak-interview on (re)Search my Trash