Mark Dacascos

Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor and martial artist.[1] He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is best known for his roles as Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf, Toby Wong in Drive, Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave, the titular role in Crying Freeman and Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Mark Dacascos
Dacascos in 2011
Born
Mark Alan Dacascos

(1964-02-26) February 26, 1964
Other namesMarc Dacascos
The Chairman
Alma materPortland State University
OccupationActor, martial artist, television personality
Years active1985–present
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Spouse(s)
Julie Condra
(m. 1998)
Children3
Websitewww.dacascos.com

Beginning in January 2005, Dacascos played "The Chairman" on Food Network's Iron Chef America. His other roles include Wo Fat on the CBS series Hawaii Five-0, Kung Lao in the web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Eric Draven in The Crow: Stairway to Heaven and Eubulon in Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. He also competed in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars.[2][3]

Early life

Dacascos was born February 26, 1964, in Oahu, Hawaii. His father, Al Dacascos, is from Hawaii and is a martial arts instructor whose parents originated from the Philippines and were of Chinese, Filipino and Spanish ancestry. His biological mother, Moriko McVey-Murray, is of Irish and Japanese ancestry.[4] In the History Channel presentation Samurai, Dacascos revealed that many members of his mother's family were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. His stepmother is award-winning martial artist Malia Bernal. He attended Los Angeles Valley College, where he was on the gymnastics team. He also attended Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He is proficient in his father's style of martial arts, Wun Hop Kuen Do. He has studied Muay Thai, capoeira with Amen Santo, and Wushu.[1]

Career

Dacascos in a production still taken during filming of a deleted scene in Wayne Wang's film Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart in 1983

Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by Chris Lee (assistant director) and Rexall Chinn (hairstylist), who at the time were working for director Wayne Wang. He was cast in Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, and though his scenes were cut from the final film, he went on to establish a film and television career primarily playing martial artists. He was originally set to play as the Red Ranger, Victor Lee, in Bio-Man produced by Haim Saban, which never got picked up but would later evolve into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.[5]

His breakout role was in the 1993 film Only the Strong, in which he played Louis, a capoeira master who takes a high school's potential failures and turns their lives around by teaching them the Brazilian martial art based on the West African martial art brought by slaves. In the following year, Dacascos co-starred with Party of Five's Scott Wolf as Jimmy and Billy Lee, respectively, in the movie, based on the video game, Double Dragon.

He plays the role of the Chairman of Iron Chef America and Iron Chef Australia. In the series' backstory he is the nephew of the original Iron Chef Chairman, Takeshi Kaga; the actors have no relation in real life.

He has been featured in many action films such as Drive, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Crying Freeman and Cradle 2 the Grave, in which he squared off against Jet Li. He also performed in three video games: voice acting in Stranglehold, live acting in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and digitally recreating The Chairman in the Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine video game for Wii.

Dacascos was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 for his role in Brotherhood of the Wolf.[6] He also appeared in the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which was a follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow. He also appears in the children's television show, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, where he portrays Eubulon, also known as the Advent Master, mentor of the Kamen Riders and creator of the Advent Decks.

Dacascos plays the recurring role of Wo Fat on the CBS series, Hawaii Five-0. He portrayed Kung Lao in the second season of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.[7] He had a recurring role in the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Mr. Giyera, an Inhuman servant of Hydra who can manipulate inanimate objects.

In May 2019, Dacascos played Zero, a lead antagonist in the action thriller film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.[8] Recently, he starred in a recurring role on the Netflix series, Wu Assassins.[9]

Personal life

Dacascos is married to actress Julie Condra, who starred with him in Crying Freeman. They have three children: two sons and a daughter.[10] Mark has five siblings: two brothers and three sisters.

Filmography

Dacascos (center) in a deleted scene from Dim Sum

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Angel TownStoner Driver
1992American SamuraiKenjiro Sanga
1993Only The StrongLouis Stevens
RoostersFilipino's SonCameo
1994Double DragonJimmy Lee
1995Deadly PastLeo
Kickboxer 5Matt Reeves
Crying FreemanYo Hinomura / Freeman
1996The Island of Dr. MoreauLo-Mai
SabotageMichael Bishop
1997DriveToby WongDirect-to-video
SanctuaryLuke Kovak
DNADr. Ash Mattley
DeathlineMerrick
1998Boogie BoyJesse Page
No Code of ConductPaul DeLucca
1999The BaseMajor John Murphy / Corporal John Dalton
2000China Strike ForceTony Lau
2001Brotherhood of the WolfMani
The Perfect HusbandJ.T. Dillon
2002ScorcherRyan Beckett
2003Cradle 2 the GraveLing
2005Final ApproachKato
2006Only the BraveSteve 'Zaki' Senzaki
The Hunt for Eagle OneLieutenant Matt DanielsDirect-to-video
The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash PointDirect-to-video
NomadSharish
2007Code Name: The CleanerEric Hauck
Alien AgentRykker
I Am OmegaRenchard
2008Gideon FallsSet
2009Serbian ScarsPeter Olsen Obilich
2010Shadows in ParadiseLieutenant Max Forrester
Secret of the Sultan
2011The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy StoneCobra
2014Roger Corman's Operation RogueCaptain Max Randall
The Extendables[11]Cameo
2016Showdown in ManilaMatthew WellsAlso director and producer
2017Maximum ImpactTony Lin
2018The Legend of HallowaiianPono (voice)Direct-to-video
2019John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'Zero'
The DriverThe Driver
Lucky DayLouis
2020One Night in BangkokKai Kahale
2021Batman: Soul of the DragonRichard Dragon (voice)Direct-to-video

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1986–97General HospitalPolice Cadet4 episodes
1990Doogie Howser, MDJulianEpisode: "The Grass Ain't Always Greener"
The FlashOsakuEpisode: "Child's Play"
New DragnetKevin ChowEpisode: "Queen of Hearts"
1991Dead on the MoneyMartial Arts TeacherTelevision film
1994Dragstrip GirlJohnny RamirezTelevision film
Tales from the CryptFelix JohnsonEpisode: "The Pit"
1995One West WaikikiMokuEpisode: "Rest in Peace"
1998–99The Crow: Stairway to HeavenEric Draven22 episodes
1999Martial LawSteven GarthEpisode: "Ninety Million Reasons to Die"
2002CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationAnandaEpisode: "Felonious Monk"
2004–18Iron Chef AmericaThe Chairman236 episodes
2006Solar AttackLucas FosterTelevision film
2007–08Stargate AtlantisTyre2 episodes
2007–12The Next Iron ChefThe Chairman16 episodes
2008The Legend of Bruce LeeThai Boxer King Charles [12]3 episodes
The MiddlemanSensei PingEpisode: "The Sino-Mexican Revelation"
2009Kamen Rider: Dragon KnightEubulon / Advent Master9 episodes
Dancing with the StarsHimself7 episodes
2010–20Hawaii Five-0Wo Fat17 episodes
2014Chicago P.D.Jimmy ShiEpisode: "Different Mistakes"
2015–16Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Giyera[13]11 episodes
2016LuciferKimo VanzandtEpisode: "Weaponizer"
2017The Perfect BrideDaniel CounterTelevision Film
2019Wu AssassinsMonkRecurring role[9]

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kung Lao 4 episodes

Awards

YearWorkAwardResult
2002Brotherhood of the WolfSaturn Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated

References

  1. "Discovering the Samurai Within". Inside Kung Fu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  2. "Dancing With The Stars Season 9 Cast". Archived from the original on 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  3. Eng, Joyce (2009-08-17). "Dancing with the Stars 2009 Season 9 Cast Revealed!". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  4. Kim, Serena (2019-05-07). "Meet Actor Mark Dacascos—The Martial Artist Behind Zero in 'John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum'". CharacterMedia. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  5. "Blackjack – Die Strategie fürs Spielen im Online Casino!". www.markdacascos.de. Archived from the original on 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  6. Munoz, Lorenza (2003-01-03). "Little pictures have a big year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  7. "Web Series 'Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2′ Hitting February 17th". Latino Review. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  8. Busch, Anita (2018-05-21). "Halle Berry, Anjelica Huston Join Returning Cast For 'John Wick". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  9. Petski, Denise (2018-08-15). "'Wu Assassins': JuJu Chan & Mark Dacascos To Recur In Netflix Martial Arts Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  10. "Mark Dacasco Official Facebook Page". Facebook. Facebook. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
  11. Thompson, Brian (2013-10-22). "THE EXTENDABLES Trailer". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2018-05-04 via YouTube.
  12. "Mark Dacascos Interview". Martial Arts Unlimited. Archived from the original on 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  13. Petski, Denise (2015-11-06). "Marvel's 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Casts Mark Dacascos In Recurring Role". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2015-11-08. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
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