1. It could have starred Cameron Diaz, Sean Connery and Brandan Lee
Originally, Cameron Diaz was cast in the role of Sonya Blade. Because The Mask was in post-production, Diaz was not yet a household name, but producers still saw the potential in the future Hollywood star. Unfortunately, the actress broke her wrist while training for the role and was left unable to perform the martial arts stunts the film required. The part then went to Bridgette Wilson, who had literally just completed her final day of shooting Billy Madison when she got the offer to play Sonya. Because the part required the actress to begin shooting immediately, she may not have been able to accept the role if the call had come in just a few days earlier.
As for casting Rayden (spelled “Raiden” in the games), the Mortal Kombat team was looking for a more recognizable star. Even Danny Glover’s name had come up at one point as a possibility according to Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, though it’s not clear if he was ever actually offered the part. Meanwhile, legendary actor Sean Connery was approached during the casting process to gauge his interest for playing Rayden, but he ultimately declined the offer. “We understood at that time that he really wanted to golf. He wasn’t interested at that time in doing a physical role,” associate producer Lauri Apelian told THR in 2015.
Christopher Lambert was then cast instead.
The role of Johnny Cage could have also been quite a bit different.
Because the original video game character is based on Jean-Claude Van Damme, the Bloodsport star himself was considered for the role. However, because he was already committed to Street Fighter, using Van Damme was not an option. The part then went to Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee, but he was tragically killed in an accident on the set of The Crow before he could start filming Mortal Kombat. Linden Ashby would be officially cast as Johnny Cage soon after, and he wound up being perfect for the role.
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2. Steven Spielberg almost had a cameo appearance
Near the beginning of the film, Johnny Cage is shown wrapping up a shoot on one of his movie sets. In the scene, actor Sandy Helberg (Spaceballs) briefly appears as the director of the project, pleading with Johnny to finish the shoot when the temperamental actor storms off the set. Physically, the director bears a striking resemblance to real-life director Steven Spielberg, and there’s actually a really good reason for that. Originally, this small role was meant to serve as a cameo appearance for the Spielberg. According to legend, Spielberg was a big fan of the game series and had even agreed to do the cameo. However, a scheduling conflict would prevent his appearance, though the character still wound up looking a lot like him – perhaps as a tribute.
3. A romance between Liu Kang and Kitana was cut.
On the subject of deleted scenes, another planned storyline involving Liu Kang also ended up on the cutting room floor. In the script, Liu was supposed to fall in love with Kitana, played by Talisa Soto in the film. However, according to actor Robin Shou, the storyline was nixed so as not to be a distraction for the movie’s action. “In the original script I was supposed to fall in love with Talisa Soto,” Shou stated in an interview. “I was looking forward to it, but they thought we have so much action, we don’t want to add romance to it. They cut it out.”
4. Tom Cruise was turned away from the set
As an A-list Hollywood star for decades, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone unfamiliar with Tom Cruise. Since the ’80s to this day, the actor has been one of the world’s most famous actors. Still, for one medic working as part of the crew at the time, Cruise had no place on the Mortal Kombat set. According to Linden Ashby, Cruise was in the area during production and had attempted to visit the set, only for the set medic to tell him no. Ashby explains: “Tom Cruise had a hangar nearby and came over and was like, ‘Hey what are you guys shooting? Can I check it out?’ And the medic goes, ‘You’re not in this movie. Go away!’ And Tom Cruise goes, ‘I just want to see,’ and he goes, ‘I don’t care who you are, get out of here!’ He turned away Tom Cruise!”
5. Reptile wasn’t originally in the film, but Jade was
Reptile has a very memorable fight scene with Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat, but this wasn’t supposed to be the case. In the original screenplay, the character was not included in any way. However, because some of the early fight sequences shot for the film weren’t testing well, Reptile was then written into the film to allow for another great fight scene. This was clearly the right call. Meanwhile, the Jade character almost made her way into the movie as well. In the original script, Jade is introduced as one of Shang Tsung’s servants for a fight scene with Sonya Blade. While the scene made its way into the novelization, it wound up being scrapped from the movie before it was filmed.
6. The movie’s version of Shang Tsung in now in the video games
As Shang Tsung, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa’s performance is one of the most memorable aspects of Mortal Kombat. While the actor was much younger than the elderly depiction of Shang Tsung in the original video game, Tagawa’s iconic portrayal has become legendary in its own way. This was also recognized by the developers of the video game series in the latest installment, Mortal Kombat 11. The game has been adding new playable characters to its roster by way of DLC, the first of which was Shang Tsung. This version of the character also featured the likeness of Tagawa, effectively crossing over the 1995 movie with the video game series.
7. The Movie permanently made Kano an Australian
In the original video games, Kano was not an Australian character. This was an aspect given to the fighter by actor Trevor Goddard when he was cast in the role for the Mortal Kombat movie, complete with a heavy Aussie accent. Because giving him this background added another layer to the character to make him more interesting, Kano would then be made Australian in the official Mortal Kombat video games to be made following the movie’s release. Although he uses an Australian accent for Kano in Mortal Kombat, it’s also worth noting Goddard himself is not actually from the land down under. In fact, he was a British actor born in London, though he was known for often pretending to be Australian behind the camera as well. Sadly, Goddard died of a drug overdose in 2003.
8. It has a straight to video animated prequel
To help promote the Mortal Kombat movie, a straight-to-video animated prequel was released on VHS and Laserdisc. Called Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, the movie follows Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade making their way to Shang Tsung’s Mortal Kombat tournament. It features a mix of traditional 2D animation and CGI, and the home release also included a behind-the-scenes documentary about the live-action movie. The animation has been heavily criticized, described as low-quality and outdated even for the time.