Tati Gabrielle on Playing Fav Video Game Character in Mortal Kombat II

[This story contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat II.]

Not too many people can say they got to transform into the video game character they admired growing up.

But for but Tati Gabrielle, landing the role as Jade in Mortal Kombat II was a full-circle moment for the 30-year-old actress. “My little kid self would’ve never thought sitting there playing that game downstairs in our den, that I’d be playing that character one day,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The best that I can say is that it felt aligned in this weird, trippy, crazy way and also very exciting for my inner child.”

Gabrielle would also likely agree that the past decade of her life has been a “trippy, crazy” whirlwind, having captured audiences with her breakout role in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, before solidifying her place in Hollywood with turns in Netflix’s You and the Ruben Fleischer-directed film Uncharted.

She’s now breathing new life into Princess Kitana’s (Adeline Rudolph) loyal childhood friend in the follow-up to the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot movie. The sequel sees fan-favorite champions, including Johnny Cage, pitted against each other in a battle to defeat Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), who threatens the existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.

Below, Gabrielle opens up about the pressure of stepping into Jade’s shoes, how her martial arts background helped with the film’s many stunts, whether she’s open to reprising her role again and the importance of diversity in front and behind the camera.

How much did you know about the Mortal Kombat video game before joining the film? And how did it help you prepare for your role as Jade?

I was a fan of the video game. I played as a kid. I grew up in an older household. My mom was almost 40 when she had me. … We were just raised with a different generation’s sensibilities and pop culture. So Mortal Kombat was definitely big in my house. My sister was ecstatic when I booked Mortal Kombat! And Jade was my favorite character because she was the only character, before Tanya came in later, that I saw that looked like me. And I did martial arts as a kid. So I was like, “This is so cool! I can really do things.”

Did you feel any pressure stepping into the shoes of this beloved character for the big screen adaptation? 

I did and I didn’t, because there’s been so many adaptations of so many things, and of the fans that are already out there of this IP, they’re going to want to see what they know they’ve seen. But I also realized, especially after doing Uncharted years before, people at the same time don’t know if they want something different until they see it. And things translate differently from a video game to real life. So definitely felt a bit of the pressure of, “Oh, for the Mortal Kombat fans out there, I hope that I do Jade justice.” I wanted to do Jade Justice, but I also tried to shake that feeling of wanting to fit so tightly into a box and was like, “No, I’m going to give myself freedom.” And thankfully, our director, Simon McQuoid, also had the same sort of idea.

With so many fight sequences in the film, can you talk about how you used your martial arts background as an advantage? Did you do all your own stunts?

Unfortunately, I did not do all of my own stunts. I was very upset about it too. … I pushed. I was like, “Come on, put me in, coach. I can do this.” Because for Uncharted, I got to do all of my own stunts. I used to compete with the bo staff when I was doing my karate days. And he [Kyle Gardiner, supervising stunt coordinator] was like, “You know, Tati, it’s not often that I have an actress that wants to do all of that.” I was like, “Well, get used to it, man. I’m here and I’m ready to do it.” But I still got to do a considerable amount of things and the training process was awesome.

I also strained my shoulder at one point because … there’s a certain glowy bow in the course of the film that is very heavy and is not the normal weight that somebody working with a bow or competing with a bow is used to using. So the muscles in my shoulder were not used to doing these movements with a very heavy bow; strained my shoulder. I’m OK now. But I was like, “I got battle scars.”

You worked closely with Adeline Rudolph, who plays Kitana, what was it like building that friendship between your characters on screen?

Probably my favorite part of my experience on this film was working with Addy. We had played sisters once before on the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and so we were both super excited to do this again. I was so excited that I spoiled her casting. She found out from me instead of her agents because I was too excited, and I called her immediately.

But me and Addy basically spent every day together, whether it was us just hanging out as girls or just talking through these scenes. We worked with a dramaturge. That was really wonderful, and we’d go through these sessions and Addy and I think we found the deepest form of connection with Jade and Kitana because their relationship, their sisterhood of loyalty, of growing up together and trying to figure out exactly what that means. The idea that loyalty is thicker than blood and how even differing beliefs or different mindsets can still create such a rich friendship. And then what happens when outside forces try to encroach on that?

If there’s another film in the franchise, would you be open to reprising your role as Jade?

Oh, absolutely. Because there’s so much more to discover with Jade. This might be one of the hardest roles that I’ve done as far as just the characterization. It was such a challenge. I was so resistant to a lot of parts of Jade because I think that Tati was going, “What are you doing? Why are you making these choices?” And it’s like you have to. I think one of the key things, especially as an actor playing an antihero villain or a character with questionable choices, you have to accept them full on. I’ve always said you have to make them your best friend in order to meld with them. And as I got through that process of Jade and understanding her and accepting her, it was such a climb and a challenge, and it makes me want to dig deeper into her in that way.

You’ve really established yourself for your high-intensity roles in your other projects, such as Uncharted, The 100 and The Last of Us. Do you typically seek out those types of roles? And do you have a different dream genre you hope to take on in the future?

No, I did not plan for this. My friends a year or so ago started calling me, “You action star.” I was like, “I didn’t intend to do that.” Yes, I have the martial arts background stuff, but I always wanted to be an indie darling. I grew up in theater, so I always love really heartfelt stories, really nuanced, layered characters, really grounded worlds. So to be in these very high stakes, out of this world worlds, is a bit crazy for me. So I’m hoping very soon to move my career more into a more grounded space. … It’s hard for me to even say what my dream role is, but I think my dream project [is] I’d love to do a Yorgos Lanthimos film. That is my biggest dream right now, or to work with Ryan Coogler just for Bay [Area] love.

There have been recent reports showing a decline in diversity in Hollywood. As a biracial woman working in the industry, how important is it for you to bring representation for both your Korean and Black cultures to the screen? 

It’s extremely important to me because, especially as I’ve gotten older and lived through my own experience being mixed race, lived through my own experience being a person of color, there are very particular things to that experience that people need to understand and I don’t think that they’ll be able to understand through just a conversation with somebody. You have to see it to understand. So not only for the purposes of little boys and girls and theys and thems that look like me, to be able to see themselves and feel represented, but as well as for all of those who don’t understand people that look like me, being able to have a tangible reference.

Not having more diverse casts and crews isn’t just stupid, it’s actually a detriment to society. With everything that’s happening in our country and our world right now — the high levels of hate and division — the lack of diversity in our medium — arguably, the most consumed artistic medium at this time — is not only careless but, potentially a huge threat to our humanity and species as a whole. This may sound dramatic but it’s true. By using stereotypes of certain cultures/people or tokenism, you are fueling hateful narratives of those people, widening the rift in a dire time of needed solidarity. By presenting majority white casts, you are giving permission for people to continue existing in a bubble and denying them the opportunity to wake up to and accept the reality that’s around them — essentially stunting their growth and evolution as humans. 

Additionally, the lack of diversity also feels like a slap in the face to the minority community. Minorities are the largest group of consumers, that’s who we should be tailoring to; that’s who deserves to be thanked through representation for being the main people bringing Hollywood money and free marketing. To do otherwise is neglectful and selfish.

If you had to describe what makes Tati Gabrielle, Tati Gabrielle, what would you say?

A little crazy, a little offbeat. A lot of people call me sunshine, which I will own that. I’m extremely optimistic, always curious, always wanting to be fascinated with the world. … I’m very eclectic, very eccentric and quite goofy and silly, but I can also be quite hard (Laughs). There’s a lot of things that make up Tati. Tati’s a whole spectrum, OK? But I’ve got a lot of energy and a lot of energy to give. I used to say this all the time, vintage gangster hippie sailor. That’s how to describe Tati.