History Trivia / MortalKombatTheMovie

* HeAlsoDid: Francois Petit, who plays Sub-Zero and does all of his gymnastic stunts etc, was also a legendary BackAlleyDoctor[=/=]chiropractor of sorts who would work with Wrestling/{{WWE}} after this movie, and fix wrestlers up after matches if they injured themselves. Stories of his alleged antics include popping the shoulder of Wrestling/MickFoley back in after his first fall in the infamous Wrestling/KingOfTheRing Wrestling/HellInACell match, and doing open heart surgery with his ''bare hands''; according to Wrestling/VinceRusso he was also once in a drag-race with Creator/WarrenBeatty.

** Robin Shou was a working stuntman and proficient in kung fu before he was cast. In fact, he was friends with Ho Sung-Pak, Liu Kang's actor in the first two games.

** Paul W.S. Anderson was a fan of the original game, which helped him secure the job. While other directors had looked down on the project, Anderson pushed hard for the job and did his homework with the game's lore and visual effects, which he had no background on, which impressed both New Line brass and Boon and Tobias.
** Christopher Lambert is an avid gamer in real life. Not only he managed to score a key role in this movie, but 26 years later got to reprise the role in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' as one of Raiden's DLC costumes.

** Kano's entire personality as a larger-than-life Australian gangster with a thing for Sonya was more or less created by Trevor Goddard and [[RetCanon embraced by audience and developers alike]] - except Goddard was actually using a Cockney accent, which viewers mistook for Australian. From then on, the games portrayed Kano as Australian and gave him Goddard's beard and CarpetOfVirility from the movie, in contrast to the bald Japanese-American gangster from the original game. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' used the bald look for the young Kano and the bearded look for the future older Kano.

* FakeAustralian: Subverted. Originally, Kano was Japanese-American. However, Ed Boon and John Tobias were so impressed with how Trevor Goddard portrayed him that they retconned Kano's history in future games to make him Australian, which they thought was Goddard's nationality. They later learned that Goddard was actually born in England, but had claimed to be of Australian descent.

* FakeAustralian: Suberted. Originally, Kano was Japanese-American. However, Ed Boon and John Tobias were so impressed with how Trevor Goddard portrayed him that they retconned Kano's history in future games to make him Australian, which they thought was Goddard's nationality. They later learned that Goddard was actually born in England, but had claimed to be of Australian descent.

* FakeAustralian: Originally, Kano was Japanese-American. However, Ed Boon and John Tobias were so impressed with how Trevor Goddard portrayed him that they retconned Kano's history in future games to make him Australian, which they thought was Goddard's nationality. They later learned that, although Goddard gave Kano an Australian accent, Goddard himself was actually born in England, but had claimed to be of Australian descent.
* FakeNationality: Japanese American actor Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa as the Chinese sorcerer Shang Tsung.

* MissingTrailerScene: The trailer shows a clip of Liu Kang confronting Shang Tsung with dialogue that wasn't used in the final film.
-->'''Liu Kang''': You can't run from me, Shang!
-->'''Shang Tsung''': I don't need to run!

* MissingTrailerScene: The trailer shows a clip of Liu Kang confronting Shang Tsung that wasn't used in the final film.

* ActingForTwo: Creator/FrankWelker voiced Reptile and the Outworld Emperor.

* BillingDisplacement: Although he portrays the lead character of Liu Kang, Robin Shou is billed third on the poster and second in the ending credits. Top billing in the latter was given to Creator/ChristopherLambert, despite having a supporting role.

** Robin Shou was a working stunt man and proficient in Kung Fu before he was cast. In fact he was friends with Ho Sung-Pak, the performer for Liu Kang in the original games.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The original screenplay for the film was more faithful to the games, in that it had graphic violence and strong language making it a R rated script. However, the deal that the producers had with New Line Cinema included that they deliver a PG-13 movie to keep the film accessible to the target audience (mostly teenagers).

* FakeAustralian: Originally, Kano was Japanese-American. However, Ed Boon and John Tobias were so impressed with how Trevor Goddard portrayed him that they retconned Kano's history in future games to make him Australian, which they thought was Goddard's nationality. They later learned that, although Goddard gave Kano an Australian accent, Goddard himself was actually born in England but had claimed to be of Australian descent.

* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Creator/PaulWSAnderson encouraged the actors to improvise during filming and add a lot of humor. Especially Creator/LindenAshby and Creator/ChristopherLambert made ample use of this opportunity, which sometimes clashed with the thoughts of the screenwriter and the game developers (especially with regards to the character Rayden, who was originally envisioned as much more serious).

* NoStuntDouble: The actors did their own stunts.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/CameronDiaz was lined up to play Sonya Blade and had gotten as far as training for the action sequences, but suffered a wrist injury while doing so and backed out to be replaced last minute by Bridgette Wilson. This becomes evident as the movie really dances around Sonya's action sequences, as Wilson didn't have the same training time. They reorganized the shooting schedule to push Sonya's fight scenes back as far as they could, but the lack of preparation shows.

** Paul Anderson was a fan of the original game, which helped him secure the job. While other directors had looked down on the project, Anderson pushed hard for the job and did his homework with the game's lore and visual effects (which he had no background on), which impressed both New Line brass and Boon and Tobias.

** While Creator/FrankWelker is credited as the voice of Shao Khan, the on-camera actor is left unbilled.

** Creator/BrandonLee was originally going to play Liu Kang, but he died before filming started. Creator/JasonScottLee, Creator/ErnieReyesJr and Creator/RussellWong were also considered before Robin Shou got the role.

* ActingForTwo: Creator/FrankWelker voiced Goro, Reptile and the Outworld Emperor.

* FakeNationality: Japanese actor Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa as the Chinese sorcerer Shang Tsung.

* FakeNationality:
** Japanese actor Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa as the Chinese sorcerer Shang Tsung.
** Australian (actually English) Trevor Goddard as the Japanese-American Kano, who ended up being such a popular example that the developers of ''Mortal Kombat'' officially changed Kano's nationality to follow suit.

** Raiden's laughter and "sorry" after telling the heroes that the fate of the world is in their hands was an ad-lib by Christopher Lambert.
** Many of Jonny Cage's one liners were ad libs by Linden Ashby, including "Those were 500 dollar sunglasses, asshole!" During the fight with Scorpion, one kick to the back actually hurt Ashby as it landed on his shoulder blade, which is clearly shown in the movie.
* UncreditedRole: While Creator/FrankWelker is credited as the voice of Shao Khan, the on-camera actor is left unbilled. Similarly, Tom Woodruff, Jr. is uncredited for the suit performance of Goro.

** Creator/CameronDiaz was originally cast as Sonya. She broke her wrist while training and was replaced by Bridgette Wilson. Creator/ChristinaApplegate and Creator/SharonStone were also considered.

** The filmmakers wanted Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme to play Johnny Cage, but he turned down it down to do ''Film/StreetFighter''. Creator/TomCruise and Creator/JohnnyDepp were also considered.
** Creator/BrandonLee was originally going to play Liu Kang, but he died before filming started. Creator/JasonScottLee was also considered before Robin Shou got the role.

** Reptile's fight with Lui was a late addition to the movie to keep up the action pacing before reaching the climax. This partially explains how random his presence and transformation from a statue was.

** Christopher Lambert is an avid gamer in real life. Not only he maanged to score a key role in this movie, but 26 years later got to reprise the role in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' as one of Raiden's DLC costumes.

** Creator/StevenSpielberg was supposed to make a cameo appearance in the movie. However, due to scheduling conflicts, he backed out. The director in Johnny's first scene bears a pretty good resemblance to Spielberg, making it pretty obvious where the cameo was supposed to take place.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/CameronDiaz was lined up to play Sonya Blade and had gotten as far as training for the action sequences, but suffered a wrist injury while doing so and backed out to be replaced last minute by Bridgette Wilson. This becomes evident as the movie really dances around Sonya's action sequences.

** Linden Ashby had athletic training, but was more familiar with boxing before the movie.

* PromotedFanboy: Christopher Lambert is an avid gamer in real life, and Paul Anderson was a fan of the original game, which helped him secure the job. While other directors had looked down on the project, Anderson pushed hard for the job and did his homework with the game's lore and visual effects (which he had no background on), which impressed both New Line brass and Boon and Tobias.

* CastTheExpert: Robin Shou was a working stunt man and proficient in Kung Fu before he was cast (in fact he was friends with Ho Sung-Pak, the performer for Lui Kang in the original games). Linden Ashby had athletic training but was more familiar with boxing before the movie.

* CastTheExpert: Liu Kang and Johnny Cage's actors were real martial artists.

** Liu Kang was supposed to duplicate the acrobatic flips of Sub-Zero's down the ramp during the fight, but Robin Shou couldn't pull it off successfully. After a few takes, instead of the acrobatics, he just ran down into the ramp yelling like a maniac. That's the shot that got used.

** Many of Jonny Cage's one liners were ad libs by Linden Ashby, including "Those were 500 dollar sunglasses, asshole!"

** The filmmakers wanted Creator/BrandonLee to play Johnny Cage. After his untimely death, they then offered Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme the role. He turned down it down to do ''Film/StreetFighter''. Creator/TomCruise and Creator/JohnnyDepp were also considered.
** [[Film/DragonTheBruceLeeStory Jason Scott Lee]], Phillip Rhee, Ernie Reyes Jr, and [[Film/RomeoMustDie Russell Wong]] auditioned for the role of Liu Kang. Robin Shou got the role.

** Japanese/American-born (Mother was a Japanese actress, father was a Japanese-American soldier in the US Army) Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa as Chinese-born sorcerer Shang Tsung.

* MultipleLanguagesSameVoiceActor: Creator/ChristopherLambert dubbed himself for the French release.

* PromotedFanboy: Creator/ChristopherLambert is an avid gamer in real life, and Paul Anderson was a fan of the original game, which helped him secure the job. While other directors had looked down on the project, Anderson pushed hard for the job and did his homework with the game's lore and visual effects (which he had no background on), which impressed both New Line brass and Boon and Tobias.

** Raiden's laughter and "sorry" after telling the heroes that the fate of the world is in their hands was an ad-lib by Creator/ChristopherLambert.

** Creator/CameronDiaz was originally cast as Sonya. She broke her wrist while training and was replaced by Bridgette Wilson very last minute. Creator/ChristinaApplegate and Creator/SharonStone were also considered.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Christopher Lambert's appearance as Raiden was essentially unpaid, with the actor even having to cover his own room, board, and travel expenses, but he did it anyway because he thought the movie was cool and was having fun making it.

** The filmmakers wanted Brandon Lee to play Johnny Cage. After his untimely death, they then offered Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme the role. He turned down it down to do ''Film/StreetFighter''. Creator/TomCruise and Creator/JohnnyDepp were also considered.