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Years before taking on the role of Johnny Cage in last year’s animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Joel McHale was a huge fan of the iconic fighting game franchise — playing the original arcade game when it was first released while he was in college. McHale reprised his role as the cocky Mortal Kombat fighter in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, with the action growing bigger and bloodier than its predecessor.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, McHale reflected on his love for Mortal Kombat, how he was thrilled to be part of the franchise, and discussed his surprise return to The CW’s Stargirl.
With this year being the 30th anniversary of Mortal Kombat, do you remember your own first experience with the games and becoming a fan of the franchise?
Joel McHale: I used to go to this place called the Seattle Funplex, which doesn’t exist anymore, and I played Street Fighter in the late ’80s and early ’90s. I loved that game and then Mortal Kombat came along. The way it looked was like the difference between a crop plane and an F-14. I played so much of it and wasted — well, not wasted, now it’s like research — I put so many quarters in that thing in college that I almost went broke. I loved that thing. I was nineteen and just starting college and those were the days. It was one of my favorite games and I got my ass kicked by thirteen-year-olds all day long but it was worth it. If you had told me thirty years later that I’d be playing Johnny Cage in an animated movie, I don’t know what I did right or how I got so lucky.
Do you remember being approached for the part for Scorpion’s Revenge and how do you see the role for these two movies?
My agent is always trying to be cagey, like, “Is this something you’d be interested in?” And I was like, “Fuck yeah, I’m interested! I’m very interested!” I would’ve done it for free — don’t tell the Mortal Kombat people that — it’s one of those things where I couldn’t believe my good fortune that they’d come to me. I was thrilled! There wasn’t much drama other than they offered it and I immediately said yes.
After having seen the level of violence in Scorpion’s Revenge, and the overall production in the first movie, did that inform your approach for Battle of the Realms?
They told me early on it was going to be very violent, which it should be, it’s Mortal Kombat. I think whenever it’s watered down, with some stupid executive thinking it should be for everyone or whatever, I think that version, where they pull their punches, is always bad. They didn’t pull their punches [for Scorpion’s Revenge] and that’s why there are multiple movies because it’s Mortal Kombat and should be very violent and you should definitely push it, that’s how it should be. That said, I was not surprised by the violence and think it was incredibly well done and they should never pull back on it.
With this, you’re working with veteran voice director Wes Gleason. How was it working with him on both of these projects?
He’s so positive, it scares me! He’s a really fun, happy, nice man, and it’s all genuine. If he was disingenuous, he’d be like an evil genius but he’s genuinely happy to be there, which is infectious. You’re all there working hard and it’s not like a walk in the park. You’ve got to be good, on it, and prepared. You’ve got to do your shit and he makes it really easy. He’s like the happiest mega preacher and you’re on board and inspiring in that way and it’s infectious.
As someone that’s done lots of live-action work and voiceover work as far back as Robot Chicken, do you find the booth to be liberating or intimidating with only that one tool in your toolbox?
If you’re not prepared for either circumstance, then it’s intimidating. If you are prepared, it’s exciting.
When an actor comes to a set and doesn’t know his fucking lines, hold on to your hat because you’re going to have quite a day with not only them learning the lines but doing the lines well. I just make sure that I always prepare, and, as soon as you prepare and you’re good, then it allows you to play. With Johnny Cage, I’m improvising, seeing if this joke works or that joke works and they’re really cool about that. If you go in prepared, you’re going to be okay. If I was an A-list star, I would hopefully be doing a lot of animated movies but anybody who phones it in, hold on to your hat because it makes for a fucking long and terrible day. [laughs]
With Johnny Cage there since the beginning, what did you want to bring to the character yourself?
God bless you — I’m raised Catholic and in a constant state of guilty and I just don’t want to suck. That’s job #1. Once we’ve got things humming and going along, I want to be funny because Johnny Cage is comic relief. The movie is genuinely good, very violent, beautifully done and I wanted the jokes to be genuinely and surprisingly funny — that was my own intention. Whenever I’m listening to myself, I’m going, “Pretty good, good, not great, that was a good one!” I’m constantly grading myself.
When you were going to the arcade in Seattle, who were your go-to Mortal Kombat characters to play as?
Pretty much Scorpion and Sub-Zero because I felt like the way Scorpion was able to throw that spike and pull guys over, I got really good at that move. And the move where you jump to the back of the other side of the screen, I got really good at that. I was about twenty at the time and ten-year-olds would come in and kick my ass so I would have to go with what I was good at. I plunked down so much money but it was worthy every penny because now I tell my mom that it was research.
Just to change gears, how was it getting the offer to play Starman and find out he wasn’t quite as dead as we first thought?
When Geoff Johns is calling you… He’s a legend and I can’t believe I know him. They made the offer and my agent was like, “Is this something you’re interested in?” and I was like “Do I want to be a superhero? Fuck yes!” I get very excited about stuff like that, with Geoff Johns saying, “Do you want to live out your boyhood fantasies of being a superhero, wearing a super-suit, flying and carrying the Cosmic Staff?”
I was so happy and one of my first scenes was with Luke Wilson, who is one of my comedy heroes from Idiocracy, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Bottle Rocket. He’s one of my favorites and every time I tell him that, he gets embarrassed to make me happy. I jumped at the opportunity, and, if they ever need me, I said I’d be there in a Georgia Minute — since that’s where we shoot it. That said, Brec Bassinger is 21 and the lead and a badass and she is just fucking on it. And then you have the beautiful, wonderful and amazing Amy Smart and the set is really happy, and, that alone, is half the battle of having a great place to work. I would do this again in a heartbeat. It is so much fun.
Did you always know that you were going to come back at the end of Season 1?
I had no clue and they were like, “Do you want to come back?” And I was like “Yeah!” My schedule was kind of wacky at the time. The scene that I shot, where I show back up at the end [of Season 1] in that beautiful Pontiac 1959 convertible GTO, I did not sleep the night before. I was in New York on another job, stayed up all night shooting, and then took the earliest flight to Atlanta and went straight to set. I was tired but hair and makeup really fixed things!
Directed by Ethan Spaulding, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is available now on Digital HD and Blu-ray/4K UHD.
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