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Mark Dacascos

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Mark Dacascos
Dacascos in 2011
Born
Mark Alan Dacascos

(1964-02-26) February 26, 1964 (age 60)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Other names
  • Marc Dacascos
  • The Chairman
Alma materPortland State University
Occupations
  • Actor
  • martial artist
  • television personality
Years active1985–present
Spouse
Julie Condra
​
(m. 1998)​
Children3
Websitedacascos.com

Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and television personality.[1] He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is known for his roles as Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-0, Louis Stevens in Only the Strong, 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.

Perhaps best known as "The Chairman" on Food Network's Iron Chef America series since January 2005, he has continued the role as of 2022 on Netflix's Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend. His other roles include 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, an adaptation of Choudenshi Bioman produced by Haim Saban. The show was not picked up at the time but the concept evolved 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. In the following year, Dacascos co-starred with Party of Five's Scott Wolf as Jimmy and Billy Lee, respectively, in the film Double Dragon, based on the video game with the same name.

He plays the role of the Chairman of Iron Chef America, Iron Chef Australia and Iron Chef Mexico. In the series' backstory he is the nephew of the original Iron Chef Chairman, Takeshi Kaga.

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 played 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] He starred in a recurring role on the Netflix series Wu Assassins.[9] He has reprised his role as The Chairman of the Iron Chef series in Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, which was released on Netflix in June 2022.[10]

Personal life

Dacascos is married to actress Julie Condra, who starred with him in Crying Freeman.[11] They have three children: two sons and a daughter.[12]

Filmography

Dacascos (center) in a deleted scene from Dim Sum

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Angel Town Stoner Driver
1992 American Samurai Kenjiro Sanga
1993 Only The Strong Louis Stevens
Roosters Filipino's Son Cameo
1994 Double Dragon Jimmy Lee
1995 Deadly Past Leo
Kickboxer 5 Matt Reeves
Crying Freeman Yo Hinomura / Freeman
1996 The Island of Dr. Moreau Lo-Mai
Sabotage Michael Bishop
1997 Drive Toby Wong Direct-to-video
Sanctuary Luke Kovak
DNA Dr. Ash Mattley
Deathline Merrick
1998 Boogie Boy Jesse Page
No Code of Conduct Paul DeLucca
1999 The Base Major John Murphy / Corporal John Dalton
2000 China Strike Force Tony Lau
2001 Brotherhood of the Wolf Mani
The Perfect Husband J.T. Dillon
2002 Scorcher Ryan Beckett
2003 Cradle 2 the Grave Ling
2005 Final Approach Kato
2006 Only the Brave Steve "Zaki" Senzaki
The Hunt for Eagle One Lieutenant Matt Daniels Direct-to-video
The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point Direct-to-video
Nomad Sharish
2007 Code Name: The Cleaner Eric Hauck
Alien Agent Rykker
I Am Omega Renchard
2008 Gideon Falls Set
2009 Serbian Scars Peter Olsen Obilich
2010 Shadows in Paradise Lieutenant Max Forrester
Secret of the Sultan
2011 The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone "King Cobra"
2014 Roger Corman's Operation Rogue Captain Max Randall
The Extendables[13] Cameo
2016 Showdown in Manila Matthew Wells Also director and producer
2017 Maximum Impact Tony Lin
2017 Ultimate Justice Gus
2018 The Legend of Hallowaiian Pono Voice, Direct-to-video
2019 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum "Zero"
The Driver The Driver
Lucky Day Louis
2020 One Night in Bangkok Kai Kahale
2021 Batman: Soul of the Dragon Richard Dragon Voice, Direct-to-video
2022 Blade of the 47 Ronin Lord Shinshiro Netflix Original Film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Bio-Man Victor Lee / Biorhythm Red Pilot
1986–1997 General Hospital Police Cadet 4 episodes
1990 Doogie Howser, MD Julian Episode: "The Grass Ain't Always Greener"
The Flash Osaku Episode: "Child's Play"
New Dragnet Kevin Chow Episode: "Queen of Hearts"
1991 Dead on the Money Martial Arts Teacher Television film
1994 Dragstrip Girl Johnny Ramirez Television film
Tales from the Crypt Felix Johnson Episode: "The Pit"
1995 One West Waikiki Moku Episode: "Rest in Peace"
1998–1999 The Crow: Stairway to Heaven Eric Draven 22 episodes
1999 Martial Law Steven Garth Episode: "Ninety Million Reasons to Die"
2002 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Ananda Episode: "Felonious Monk"
2004–2018 Iron Chef America The Chairman 236 episodes
2006 Solar Attack Lucas Foster Television film
2007–2008 Stargate Atlantis Tyre 2 episodes
2007–2012 The Next Iron Chef The Chairman 16 episodes
2008 The Legend of Bruce Lee Thai Boxer King Charles[14] 3 episodes
The Middleman Sensei Ping Episode: "The Sino-Mexican Revelation"
2009 Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight Eubulon / Advent Master 9 episodes
Dancing with the Stars Himself 7 episodes
2010–2020 Hawaii Five-0 Wo Fat 17 episodes
2014 Chicago P.D. Jimmy Shi Episode: "Different Mistakes"
2015–2016 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Giyera[15] 11 episodes
2016 Lucifer Kimo Vanzandt Episode: "Weaponizer"
2017 The Perfect Bride Daniel Counter Television film
2019 Wu Assassins Monk Recurring role[9]
2022 Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend The Chairman
2023 Warrior Kong Pak[16] Series regular

Web

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

Awards

Year Work Award Result
2002 Brotherhood of the Wolf Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "Discovering the Samurai Within". Inside Kung Fu. Archived from the original on May 9, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  2. ^ "Dancing With The Stars Season 9 Cast". Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  3. ^ Eng, Joyce (August 17, 2009). "Dancing with the Stars 2009 Season 9 Cast Revealed!". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  4. ^ Kim, Serena (May 7, 2019). "Meet Actor Mark Dacascos—The Martial Artist Behind Zero in 'John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum'". CharacterMedia. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  5. ^ Dacascos, Mark (March 2001). "IMPACT 90 Mark Dacascos: Kung Fou Style (fou for crazy)" (Interview). Interviewed by Damien Granger. Translated by The Wolfsisters. www.markdacascos.de. Archived from the original on May 24, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2018.{{cite interview}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ Munoz, Lorenza (January 3, 2003). "Little pictures have a big year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  7. ^ "Web Series 'Mortal Kombat: Legacy 2′ Hitting February 17th". Latino Review. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  8. ^ Busch, Anita (May 21, 2018). "Halle Berry, Anjelica Huston Join Returning Cast For 'John Wick". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Petski, Denise (August 15, 2018). "'Wu Assassins': JuJu Chan & Mark Dacascos To Recur In Netflix Martial Arts Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  10. ^ Rice, Lynette (May 2, 2022). "All New 'Iron Chef' Coming To Netflix In June; Alton Brown Returns As Host With Kristen Kish". Deadline. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  11. ^ Palan, Michael. "What Happened To The Original Cast Of The Wonder Years?". Looper.
  12. ^ Mossman, Bill. "The Chairman Never Rests". Midweek.
  13. ^ Thompson, Brian (October 22, 2013). "THE EXTENDABLES Trailer". Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2018 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "Mark Dacascos Interview". Martial Arts Unlimited. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  15. ^ Petski, Denise (November 6, 2015). "Marvel's 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Casts Mark Dacascos In Recurring Role". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  16. ^ Petski, Denise. "'Warrior': Mark Dacascos & Chelsea Muirhead Joins Season 3 Cast Of HBO Max Series". deadline.com. Deadline. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
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