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

Tati Gabrielle

Photograph by STEFAN BERTIN

[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.”

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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.”

Tati Gabrielle in ‘Mortal Kombat II.’

Everett Collection

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.”

Tati Gabrielle in Mortal Kombat II.

Everett Collection

You worked closely with Adeline Rudolph, who plays Kitana, what was it like building that friendship between your charac