Mehcad Brooks, the actor who plays Jax in the Mortal Kombat movies, has revealed his struggle with the fight scenes for the first movie — struggles he overcame for the imminent sequel.
In a virtual press conference ahead of the release of Mortal Kombat 2, Brooks said that for the first film, released in 2021, he took the character of Jax to his therapist. Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs is a veteran Mortal Kombat who made his debut in 1993’s Mortal Kombat 2 as a cybernetically-enhanced Special Forces officer. He’s known for his signature metal bionic arms, which he obtains in the first movie.
“I actually sat with my therapist for about six sessions and figured out why he was who he was,” Brooks said. “I like to overthink a character and then underplay them. And then I think what happened for me was the first film, I didn’t know if I belonged in the fighting scenes. So that was the hard part for me.”
Brooks has a major fight scene in the first movie where he goes up against Joe Taslim, who plays Sub-Zero. Taslim, who reprises his role for Mortal Kombat 2 — this time as Bi-Han — is a martial artist who starred in 2011’s The Raid, 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. During the scene, Sub-Zero turns Jax’s arms into ice before ripping them off, leading to Jax’s rebirth of sorts as the cybernetically-enhanced Special Forces officer we know from the video games.
Behind the scenes, however, Brooks struggled to feel like he belonged in the fight scenes, given the martial arts expertise and experience of his co-stars. During the press conference, he recalled one scene in which he “messed up,” leading to Taslim accidentally punching him in the face.
“What you saw in the film was my desire to be the best at what I was doing, matching my devotion, right? But in the rehearsals, I was like, ‘I’m not getting this right.’ I was 5% away for a month and I literally broke down in my hotel room in tears and I was like, ‘Do I belong here?’ And it was psychological because I’d never done a 27-step choreography with Joe Taslim. And I messed up once and he punched me in the face. And there was something about that, that I knew I belonged there as an actor, but I didn’t know if I belonged there as a fighter. And I’m really hard on myself when it comes to that kind of thing.”
However, with the confirmation of the sequel, and being asked to return for it, Brooks felt a newfound confidence in the fight scenes.
“When I got to the second movie, I was like, ‘Oh, I got this.’ And it’s really affirming because we had such a great reception from the fans for the first one. So it was very helpful.”
Trailers for Mortal Kombat 2 have shown Jax going up against Jade, played by Tati Gabrielle, and Shao Kahn, played by Martyn Ford, so he certainly has his work cut out.
Mortal Kombat 2 hits theaters May 8, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
