Mortal Kombat's Jessica McNamee, who will play Sonya Blade in the reboot, watched YouTube videos to prep for her role. A member of the Earthrealm's Outer World Investigation Agency, Sonya Blade is a formidable fighter and an original character from the very first Mortal Kombat video game. Sonya Blade is just one of the many iconic fighters set to appear in the upcoming reboot, the first Mortal Kombat film since 1997's failed sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
In addition to Sonya, everyone from Kano and Jax to Sub-Zero and Liu Kang will be fighting in the tournament that determines the fate of the world. Lewis Tan will also be introduced as Cole Young, a new character to the Mortal Kombat universe with a past tied to the mythology surrounding the events of the film. All of the actors trained vigorously to prepare for their roles in the film, but McNamee revealed her unique approach to doing the homework.
The actress tells Collider that she first set out Googling the character to find out her history in the games. This led her down an internet rabbit hole into the Mortal Kombat fandom, eventually taking her to YouTube, where she studied people playing the video game to get a sense of her character's fighting style. This not only helped her gain insight into her character but also allowed her to find out more about the world she would be entering.
I actually just Googled Sonya Blade. I did all this reading, I went into the fandom. I mean, it is endless. And then I found it really helpful for me to watch YouTubes of people playing the game, and I got a real eye for what was going on and I learned more about the world.
Early reviews for Mortal Kombat have praised the film's violence as delightfully fun, which sounds in line with the video games themselves. Adapting video games has been proven to be a particularly tricky task, with writers and directors carrying the burden of honoring the source material while trying to make the film as palatable as possible for as wide of an audience as possible. The jury is still largely out on Mortal Kombat; the film has been released internationally, but stateside fans are eager to find out if the film can live up to their expectations.
McNamee's studying tactic certainly shows the dedication the cast had to accurately adapting their video game counterparts. When Sonya Blade makes her next onscreen appearance, it will be the first time in 25 years she and many of the other characters will have had live-action counterparts. Mortal Kombat has a lot to live up to in terms of fan expectations and wider reception, but it's safe to say that the franchise certainly seems to be in capable hands all around.
Source: Collider
