Mark Dacascos

His face betrays the mixture of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Spanish and Irish blood. What is said an exotic type, ideal to do the same Cherokee Indian as Mandarin Chinese according to the requirements of the script. Despite this, she has avoided falling into the sack of hard-to-remember slant-eyed actors in who knows exactly which film. With almost thirty films behind him there is no loss, Mark Dacascos is located, above all, in action seasoned with martial arts, competing with Jackie Chan and Jet Liin that of distributing firewood to the monkey – read enemy – which is made of rubber. But even though such confrontations go perfectly for him, he is not one of the conformists: “the directors do not believe that he can play a dramatic or comic role, but I hope to prove it.” He says. He has been working on it for some time and he does not intend to give up.

Mark Dacascos came into the world in Honolu (Hawaii) on February 26, 1964. The son of martial arts teachers, his life has always been linked to this world: “I grew up in it and it has been a fundamental part of my personal development,” he says. . At the age of 18, he completed his sports curriculum with more than 200 participations in kung fu tournaments, many of them in Europe, where he lived for 4 years. Everything seemed to indicate a future on the tatami. Until one day a producer approached him on the street and invited him to show off his skills in front of a camera. The scenes of him in Dim SumThey never made it into the final cut, but at least it was the beginning of a good friendship with the cinema, and even if it was in the style of kicking and standing upright. That was in his genes, knowing how to really interpret he had to start learning it in dramatic art classes. He found more luck with his second film, Angel Town . A plot to forget, the highlight of the film is the choreography of the fights and in these Dacascos proved to be an axe. From then on he chained a series of films of the same type ( Only The Strong , Double Dragon ) with an increasing leading role.

In the mid-90s, Mark Dacascos had established himself as an essential star of the subgenre where his admired Bruce Lee reigned . But as an actor he wanted to move up a notch. The opportunity came to him in a French production based on a well-known Japanese manga. In Crying Freeman he is a murderer of mystical dimensions who tears up (“he is so cute”) after committing terrible crimes. The success of this violent film, directed by a novel Christophe Gans, supposed a new direction in Dacascos: “it changed my personal and professional life. It was the first time that Christophe and I worked together and thanks to him I met my wife (Julie Condra) on set”, recalls Mark. Back in American cinema, action at full throttle awaited him in three films of unequal success: Sanctuary , Sabotage and Redline , the latter with a Rutger Hauer in the doldrums, with whom Scorcher has also just finished . More successful is Drive , a sample of the best Hong Kong-style action movies. Although the definitive accolade to fame was given by the series El Cuervo, stairway to heaven, continuation on television of the adventures of the mysterious Eric Draven.

Currently, he continues to enjoy the good results achieved with his role as Mani in the baroque and fantastic The Pact of Wolves , again directed by Christophe Gans; with whom he is embarking on a new shoot, The Adventurer , a kind of French James Bond. As bad as it weighs him, here he will also use a clean smack, but he does not lose hope in getting that role “that touches my heart.” While he waits to fulfill his wish, this lover of soul music, Waikiki beaches and surfing takes it upon himself with the oriental philosophy of the Buddhist monk that he one day thought he was. Perhaps, who knows, we will see him reciting Shakespeare very soon.