Warrior producers talk ‘bolder’ season 3 with a new action star, new network
The third season of Max’s thrilling martial arts drama Warrior premieres this week, and there’s an exciting new face in the cast: martial arts movie (and Iron Chef) legend Mark Dacascos. Dacascos plays Kong Pak, the charismatic leader of a rival Tong absorbed by the powerful Long Zii.
Warrior has no shortage of skilled martial artists in its cast, from its hardworking star Andrew Koji to former Indonesian national judo team athlete Joe Taslim (whose skills can also be seen in The Night Comes for Us and The Raid). But Dacascos adds another dimension, as an extraordinarily skilled martial artist who also brings a lovable easygoing energy to every role.
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“If we’re going to bring in somebody to be an adversary for any one of these guys, they can’t just be able to act,” co-creator and executive producer Jonathan Tropper says. “They have to also look believable as an antagonist to these guys.
“We want people who we know will hold their own and uphold the extremely high level of martial arts action we’re doing on the show.”
Dacascos seems an obvious pick, but his casting was a happy accident.
“I didn’t think for a minute we could get Mark Dacascos,” Tropper says. “Luckily, Dustin [Nguyen, an actor and director on Warrior] did a movie with him in the off season and said, ‘He loves the show, you should call him,’ and boom!”
That movie was Blade of the 47 Ronin, a straight-to-Netflix sequel to the 2013 Keanu Reeves movie 47 Ronin. Directed by seasoned stunt professional, actor, and martial artist Ron Yuan, the movie stars YouTuber Anna Akana and up-and-coming martial arts star Mike Moh alongside Dacascos and Nguyen.
While it flew under the radar on release, Blade of the 47 Ronin was praised by the people I follow in the
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