When Warner Bros. dropped the Mortal Kombat II cast list, GOC’s first reaction was: “Yep, that’s what we like to see.”
What else could be said upon learning that Tati Gabrielle would play Jade and Adeline Rudolph would play Kitana?
The first Mortal Kombat arrived in April 2021 on HBO Max and theaters. Studios were still figuring out the pandemic-era playbook, and fans were stuck at home looking for something loud. The film hit. The sequel got greenlit on the strength of that response, and now Mortal Kombat II has already cleared $60 million worldwide in its opening stretch, with the conversation around the film still building.
Gabrielle and Rudolph were part of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina cast in 2018. They maintained their friendship after the show ended, and now they play best friends on screen in one of the year’s biggest video game adaptations.
We had a some time with them at the Mortal Kombat II press day to talk about how that pre-existing trust translates, the pressure of stepping into characters fans already love, and how Kitana’s arc rhymes with Johnny Cage’s in a way most reviews will skip.
“When We Did Sabrina, We Were Babies.”
Rudolph did not waste words explaining what playing opposite Tati Gabrielle in Mortal Kombat II felt like.
“When we did Sabrina, we were babies. It was my first project I had ever done,” Rudolph said. “The whole Sabrina cast and our relationship very much carried on after Sabrina was already manifested. So this was just the gift of a lifetime to be able to portray Kitana and Jade, who are sisters in their hearts.”
That is the kind of foundation you cannot fake on a film set. The two of them have known each other since Rudolph’s first job. They have grown up alongside each other in the industry. By the time they got to Mortal Kombat II, the sisterhood was real.
Gabrielle picked it up from there.
“To be able to have just such a foundation of sisterhood already, the nuances within this relationship are very different than being witches,” Gabrielle said. “We get to play with that nuance and discover more. There’s a richness that ends up being inherently built in, and a love you can feel.”
Honoring Mortal Kombat‘s Kitana and Jade Without Disappearing Into Them
Both actors knew they were stepping into characters with decades of gaming fandom behind them. The pressure was real. The response was specific.
“Of course, a little bit of pressure,” Gabrielle said. “But I tried to also let that go to be able to bring these characters to life in a human way. Trying to carry both being of honor and of service to what has already existed and what the fans are yearning for, but also trying to bring one’s own honesty.”
Rudolph shared similar sentiments.
“Honoring the lore in the games, because it’s so rich and there’s so much to pull from, but then also marrying the lore in the game and the story in the movie, which is slightly different,” Rudolph said. “Making sure we’re authentically portraying the arc that Jade and Kitana go through in this movie.”
That is the right read on iconic casting. Fans show up for the suit. They stay for the character. Rudolph and Gabrielle gave both.
Mortal Kombat II‘s Kitana Has a Hero Arc That Rhymes With Johnny Cage’s
Here is the beat from the film I wanted to pull on. Kitana’s storyline mirrors Johnny Cage’s. Both characters spend the movie trying to step into a heroic identity they have not yet earned. For Kitana, the journey is darker. She lost her father in a brutal way as a child. The film does not let her forget it.
“For Kitana, losing her father at such a young age in such a brutal way, and having that ingrained in her memory and in her mind, very much informs how she moves and how she navigates her adulthood,” Rudolph said. “Her hero journey is a story of redemption. It’s a story of revenge and a story of returning back to maybe healing something that was broken when she was really, really young.”
That is the version of Kitana you have not seen on screen before. The films built her up as a princess. Rudolph built her as a survivor.
Kitana and Jade earn their screen time. Gabrielle and Rudolph turned the Sabrina foundation into something the franchise needed.
Where to Watch
Warner Bros. Pictures released Mortal Kombat II widely on May 8 after the world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on April 27. Catch it in theaters now.