Chris Casamassa
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Chris Casamassa (born January 17, 1965) is an American martial artist, actor and stuntman who is best known for his role as Scorpion in the movie Mortal Kombat, which was based on the popular fighting-game series. He was unavailable for the second movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, due to scheduling conflicts with Batman & Robin (where he doubled for George Clooney), but he was able to reprise as Scorpion in the TV show, Mortal Kombat: Conquest. He is the son of martial arts guru and Red Dragon Karate founder Louis D. Casamassa. They appeared together in the film 'Sword of Heaven' in 1985.
Despite his success in landing roles in The Red Canvas, Food Fight, and Blade, Chris is continuing to improve on his acting craft by studying with well-known Hollywood acting coach, Joel Asher.
Chris is also the President of the very popular and successful Red Dragon Karate Schools, which were founded by his father. The 3,000 Red Dragon students at 20 locations in southern California are learning from one of the best. As a national competitor on the North American Karate Association circuit (N.A.S.K.A) Chris was the #1 forms competitor in the country for four consecutive years. During his time on the competition circuit, he won 18 Forms Grand Championship titles, 12 Weapons Grand Championships as well as being at top 10 ranked middleweight fighter. After he retired from active competition, Chris was voted into the American Karate Kung fu Federation, (A.K.K.F.) Hall of Fame, then soon after, he was selected as a member of the prestigious USA international Hall of Fame for two separate categories “Top Competitor of the decade” and “Instructor of the Year.”
Chris and his wife Michelle have two children Emily, age 7, and Adam, age 4. “I am excited about training my kids in the Martial arts,” says Chris. They were already following me with their kicks and punches at home. Now that they are in class at the studio its even more fun to watch them grow and learn in the Martial Arts. Chris trains at least 3 days a week for 3 to 4 hours,” said Chris. “The Martial Arts is my passion, it is in my blood."
In addition to his feature acting roles, Chris is also regularly working as a stunt man, having worked on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, V.I.P., and Walker, Texas Ranger. One of Chris’ biggest thrills came when he actually got to do a fight scene with World Black Belt’s First Founding Member Chuck Norris. “At first, Chuck was going to have a stunt man do the scene, but then we got to talking and he decided to test me out, it was really quite an honor,” remembers Chris.
Casamassa has been one of the few actors confirmed to be in Mortal Kombat: Devastation, slated for a 2010 release, where he will reprise his role as Scorpion.[1]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film/television | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | The Karate Kid | Tournament guest | |
| 1985 | Sword of Heaven | Martial Arts trainee | |
| 1988 | Black Eagle | Car stuntman | (scenes deleted) |
| 1991 | China O'Brien 2 | Picnic punk #2 / Stunt fighter | |
| 1992 | Shootfighter: Fight to the Death | Ring lord #1 / Creon (Shootfighter) | |
| A Mission to Kill | Young Hank | ||
| 1995 | Mortal Kombat | Scorpion | |
| Mortal Kombat: Behind the Scenes | Himself / Scorpion | archive footage | |
| 1995-96 | WMAC-Masters | Himself (his ki-symbol was "Red Dragon") | |
| 1997 | Batman & Robin | Batman stunt double | |
| 1998 | Mortal Kombat: Conquest | Takeda / Scorpion | |
| Blade | Stunt vampire | ||
| Martial Law | Bodyguard | ||
| VIP | |||
| 2000 | Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts | Scorpion / Black Dragon Ninja | online |
| Walker: Texas Ranger | |||
| 2001 | A Real Job | Bill | |
| The Hunted | Zack | ||
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | |||
| 2003 | How to be an Action Star | Himself / Host | |
| 2004 | Sci-Fi Fighter | The Karate Master | |
| 2008 | The Red Canvas | Ring announcer | |
| 2010 | Mortal Kombat: Devastation | Scorpion |
[edit] External links
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