The Queen Rises: Ana Thu Nguyen’s Path from Law School to “Mortal Kombat II”

Ana Thu Nguyen’s life could so easily have continued down another path entirely.

Following a double degree—in law and commerce—there had been consultancy work and the foundations laid for a solid, safe and traditional career. But something wasn’t quite right. Deep inside, there was a voice calling for a change.

“One day I had just had enough,” recalls Nguyen. “I was like, ‘No, I need to go chase this’.”

And so Nguyen gave it all away for her first love—acting—and today she’s happy to share that she has never once looked back as she’s shifted from theatre to television and on to film.

The global spotlight is currently shining on the actress thanks to her role as the powerful Queen Sindel in Mortal Kombat II. Directed by Simon McQuoid, the martial arts-led fantasy was filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on Australia’s Gold Coast and forms the latest installment of a franchise now collectively worth more than $10 billion, providing a breakthrough role for the Vietnamese-Australian actress.

Nguyen was born as her parents were fleeing the Vietnam War, and she grew up in the suburbs of Sydney with the feeling that she needed to provide security for her family, “Like a good eldest daughter is supposed to,” she says.

But as a child, Nguyen had immersed herself in reading and in stories, and by high school, she had found that acting had “allowed me to really challenge myself, and that really never left me.”

Nguyen says she has been inspired by the way she has been embraced by both Mortal Kombat fans and the global Vietnamese community since landing the role of Sindel. She attended the MPA American Film Reception at the Da Nang Asian Film Festival, featuring a special screening of Mortal Kombat II and a chance to reach further into both communities.

Not long after Mortal Kombat II hit cinemas, Nguyen sat down with The Credits over video call to discuss her role, her life, and her hopes that the trip to Vietnam would open up even more opportunities. She also revealed a long-standing connection to the franchise she has joined, as there were “special occasions” when Nguyen was young, during which she was allowed to go into a local shopping arcade.

“Oh, I always made a beeline for the fighting games,” she laughs. “There was Tekken, there was Street Fighter … and of course there was Mortal Kombat.”

What was the experience like joining such a popular franchise and IP?

It really still feels very surreal to me, and I’m just very grateful for the fans. They’re so behind the franchise, and I think going through the entire press tour and the premieres, it’s really their energy that fuels it all. So, I’m still feeding off it, really. When it was first announced, I tried not to dig too deeply into the reaction because we were already up in the Gold Coast. With the internet these days, if you kind of go down a bit of a hole, it can kind of affect you and your mentality, and I didn’t really want anything to affect what I was doing on set and at work every day, but of course, you still hear the reaction being trickled down through the people around you because they will be reading it.

And taking on the role of Queen Sindel—again, so wildly popular among fans. How careful did you have to be, given that popularity?

I was nervous because it is such a much-loved IP. When stepping into something like this, everyone has their own opinions and their own imagination of what the character is. But ultimately, the fans were just so lovely. They just wanted to see this movie made. The reaction was very, very uplifting. You definitely have to respect the fact that this character has been around for so long. You can’t just throw away the history and the rich lore behind the character. So I went into a deeper dive into how she’s been portrayed over the years, but there’s also the balance of that and marrying it with the script. Going through her history, there have been so many different versions of Sindel. Ultimately, I had to draw the characteristics from each of those versions that formed the basis of her character, then layer on top of that the script, and add the characteristics from within myself so that it would add that layer of authenticity coming from me.

How early in life did you know you wanted to act and to be a storyteller?

I always loved stories growing up. I was very much into reading. To me, I think books and stories, and especially things in fantasy. Fantastical worlds were very much an escape for me growing up in a largely non-diverse area of Sydney, and as a Vietnamese immigrant, because my parents fled the Vietnam War. I found drama in high school, and it was a place where I could be bold, be brash, and kind of forget the familial responsibilities that weighed on me as the perfect eldest daughter of migrants. That sort of image. And on stage, you can be anyone and experience so many other people’s lives. So that was something that I fell in love with and never really forgot.

But your early career took a different path. Why was that?

It was just because of the duty that I had put upon myself to help my family that I went down the traditional path. I studied commerce and law, and then I went into consulting. But that love, I think, that fueled me to begin with—that love of acting and of stories—it never really left. One day, I had just had enough. I was like, ‘No, I need to go chase this.’ It was eating at me. It was constantly in the back of my mind. I just went for it, and here I am.

And the attention that comes with joining such a huge franchise so early into your career. How are you dealing with that?

The attention’s been really, really great, especially from the Vietnamese community. I think because of the fact that our diaspora has spread around the world, I guess, through hardship and through a lot of trauma, every time we see a person of Vietnamese background doing well or representing the culture in their respective fields, I think the community really jumps on board in uplifting their career and just being incredibly supportive. Being able to connect with the Vietnamese community, not just in Sydney, but around the world, has been fantastic. It’s been really inspiring.

How good is it to be able to film an $80 million-budgeted movie on the Gold Coast – and so close to home?

I’ve worked there multiple times now, on Mortal Kombat and then also Primitive War. It’s got such a diverse landscape—you’ve got the beaches, lush rainforests, waterfalls, rivers, and estuaries. It can double for so many different natural places around the world, and then, in the middle of it, are just world-class facilities. So it really is such a one-stop shop. And on top of that, we’ve got such great local talent and crew members—they’re just so exceptionally kind, generous, and wonderful to work with. I think having good people, a great location, and then incentives for these big-budget productions to come down and really build up the local community. I just love it.

What was the reaction from the international crew to being there?

We couldn’t get more international on this film, and they loved it. They love shooting on the Gold Coast so much. They’ve really built a community in the area that supports filmmakers, and they really didn’t want to leave.

What was the most exciting aspect of attending the Da Nang Asian Film Festival?

Exploring and meeting Vietnamese film creatives. A couple of years ago, I worked with a Vietnamese-Australian director, Maria Tran on a short project, a psychological horror about a young Vietnamese woman. It was really amazing to do that in Vietnamese as well, through a very Vietnamese lens, and I think ever since then I’ve been like, ‘Oh, I really want to explore that side of my culture more.’

So that will include possible collaborations?

Meeting all these budding Vietnamese creatives is a complete dream come true, and it came at the perfect time because, with my producing partner, Cat Dominus, and I are very passionate about telling migrant stories of survival and hope. The project we are developing centers on that. She’s Croatian, I’m Vietnamese, and it’s based on a true story about migrants coming together in Australia. It’s about a group of female friends in medical school who support each other throughout their lives through a lot of hardships and just incredible experiences of resilience, but also ultimately of hope. So it’s come at the perfect time to be in Vietnam, share this story, and learn about all the exciting things going on there.

Featured image: Ana Thu Nguyen in “Mortal Kombat II.” Courtesy Warner Bros.