- Born
- Birth nameLewis Singwah Tan
- Height6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)
- Lewis Tan is a half Chinese half English, film, television and theatre actor. He played as the series regular Gaius Chau on season three of AMC's "Into The Badlands" ; Lu Xin Lee on Netflix's first Asian American original series "Wu Assassins" and many films including the record breaking Marvel film "Deadpool 2" and most recently the lead role in James Wans Warner Bros reboot of "Mortal Kombat"
Born in Manchester, England to a fashion model Joanne Cassidy and national champion martial artists Philip Tan. Lewis moved to Los Angeles at a young age as his father was making a mark on action cinema as a stuntman and fight choreographer working on legendary films like "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", "Batman" and "Tango and Cash". Lewis began learning martial arts from his father while at the same time attending theatre school. Lewis had multiple honors in school as well as winning many amateur fights in kickboxing and Muay Thai.
After graduating Lewis began his professional career guest starring in TV shows from "CSI:NY", "CSI:Miami", "Hawaii 5-0" to his first major films including "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", and "Den of Thieves".
At the same time Lewis gained notable fame as a fashion model. He signed with Wilhelmina modeling agency and secured a contract as the face of Nivea in Asia for a few years doing numerous campaigns and commercials. He did many editorial ads including Diesel, Dolce and Gabanna, Puma and Levi's.
Lewis was then picked by Forest Whitaker to play the lead in the indie drama "Sacrifice", this was the start of his film career. The film won awards at many film festivals, it was then that Lewis received world wide attention for his guest role in Marvel's "Iron Fist" where he played the drunken master "Zhou Cheng", the scene was top ten most paused Netflix moments of the year and the scene received a viral campaign with fans asking for a more prominent role.
Lewis is known for performing his own action scenes and got the attention of the show runners Al Gough and Miles Milar of AMC's "Into the Badlands", securing him a lead role in season 3 of the show, led by famous choreographer from "Kill Bill" and "The Matrix" Master Dee Dee. His role on the show and his action ability gained him more critical acclaim.
In 2018 Lewis began filming a lead role in Netflix's Asian American action series "Wu Assassins" along side Kathryn Winnick and Iko Uwais. He plays the flamboyant gangster Lu Xin Lee, the show premiered to great reviews both with fans and critics.
Lewis continues to be a strong voice in the Asian American media as an advocate for diversity and original story telling.
In 2019 Lewis was cast as the lead role in James Wan's reboot of "Mortal Kombat" for Warner Brothers and New Line. The film was released April 23, 2021 in theaters and HBO Max on the same day. The film's trailer broke the record for most watched R rated film of all time and is the most watched WB film.
In 2021 Lewis will star in the Netflix action film "Fistful of Vengeance" and alongside Emma Roberts in the romance comedy "About Fate". He is also producing and starring in the spy series "Quantum Spy" with partner Tony Krantz and is in development for his first feature film as a director.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gersh Agency
- Parents
- RelativesSam Tan(Sibling)
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- Performs all his own fight sequences
- Performed his own action scenes for Marvels "Iron Fist".
- Saved his neighbors life from an armed attacker.
- Lewis was born in Manchester, England and raised in Los Angeles, California but has also lived in France, Thailand, Spain and Australia. His Father originally come to Hollywood for the movie Batman (1989).
- Competed as an amateur Muay-Thai boxer for many years.
- Is half British from his mother and half Asian from his father.
- I've never had an experience before where they choreograph a few minutes before. My martial arts background definitely helped me to be fluid and... I have muscle memory when it comes to [the] sword and when it comes to martial arts, so choreography is not difficult for me to learn. I can learn it very quickly [but] I did have to adapt to that, of learning very very fast with a partner who possibly hasn't done as much fight choreography as I have. Luckily, Dean-Charles Chapman's a dancer and he picked up the choreography super fast and he was great to work with. Yeah, that's Dean and I fighting the whole time; there's no stunt double in that scene for either of us. So you see Dean and I fighting and it looks really raw and he's an amazing partner to work with. Such great timing, great rhythm and it's one of my favorite fights of the season. I believe it's one of the fights that they submitted for the Emmys.
- People are offering me other projects, that I'm turning down, because I only want to do stuff that's going to push that narrative forward, and represent in the best way possible. And that just goes for all actors of color, not just Asian Americans. We need to see a variety of spectrums, of all ranges, and all levels of depth, and all different characters. I think that represents the world appropriately. And we need to see that on screen.
- My father has a huge impact on my martial arts: he began training me when I was very young and we bonded over this time together. I used it to defend myself and be confident. I had some anger in my teens and fighting would help me release some of it. As I got older, I learned to use [martial arts] as meditation and it became a crucial part of who I am as a man. Understanding the body, who I am in my body, how I can use it and feeling, flowing, feeling connected to it or disconnected to it, how I express and what it means: it is all related to emotion and in return, it is related to my acting.
- It's like pounding on an old brick wall that has been cemented for 100 years. This art form that has changed and effected the world deeply has been mostly ignoring or stereotyping people of colour since it began. Obviously there are some great artists have opposed this, but from my experience it has been a battle. Things take time to change, especially in an industry with so many variables. I went through stages of frustration and anger but I decided to use it as fuel to my fire. I've dealt with poorly written characters, straight refusals because of my race, offensive stereotypes and judgements. Everyone just wants to be represented fully and share stories that are colourful and beautiful. It will only expand this art form that we love and give future generations a voice.
- When I am performing, a part of the character is being discovered through my own consciousness. In fact, it is even bigger than that - there is a sense of interconnectivity. We feel emotions like love, pain, fear all in the same way. We can relate to this understanding beyond all social constructs. It's an energy we tune into that never dies.
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