The more like me I am, the more boring I think it is
In the liminal space between performance and identity, two actors reflect on the strange alchemy of voice — how adopting another's cadence can unlock a character's soul. Karl Urban and Josh Lawson, playing Johnny Cage and Kano in Mortal Kombat II, have found in their accent work not just a craft technique but a creative kinship, one that has them already imagining what new selves they might inhabit if the story continues.
- Both actors have built their characters from the voice outward — Urban abandoning his New Zealand roots for American swagger, Lawson leaning into his natural Australian grain — and the contrast crackles on screen.
- Lawson admits he finds himself boring, and it's this restlessness that drives him toward accents as escape hatches into fuller, stranger versions of human beings.
- The prospect of swapping accents in a sequel — Cage going broad Australian, Kano fumbling through American — sent both men into gleeful, self-aware chaos at a Gold Coast bar.
- Their off-script chemistry, loose and genuinely warm, signals something the studio would be foolish to waste: a comedic and dramatic partnership that seems to deepen the longer it runs.
- Both actors are openly eager to return, with Lawson insisting there is vast unexplored territory ahead and Urban describing the whole enterprise as a collaborative love fest still gathering momentum.
Karl Urban and Josh Lawson met at Dirty Harry's Bar in Gold Coast's Movie World to talk about the characters they've built inside Mortal Kombat II — a film in which Earthrealm's fighters face down Shao Kahn and the existential threat of the Amulet of Shinnok. But the conversation quickly moved somewhere more intimate: the question of how voice shapes a person.
Urban, a New Zealander, plays Johnny Cage entirely in American, while Lawson plays Kano in his own natural Australian. The split is deliberate and effective. Yet when a sequel came up, both actors were immediately drawn to the idea of reversing it — Cage in a broad Australian drawl, Kano attempting American. The condition was that the impressions had to be terrible. They obliged, laughing at each other's efforts, Urban delivering a swift verdict on Lawson's American accent: it needed serious work.
Lawson was honest about what drives him toward accents in the first place. He finds his own voice and mannerisms dull on screen, and slipping into someone else's speech patterns gives him a door into a character's psychology. Urban framed it similarly — dialect as one of many tools for unlocking who a person really is.
What lingers after the conversation is less about technique and more about the two men themselves. Their ease, their willingness to be silly, their obvious enjoyment of each other's company — it all points toward something a third film would be wise to preserve. Both are enthusiastic about returning, about the cast, about the ground still left to cover. The sequel conversation, it seems, has already started — probably badly accented, probably over drinks, probably with a great deal of laughter.
Karl Urban and Josh Lawson sat down at Dirty Harry's Bar in Gold Coast's Movie World to talk about the work they've done bringing two of Mortal Kombat's most iconic characters to life. Urban plays Johnny Cage, the washed-up Hollywood star turned reluctant fighter, while Lawson inhabits Kano, the brutal Australian mercenary. The film itself is a sprawling affair—Earthrealm's champions are locked in battle against Shao Kahn, the ruler of Outworld, who has secured his immortality through possession of the Amulet of Shinnok. The stakes are existential. The martial arts are elaborate. And the two actors have found something unexpected in the work: a creative partnership that extends far beyond the script.
One of the first things you notice about Urban and Lawson is how differently they've approached their characters vocally. Urban, a New Zealander known for his work on The Boys and Lord of the Rings, has adopted a full American accent to inhabit Cage—a choice that stands in sharp contrast to his own laid-back, understated manner of speaking. Lawson, by contrast, leans into his natural Australian voice and the particular humor and slang that comes with it. It's a deliberate split, and it works. But when the conversation turned to what might happen in a potential sequel, both actors lit up at the prospect of doing the opposite.
Lawson was candid about why he gravitates toward accents and departures from himself. He finds his own voice, his own mannerisms, boring on screen. When he can slip into someone else's speech patterns, someone else's cadence, the character feels more real to him, more fully inhabited. It's not about mimicry for its own sake—it's about using voice as a door into the psychology of a person. Urban echoed this sentiment, describing dialect as one of many tools an actor can use to unlock different facets of a character. A shift in how someone speaks can ground you in their world almost immediately.
When the idea of swapping accents came up—Johnny Cage speaking in a broad Australian drawl, Kano attempting an American accent—both men were immediately game. There was one condition, though: the impressions had to be bad ones. They sat there at the bar, giggling like kids, trying out these terrible versions of each other's voices. Urban's critique of Lawson's American accent was swift and merciless: it needed work. The whole exchange had the feel of two people who genuinely enjoy each other's company and aren't afraid to be silly in service of the work.
What's striking is how much their chemistry extends beyond the film itself. The improvisation, the ease with which they riff on ideas, the obvious affection between them—it all suggests that if there is a Mortal Kombat III, the studio would be wise to keep these two together. Both actors expressed enthusiasm about returning, about bringing back the wider cast, and about exploring all the possibilities of how these characters might interact. Lawson was emphatic: there's so much ground left to cover. Urban framed it as a collaborative love fest, a chance to keep discovering new dimensions of characters and relationships that already feel alive.
For now, Mortal Kombat II is what's on screen. But if the chemistry between these two is any indication, the conversation about what comes next has already begun—probably over a drink, probably with bad accents, probably with a lot of laughter.
Citações Notáveis
When I can do an accent, it just feels less like me and more like somebody else. Because I think I'm boring, so the more like me I am, the more boring I think it is.— Josh Lawson
Dialect is often a really fun one. It can quite quickly ground you in an aspect of the character.— Karl Urban
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does an actor prefer to be further away from themselves when they're working?
Because the closer you stay to who you actually are, the more you're just playing yourself. And that feels thin. When you shift your voice, your rhythm, the way you move through space—suddenly you're not you anymore. You're someone else entirely. That's where the character lives.
But doesn't that risk feeling false? Like you're just putting on a costume?
Not if you're doing it right. The accent isn't a mask you're wearing. It's a key that unlocks how this person thinks, how they see the world. Urban and Lawson both understand that. They're not chasing authenticity in the sense of realism—they're chasing authenticity in the sense of truth to the character.
So when they talk about swapping accents in a sequel, they're not just joking around?
They're half-joking. But the impulse is serious. They want to keep exploring, keep finding new angles. The fact that they want the impressions to be bad—that's the real tell. They're not interested in being impressive. They're interested in play, in discovery.
What does that chemistry actually mean for the franchise?
It means the studio has something rare: two actors who genuinely like working together and who push each other creatively. That's not something you can manufacture. If they come back, the films will be better for it.
Is there a risk they'll run out of things to explore?
Lawson said it himself: there's no end. These characters have decades of game lore, different storylines, different dynamics. Two actors who are willing to keep digging, who see each accent and gesture as a new door to open—they could keep finding new material indefinitely.