This has always bugged me. If they couldn't find a buff Asian actor to play Khan, why not pick another country for the villain? Making him Turkish would have made more sense and not changed the story at all.
Just pretend he's from a little further west in Central Asia, it's not like he's a blonde pale guy or something.
shareI think it’s because that actor is one of jcvd’s buddies and looks close enough to the part. He was also the last villain in lionheart. If I remember right, the “Mongolian”, and his brother michel qissi both came to America with jcvd at the beginning of his career and they’ve both had roles in several of his movies.
shareIt's supposedly Michel Qissi, the guy who played Tong Po. He's in a lot of Van Damme movies. I've never understood how this is supposed to be the same person:
https://tinyurl.com/bde9b459
https://tinyurl.com/yvnkj7w6
https://tinyurl.com/22wa97pv
https://tinyurl.com/27nhrpua
I'd say that's 3 different people.
shareYou Google Michel Qissi and that's what shows up. I understand he was wearing a face prosthesis in Kickboxer, but he looks much skinnier in Kickboxer and Bloodspoort. The guy in this movie and Lionheart is noticeably bigger, but they are all listed as Michel Qissi.
shareThe last two are michel qissi, the first two are abdel qissi. They’re brothers and both friends of jcvd which is why they’re in all his stuff apparently.
shareI always wanted to know why that dude looked so different! I didn't even know there was an Abdel Qissi. Thanks!
shareFor sure! I’ve watched these since childhood and kept getting surprised when I found out each of those tidbits over the years. Like you said Tong po and parades (?) looked nothing alike because of the makeup, but abdel looked way different between his quest/lionheart characters as well.
share