23 Facts About Mark Dacascos

Mark Alan Dacascos was born on February 26,1964 and is an American actor, martial artist and television personality.

On television, Dacascos is known for his portrayal of Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-0, and for serving as "The Chairman" of Food Network's Iron Chef America series since January 2005, a role he reprised in 2022 on Netflix's Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.

Mark Dacascos competed in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars.

Mark Dacascos's father, Al Dacascos, was born in Hawaii to Spanish-Filipino parents; he is a martial arts instructor and the founder of Wun Hop Kuen Do.

Mark Dacascos was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame in 1999.

Mark Dacascos attended Los Angeles Valley College, where he was on the gymnastics team.

Mark Dacascos is proficient in his father's style of martial arts, Wun Hop Kuen Do, and holds a 4th degree black belt.

Mark Dacascos has extensively studied Muay Thai, capoeira with Amen Santo, and Wushu.

Mark Dacascos became an actor after being discovered walking down the street in San Francisco's Chinatown by Chris Lee and Rexall Chinn, who at the time were working for director Wayne Wang.

Mark Dacascos was cast in Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, and though his scenes were cut from the final film, he went on to establish a film and television career primarily playing martial artists.

Mark Dacascos was originally set to play as the Red Ranger, Victor Lee, in Bio-Man, an adaptation of Choudenshi Bioman produced by Haim Saban.

Mark Dacascos's breakout role was in the 1993 film Only the Strong, in which he played Louis, a capoeira master who takes a high school's struggling students and turns their lives around by teaching them the Brazilian martial art based on the ritual combat technique of Angola.

Mark Dacascos plays the role of the Chairman on Iron Chef America, Iron Chef Australia and Iron Chef Mexico.

Mark Dacascos has been featured in many action films such as Drive, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Crying Freeman and Cradle 2 the Grave, in which he squared off against Jet Li.

Mark Dacascos performed in three video games: voice acting in Stranglehold, live acting in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and digitally recreating The Chairman in the Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine video game for Wii.

Mark Dacascos was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 for his role in Brotherhood of the Wolf.

Mark Dacascos appeared in the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which was a follow-up to the 1994 film The Crow.

Mark Dacascos appears in the children's television show Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, where he portrays Eubulon, known as the Advent Master, mentor of the Kamen Riders and creator of the Advent Decks.

Mark Dacascos played the recurring role of Wo Fat on the CBS series Hawaii Five-0.

Mark Dacascos portrayed Kung Lao in the second season of the YouTube series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

Mark Dacascos starred in a recurring role on the Netflix series Wu Assassins.

Mark Dacascos has reprised his role as The Chairman of the Iron Chef series in Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, which was released on Netflix in June 2022.

Mark Dacascos is married to actress Julie Condra, who starred with him in the 1995 action film Crying Freeman, and the 2020 film One Night in Bangkok.