Feature film and television adaptations of popular video game franchises have rarely
turned out to be box office gold. Still, there have been a few successes over the years,
and back in the day one of the stand-out features was 1995's Mortal Kombat, directed by Paul
W. S. Anderson. While critics didn't fall in love with this action-packed take on the
ultra-violent fighting game franchise, video game and action movie fans loved it, and the
film sat at number one at the box office for three weeks after it opened.
The film plucked several fan-favorite characters straight from the realm of the video game,
including Sonya Blade. Cast in the role of the butt-kicking soldier was Bridgette Wilson,
and if you paid attention through all the spin kicks, you probably thought she looked
pretty familiar.
The plot of Mortal Kombat concerns an inter-dimensional fighting tournament hosted by a sorcerer-slash-martial
arts master. The tournament is between the best fighters of Earthrealm and the Outworld,
a parallel universe ruled by an evil emperor. You know - the usual. Per the series mythology,
if Earth loses ten Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row, the Outworld minions get the green
light to invade, and - wouldn't you know it? They've lost the last nine.
"The fate of billions will depend upon you. Heh heh heh heh...sorry."
The film focused on three of Earthrealm's combatants, the planet's last, best hopes
against the imminent Outworld invasion. Wilson's Sonya Blade was the lone female protagonist
among a largely male cast. The character of Sonya is one of the original seven player
characters from the very first Mortal Kombat video game, and she's been featured in some
capacity in every iteration of the franchise since.
But beating down evil sorcerers wasn't Bridgette Wilson's first rodeo. By the time she was
cast in Mortal Kombat, she'd already spent several years gracing screens both big and
small.
In 1992, Wilson began her long acting career with a four-episode arc on a popular franchise
that's about to see new life in the 2020s: the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. Wilson
played Ginger, a student whose short stint at Bayside High was less than memorable. Though
her role didn't last, the popular series marked her first credited acting role and got her
foot in the door of the business.
Wilson soon moved on to the soapy drama Santa Barbara, where she enjoyed a two-year, 51-episode
run as Lisa Fenimore.
Flush with newfound soap opera fame, Wilson made the difficult leap to film, landing the
role of Whitney Slater, daughter to Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in
his 1993 film Last Action Hero. Co-written by Shane Black, the movie is both a riff on
cheesy action films and a cheesy action film itself, giving Wilson plenty of room to stretch
as an actress. The story follows a boy who gets sucked into his favorite film franchise,
forcing him to try to convince the hero that everything that's happening is part of a movie.
"He's hopelessly insane. Very soon he's gonna tell you he loved you in Gone with the Wind."
"This is her first movie."
Last Action Hero also happened to come at the height of Schwarzenegger's fame, and it
was perfectly timed to offer Wilson a springboard that would take her career to the next level.
In 1995, Wilson tried her hand at comedy, starring in the movie that made Adam Sandler
a star, Billy Madison. Wilson played the memorable role of elementary school teacher Veronica
Vaughn, the instructor who pushed Billy to finish school so he could reclaim his right
to his father's hotel business. Despite the fact that her character was a bit of a stereotype
without much discernible depth, Wilson brought plenty of humor to the role, earning not only
the affection of Billy, but of moviegoers everywhere.
After proving her leading lady chops, Wilson moved onward and upward from Billy Madison
to enjoy the most productive decade of her career.
By 1996, Wilson was becoming a certified star in Hollywood. After appearing back-to-back
in Billy Madison and Mortal Kombat, she racked up credits in no fewer than 16 different projects
through 2001, including major Hollywood blockbusters, offbeat indie films, and popular television
series of the time. In the late '90s and early 2000s, you could hardly turn on a screen without
seeing Wilson staring back at you.
Some of the highlights of this phase of her career include a turn opposite Daryl Hannah
and Matthew Modine in The Real Blonde, and roles in I Know What You Did Last Summer,
Starstruck, House on Haunted Hill, and The Wedding Planner, in which she starred alongside
Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez.
In early 2000, Wilson was cast on the short-lived TV stock market drama The $treet. By the next
year, The $treet had been cancelled, but Wilson still managed to land a guest spot on the
popular Kelsey Grammer sitcom Frasier.
The last act of Wilson's career led her to appear on a few other major shows, including
a single-episode turn on CSI: Miami. Her last feature film was the Sonny Liston biopic Phantom
Punch, released in 2008.
While Wilson's acting career has come to a halt in recent years, it may just be because
she's deprioritized stardom to focus on her family.
Sports fans might recognize Bridgette Wilson from her prominent position cheering on her
grand slam-winning husband from the sidelines of the U.S. Open. In 2000, Wilson married
American tennis legend Pete Sampras, with whom she now has two sons. Though Sampras
completed most of his incredible career before meeting Wilson, the two had already married
when Sampras won his last Open in 2002.
Even though the Mortal Kombat franchise will soon get new life through a 2021 reboot, Wilson
is probably done with the role of Sonya Blade at this point, especially considering her
character was recast in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. She seems perfectly
content with her life outside the limelight, and after the extremely productive career
she's had, who can blame her? It sure looks like she claimed a...
"Flawless victory."
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