When the video game Mortal Kombat came out in 1992, it was an impressive game created by four people with a vision and a dream. There have been dozens of sequels to the original, with the latest being a cell phone version in 2023. But there’s nothing like the first, and due to the craze the game created, a movie soon followed.
Everyone couldn’t wait to see what the characters would like in movie form and how everything would translate. The role of Sonya Blade, the game’s only female fighter, went to actress Bridgette Wilson. Bridgette’s star was on the rise when she landed the part, and her performance as the Texas-born, no-nonsense female lead helped to make Sonya one of the most popular Mortal Kombat characters ever. Let’s see if Bridgette is still kicking everyone’s butt on screen.
Background info
In Gold Beach, Oregon, on September 25th, 1973, Bridgette Leann Wilson was born to parents Kathy and Dale Wilson. Her sister Tracy Wilson had a stint as an actress in the 1990s. In high school, she thrived on the volleyball and basketball teams. When you’re tall five foot nine inches tall, it’s helpful.
This beauty has been a singer, model, Miss Teen USA, and actress at some point in her career. She was crowned Miss Teen USA in 1990 and went straight from her reign to acting classes in Los Angeles. She landed her first role playing Lisa Fenimore on the soap opera Santa Barbara for 20 episodes from 1992 until 1993. She also popped up in one episode of Saved by the Bell in 1992 and Murder, She Wrote in 1993. Not bad for a teenager!
Billy Madison
Bridgette’s movie debut came in 1993 when she portrayed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s on-screen daughter Whitney Slater/Meredith Caprice in the absolutely fun action fantasy comedy Last Action Hero. Wilson really started to rise to fame when she acted opposite Adam Sandler in the hilarious comedy Billy Madison as Veronica Vaughn, Billy’s love interest.
Mortal Kombat
Bridgette was at her best as Sonya Blade in the fantasy action movie based on the video game, Mortal Combat. The 1995 movie went on to be a box office success and the highest-grossing video game adaptation at that time, holding the top spot until 1998. Wilson’s Sonya was a Special Forces operative on the hunt for Kano, the crime boss responsible for the death of her partner.
It was almost not meant to be, as Wilson wasn’t the first choice for the role. Believe it or not, Cameron Diaz was already in Sonya’s boots training for the film when she injured her wrist during martial arts training for the part and had to drop out. But we think it all worked out the way it was supposed to, with Bridgette going on to perform her own stunts and fighting scenes to dominate in the film.
So, if the movie and Bridgette’s performance were such hits, why didn’t she come back for the sequel? Well, she was busy filming other projects. She had a busy year in 1997, with five movies released. The one she missed Mortal Kombat: Annihilation for was I Know What You Did Last Summer. It could have also been something to do with how she reacted to the script, as all but two of the original cast members passed on the sequel.
What did she do after Mortal Kombat?
Wilson successfully appeared in movies after her kick-butt finishing days. She played Sandy in the 1995 historical drama Nixon with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sahara in the 1997 film The Real Blonde, and Lara in the 1999 dramedy The Suburbans. Love Stinks, House on Haunted Hill, and The Wedding Planner were some other notable films she starred in. It seemed like she was set up to dominate into the 2000s, but her roles started to dwindle until her last appearance was in 2008 for the Sonny Liston biopic, Phantom Punch.
Why did she quit acting? What is Bridgette Wilson doing now?
After her last guest spots on Carpoolers and Signature Series and final film in 2008, Wilson hasn’t acted. Why would such a talented beauty all of a sudden deny us the privilege of seeing her on-screen? She wanted to fulfill her lifelong dream of being a housewife and taking care of a family, that’s why.
Bridgette found her family dream in Pete Sampras, a professional tennis player. The couple quickly knew they were meant to be, as they met and married in 2000. They have two children, a son, Christian Charles, born on November 2002, and another son, Ryan Nikolaos, born in July 2005.
She can often be found attending tennis matches with her family.
But wait – she gave the fans one thing to go crazy over when she voiced her iconic Sonya for the 2020 video game Mortal Kombat 11. The game brought back her original 1995 likeness and everything.
On a sidenote, during the early part of her career, Bridgette also dabbled a bit on the music side. She put out two records, I Only Wanna Be With You in 1994 and Gimme a Kiss in 1996. She also performed the spoken-word section on a song in 2002 by country artist Tommy Shane Steiner that peaked at 43 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart titled “What We’re Gonna Do About It.”
Though we won’t see Bridgette back on screen anytime soon, perhaps when her children are both adults, she’ll return to acting. While we wait for that to happen, we’ll go watch Mortal Kombat for the 394th time.