It's not a proud day for the Austin Powers movie crew: In a crazy twist, the actor who ironically played the villainous role and righthand man to "Dr. Evil" in the first 'Austin Powers' flick faces life in prison. Joseph Son has been convicted of taking part in a California abduction and gang rape in 1990--years before his role as "Random Task" in the movie.
He played a villain in the famous flick -- and the California court system claims Joseph Hyungmin Son is a villain in real life.
A Santa Ana, California, jury's now found Son guilty one a felony count of torture in a violent rape. Joseph Son is famous for his shoe-throwing scene -- in the role of "Random Task" in the 1997 movie '"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." The now 40-year-old Son has been convicted of raping and torturing a 20-year-old woman over two decades -- back in 1990 -- and is facing a minimum 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Because he's argued the charge, it's believed the Austin Powers actor may receive a harsher sentence when he returns to court in September.
The victim in the Son case was walking her dog on Christmas Eve in Huntington Beach, California. Cops say both the actor and co-defendant Santiago Gaitan were responsible in the incident where the woman was grabbed and repeatedly raped after a night out with friends, right before the Christmas holiday, while walking home.
California police officers first nabbed the actor on an outstanding arrest warrant over two years ago, but a temporary lack of evidence meant the Austin Powers co-star got out of jail in 2008. Since a return to court, a Santa Ana jury in Southern CA has ruled that DNA samples connect the actor to the 1990 kidnapping and gang rape that occurred at gunpoint.
Ironically, it all happened before the actor ever played a criminal bad guy in the 1997 "Austin Powers" movie -- the blockbuster where Son played the role of "Random Task," a spoof role based on the James Bond villain character of "Oddjob."