IMPACT: Andrew, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
ANDREW NG: Thanks for the opportunity to share the experience of my involvement in The Man with the Iron Fists, Mike. I am a bit like the character of the Blacksmith - as portrayed by RZA - in that I also came from the United States and my parents were not of the United States. Like the Blacksmith, being newly trained in martial arts, so am I when it comes to acting and martial arts. I originally came to Hong Kong as a business man but began acting about six years ago when I was cast as a Monk in Kenneth Bi’s The Drummer. Acting was not necessarily going to be a serious pursuit, that is... until more opportunities manifested: the odd commercial in South Africa and various voice-over gigs. It was Bey Logan and Anthony Szeto who both suggested that I could increase my versatility and marketability in the industry by either martial arts or cinematic action training. So I began some very basic cinematic action training at the Hit Hut run by Ms. Sharon Yang Pan Pan.
Fortuitously your involvement as casting director in RZA’s film began at the time I had decided to get the word out in the industry and of course I had sent you an innocuous note to the effect “you wouldn’t happened to need a bald man in your any of your upcoming projects would you?” expecting that there would be nothing. I was flattened by your response which in effect was of being in the right place at right time. I was to audition for the role of a monk, but then the requirement to be able to do Chi Gong which at that time was beyond what I was working on. Nonetheless, I got with Wing Kin Yip and others at the Hit Hut to work out what might needed to be done to make an actor convincing as a martial artist. In working out the action on my own for the audition with you, I discovered that the standard routines coupled with my monologue placed me in the wrong position or posture at a time when dramatic emphasis was needed... so I had to rearrange everything to make it dramatic. I have never been more excited than to land the role as Senior Monk and right hand man to a living legend, Master Gordon Liu in a production associated the likes of QT, RC, and the RZA.
IMPACT: Tell us about the character you play and a little about his importance in the film
AN:The role of the Senior Monk was important in the discovery of the shipwrecked slave-to-be-blacksmith character - as played by the RZA. It was me and the character played by Osric who discovered RZA’s character and brought him back to the monastery there, under the Abbott’s supervision, to train RZA’s character in the ways of the Wu Chi both physically and spiritually... taking that character through the first transition.
IMPACT: You get to play alongside the great Gordon Liu (Liu Chia-hui). Were you a fan of his work before this film. How did you find working with him?
AN: I honestly have to say that growing up in the U.S. I wasn’t exposed to Gordon’s work as much as I was by Lee Xiao Lung (Bruce) because Lee’s films at that time were making their U.S. debut. The only one in my family that was an avid fan of martial arts was my oldest brother (now late) Albert. It was only when I had moved to Hong Kong that I became more aware of Gordon’s work through watching his Chinese movies on (ahem) tape and then dvd and, of course, his roles in the Kill Bill duet. Gordon is the master at what he does and if you want the Master he is still the go-to guy.
I was totally in awe of the man on set. He looks so at home in his role. Off the set he is so cool to hang with... an unassuming regular guy. He was saying he wanted to be a musician more than an actor.
IMPACT: You also get to share screen time with the RZA himself. How did you find working with him as both an actor & director?
AN: With every passing moment on set/location, I was amazed at the depth and breadth of the RZA. I never saw him get overly anxious in front of or behind the glass. He knew what his plan was and how he was going to get it done. When I knew I was to work with him I had to do a little due-diligence and discovered what you all know about the RZA... he knows Kung Fu and he knows Kung Fu movies, what impressed me more and what I didn’t realise - what I was seeing exemplified in his shoot plan - is that RZA is an accomplished tournament speed chess player!
What challenged me the most, and I hope that footage gets incorporated, is our walk around the Giant Buddha (housed in an over 45m tall hall). The RZA said “...now for this take, we are just going to walk around the Buddha and I am going to ask you questions and you answer” Total panic set it as we had totally gone off the books! But RZA had a way of making me feel that everything would work out and I came away from that session feeling great about what we were able to do.
What got me the most was what RZA said when he, Eli Roth, and Marc Abraham had reviewed the footage of me performing my instructional Wu Chi monologue. He said “You really sold it, the purists might complain, but you sold it!”
IMPACT: How would you actually describe Man with the Iron Fists to an expectant audience?
AN: I did manage to read a version of the whole script and all I can say, judging by how the scenes around the temple were shot, is that no effort was spared in the actin...or the cinematography and of course with addition of the music that has been has been previewed... this will be an all-out sensory experience! It will be an in your face martial arts action from bizarre clans to killer babes, rocking music, and popcorn gobbling great time.
IMPACT: What’s next for Andrew Ng?
AN:Following the wrap on The Man with the Iron Fists things did get a bit quiet, but 2012 has been quite a good year with a few more roles coming my way with opportunities to work with a few other legends of Hong Kong (and the world, for that matter). I have auditioned for quite a few projects that may or may not go to production but anything can happen.
Two things were said during my time on location during the Man with the Iron Fists that have stayed with me since we wrapped. While having breakfast with Gordon Liu on the first day of our shoot together, he gave me this advice: “If you want to make movies come to China. If you want to make kung fu movies come to Heng Dian.” The other is a self-prophecy spawned from riffin’ with the RZA at the base of the Giant Buddha, I can’t remember the question RZA asked but I found myself moved to say: “It is not that you chose unwisely the path on which you walk, it is you prepared not for the journey.”
As a relative newcomer to the industry I have a lot to work on. And perhaps, who knows, the opportunity to revisit Heng Dian will arise. The only thing I need do is to get better at what I do, oh and - by the way - do you have need of a bald character?
