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WOMAN with the Iron Fists. Grace Huang talks...

Written by (Far Eastern Editor) on 4th December 2012

The Man with the Iron Fists finally opens in the UK later this week. Mike Leeder talks to Grace Huang about her key role...

 

Last month saw actress Grace Huang having two big films released at the same time on opposite sides of the world. In Hong Kong the police thriller Cold War she stars alongside Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung, Andy On and Byron Mann and it rapidly became one of the biggest hits at the box office this year. In North America Grace's other movie is already one of the most talked about and highly anticipated action films of the year, The Man with the Iron Fists - written, directed by and starring the RZA alongside Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Daniel Wu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune... and in a pivotal role as one of the Gemini Twins, a certain Grace Huang.

With TMWTIF opening in the UK this week, Impact's Far Eastern Editor Mike Leeder (who also served as Casting Director for the film) caught up with Grace for the following interview;

IMPACT: Grace, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you first got involved with The Man with the Iron Fists project?

Grace Huang: I'm originally from Australia but have been living in Hong Kong since 2006, I'm lucky that I speak English, Mandarin & Cantonese. My language skills and ability to be a 'cultural chameleon' developed from years of living in Australia, Taiwan, the US and Hong Kong which I think helped when it came to the casting of The Man with the Iron Fists. The producers decided that the movie would be in English despite being set in feudal China. They needed cast members who could speak English fluently,and could also cross cultural lines seamlessly while in character. (Laughing)They also wanted someone who could kick some ass!

How would you describe your character in the film? Its a role that many people have singled out in reviews of the film...

GH: I'm the feared female assassin, one of the Gemini Twins assigned to protect the Emperors gold, we find ourselves in Jungle village, where we encounter the Lion clan and the plans to steal the gold and all hell breaks loose.

The Gemini Twins are a force to be reckoned with, they look cool, have slick fighting moves and really cool weapons. There is a huge fight scene where we perform a signature Gemini stance, and Quentin Tarantino has said that he was intimidated by that fight scene! That to me is one of the biggest compliments I have had for the movie, and its been great that audiences and reviewers seem to have responded so well to my character.

How did you feel working alongside such an impressive cast of established international names such as Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu & RZA?

GH: It was an honour! To get to work with seasoned actors like this, its such a great experience. Many people might assume its also intimidating, but I didn’t find that at all. For a start, Russell, Lucy & RZA were all very nice and totally down to earth, cool people. In particular, Russell was great in sharing both acting knowledge and general career advice. For someone like me, who is a relative newcomer to the scene I found these words of wisdom to be invaluable.

The second reason I wasn't intimidated is because I have always believed that working with good or in this case great actors, brings out the good actor in you. Instead of spending all your time thinking about who these people were, I focused on using their energy in every scene to up my own game. In a way you could say that I had neither the time or the mindset to be intimidated.  Of course I have nothing but respect for them, but what was so great was that the respect was being shown back, the Hollywood actors and Hong Kong actors on the film were all aware of and showed each-other a great level of respect, which I think helped everyone.

The film features some incredible fight sequences choreographed by the great Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai) and his team, how did you find working on the fight scenes and with Corey?

GH: I loved working with Corey Yuen & his team! I think once I arrived on the shoot, I spent about three weeks on location training for about 5 hours a day with his amazing team of martial artists and stunt men & women, I'd already been training in Hong Kong prior to the film, but training with the stunt-team really helped to develop a bond and sense of trust between us, which is very important as I was quite literally putting my life in their hands. They taught me so much and I think they were very happy and proud of me when I rose to the challenge once we began filming the fight.

One of the most memorable moments for me on the film was when after I performed my own stunt for the Gemini-stance scene, I'm hanging upside down on wires balancing on my partner in the film (Andrew Lin)while we continue the fight. I was chatting with the stunt-team and my stunt doubles and asked them which stunt they found the most challenging. They said it was hanging upside down, there was a long pause and I realized I had just performed the stunt that even the most seasoned stunt professionals dread! Looking back now, I am glad that we didn't have this conversation in advance of shooting the scene, as I wonder if I would have been so gung-ho! (Laughing)

How was it working with RZA as a director?

GH: RZA is awesome! Even though his background is in music, and he was directing for the first time, on such an ambitious project, you'd never know it. He was very aware and very focused on what he wanted, and the reason is simple, the man is so passionate about the genre. He not only loves the world of martial arts movies, he also loves and is a real practitioner of the martial arts, RZA loves all things Kung Fu so its easy for him to express to his actors what he wants, because his ideas have been hatching in his head for so many years.

How would you describe the whole IRON FISTS experience including the premiere?

GH: As strange it may seem, I wouldn’t really use an adjective. If I had to sum it up in a word, I'd use the noun 'team'. Everything about this production was really about teamwork. When we were filming in China, we put our lives in the hands of Corey & his stunt & wire-team. Each fight scene was meticulously rehearsed by all involved whether you were a main, supporting or an extra.  That was the feeling, we were all a team working on this project.

I flew over to the States for both the LA & NYC red carpet premieres, and TEAM IRON FISTS was out in full force to promote the project and I think you can tell from the photos that we were having a good time doing so, it felt like a reunion of old friends as opposed to work! I also think that perhaps as I've always felt that bit more comfortable being one of the boys, rather than a girly-girl that might explain why I felt such a strong team spirit.

What's next for Grace Huang?

GH: Grace is hopefully going to be a busy girl! (laughing)A Happy Busy Girl! The Man with the Iron Fists is still playing in the US and Canada, and hits the UK and Australia from this week... and will continue to be released throughout the world in the coming weeks. The film I did with Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung, Cold War is currently showing across Asia and has really done well at the box office.

An indie feature I did with Sean Faris and Will Yun-lee will hopefully be premiering in either Berlin or Cannes next year. Its a romantic drama shot in Hong Kong, I play a Chinese ballerina who falls in love with Sean's character, an American marine.

I'm currently in the middle of shooting a new Cantonese TV series for one of Hong Kong's new TV networks, the show is kind of like the X-Files and I play a character who might just remind you a little of a certain FBI agent named Scully, which is a role I've admired for many years. There's a number of other projects in the pipeline, but I think I will save them for the next interview!   Last word, I want to do more action but I also want a comedy in my future!

Written By

Mike Leeder

Far Eastern Editor

Mike Leeder

Based in Hong Kong since 1990, in addition to serving as Far Eastern Editor for Impact, and contributing to a variety of publications, Mike also works with several DVD companies acquiring films and creating bonus...

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