Already a force to be reckoned with in the eastern action industry, action director and choreographer Corey Yuen went on to lend his skills to Hollywood outings such as X-Men, Romeo Must Die, Kiss of the Dragon, The One, Cradle 2 the Grave, War and The Expendables. Now he finds himself reteamed with The Transporter's Jason Statham for their latest project, Wild Card...
Corey, you have worked on both eastern and western action productions - nowadays, are there major differences between them?
Corey Yuen: The western films I’ve worked on are usually a larger budget so they have better pre-production and allows for better preparation then eastern films. Eastern films tend are often more flexible!
The action genre, of course, requires a very 'physical' performance from everyone. How closely do you work with actors like Jason Statham to get everything right?
CY: We actually have the same management (Steven Chasman). One day Steven asked me if Jason could be an 'action' actor too, I said that he has the talent, because he has experience of driving so that is how we start. Once we worked together I found that he not only has the talent, he is also hard working and most of the time he insists on not using a stuntman. He would like to show audience “his” action.
After many times we work together we’ve built up a strong trust with each other and he knows I can push his best limit. The most important part as an action director is you need to give the actor confidence and better preparation before shooting so the actor can be more comfortable with shooting.
In that sense, how much preparation time does a film like 'Wild Card' take?
CY: I didn't take much time to prepare Wild Card because I understand Jason very well and he is already a professional action actor... but for my other films I usually will read the script first and create some idea, than will let the stuntman train or even just play with actors with no pressure and I will watch the movement of the actor in between, so I know what are their ability and where are their limit. With this information I will redesign the action to make sure everything is the best suit and fit for the actors .
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You've actually worked with Jason on several occasions. He's now a major star - how do you think he has matured / changed as an action star in that time?
CY: I think Jason is more matured now, than when we just started to work together. He is always upset if there is some action he’s unable to do, and I explain to him that “I have over 20 years to practice and it is normal you cant do it as you just start ”. I think he is already doing very well within this short time and now Jason is more understanding and calm... and of course as everyone can see he is one of the top action stars in Hollywood.
You have directed films AND also worked with many different directors - John Woo, Sylvester Stallone, Bryan Singer, RZA, Simon West. Given your experience, do directors strictly set out what they want clearly or do you suggest to them what's best/possible?
CY: When I get the script I will read it first and tell the director what I think and have the stunt doubles show the director my interpretation of the action, but I always respect the director for the final decision because he is the leader of film.
You have many decades of experience. Do you think co-ordinating 'stunts' have changed dramatically in the 'action cinema genre' - or do the basics remain the same and the technology around them changes?
CY: There are both advantage and disadvantage with 'stunts'. Stunts give the action film no limits - we can use stunts to help and show everything to the audience... so the film can look more interesting. However with the stunt technology, nowadays no one believes real Kung Fu in the film, everyone will think the action is all stunts …. Even it is real ….for me I will think it is a bit unfair for those real hardworking action actors.
Wild Card (15) is released by Lionsgate and opens in the UK on 20th March...
