But Yuen Woo-Ping hired me as the main bad guy in a film called Tai Chi Master Part Two. I’d done a couple of supporting roles and stunt jobs in films. SHAHLAVI: Well, he gave me my first lead role in a movie. Speaking of Yuen Woo-Ping, he gave you your first big break?
To watch it as an adult knowing how hard it is to make these pictures and seeing it with an audience is really quite something. When you watch it as a kid alone, and you appreciate it and you love it. So to see it at the Paramount theater with this whole cast of characters from Fantastic Fest screaming and cheering, it’s quite something. I spoke with his producer, who’s a friend of mine yesterday, and he was saying he thought Yuen Woo-Ping was 33 years old when he directed that movie. We watched Snake in Eagle’s Shadow yesterday, and Yuen Woo-Ping made that movie about 35 years ago. SHAHLAVI: Yea, you know that’s the great thing about these kinds of festivals. Now, because of your position in the movie business, have you gotten a chance to see some of your old favorites on the big screen? You mentioned during the Q&A that you have a lot of reverence for these older Hong Kong action films and that you used to watch them on video when you were young. So it’s pretty cool that Well Go USA is giving it a good release. So Ip Man 2 is going to be in theaters January 28 th.
SHAHLAVI: Yea, Ip Man was just released on DVD a couple of months ago. But I had only heard about it here and there because it never saw a US theatrical release. I thought, “Wow, I’d love to be down there one day… with a good film.” It feels really good to be here with a movie I’m proud of and I can help push something people really appreciate and I hope people really like it. Now filmmakers with Robert Rodriguez and all these others that are making movies here. I mean all these different news sites and stuff that’s going on here, you think, “Wow.” This is kind of outside Los Angeles and it’s really a hub for film fans. I used to rent movies at a DVD shop called Black Dog Video in Vancouver from Kiele Janice who’s helping out with this festival. I’d heard of the Alamo Drafthouse about 10 years ago. So, without further ado, here is the entire and incredibly candid interview.ĭARREN SHAHLAVI: Yeah, first time in Austin. Darren and I covered a lot of ground, but among the topics were his fighting background, how he got his first big break and then landed his role in Ip Man 2, if he would ever fight in MMA, who influenced his as a kid, what it was like to worth with his heroes, and future projects.
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