Actor Simu Liu revealed that he exaggerated his martial art prowess to land the role of Marvel superhero Shang-Chi from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
In a virtual chat with West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose for Variety‘s Actors on Actors series, the Marvel star disclosed that the casting crew for the acclaimed movie asked about his experience with martial arts. “Of course I exaggerated because I wanted the job really badly,” Liu said.
Liu clarified that while he had worked as an on-again, off-again stuntman, he was more of a dancer than he was a martial artist. He revealed that he was in a competitive hip-hop dance team in college and actually ended up sacrificing precious study time for his classes because of his dedication to it. “It was right in the heyday of So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew,” Liu said. “I was all about it.”
Liu’s background in dance did not make his training for the film an easy matter, however. He explained that he began working with trainers and learning how to move almost immediately after he landed the role of Shang-Chi, which was no easy task.
“I had such awful flexibility,” Liu recalled. “My groin and my tendons were just so stiff. A big part of that early process was just bending my body and trying to rip those legs apart.” He concluded, however, that the process was quite enjoyable, especially because Shang-Chi was his first movie role.
Shang-Chi marks the first Marvel movie to feature an Asian lead and a predominantly Asian cast. It follows the eponymous Shang-Chi, who adopts the alias “Shaun” after he leaves the life of an assassin behind by fleeing from the Ten Rings organization led by his father, Tony Leung’s Wenwu. Shang-Chi soon finds himself drawn back into his old life, however, when Wenwu reveals his plans to use the mystical powers of the legendary Ten Rings to attack Ta Lo, the land where Shang-Chi’s deceased mother hails from, as he believes that she is being held captive there. Thus, Shang-Chi embarks on an epic quest to defend his mother’s homeland and confront his brutal past, along with his friend Katy and younger sister Xialing.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is available to stream on Disney+ now. A sequel is currently in development, with Liu set to reprise his role as Shang-Chi and Destin Daniel Cretton to return as writer and director.
Source: Variety
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