An exclusive interview by AsianFanatics Forum.
Already a superstar across Asia through music, television, and film, Korean sensation Rain sets his sight next on conquering the rest of the world with the release of "
Ninja Assassin." In his second Hollywood film, Rain plays the deadly assassin Raizo. Trained from childhood to be a merciless assassin for hire by the mysterious Ozunu Clan, Raizo turns his back on the Clan after witnessing the death of his true love. Raizo teams with Europol agent Mika Corretti (Naomi Harris) to bring down the clandestine Clan. But the Clan sends its own team of lethal ninjas to silence Raizo and Mika…
Prior to the release of “Ninja Assassin” on November 25th, Rain sat down with Asianfanatics.net for an exclusive English interview in New York City to discuss the role and filming in Hollywood.
Before his roles in “Speed Racer” and “Ninja Assassin,” Rain filmed several television dramas and a movie in Korea. When asked to contrast the Korean film industry and the Hollywood one, Rain described, “
I think the movie-making process is very similar, but the scale is very different. Hollywood is much bigger.”
However, the experience and training from his time in the Korean entertainment industry prepared Rain to tackle on the character of Raizo, in particular the physical aspects of the role. The film features Raizo in numerous tightly choreographed fight scenes. The years spent on developing his dancing skills allowed Rain to perform most his own stunts in “Ninja Assassin.” He described,
“Yes [dancing] helped. I think that martial arts and dancing are very very similar. In "A Love to Kill" I learned kickboxing. For “Ninja Assassin,” I used kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, Karate to film the stunts. We also trained to use swords, double swords and chains." As for his weapon of choice, the Korean superstar chose the weapons that suited his character the most. Flexible, stylish, but yet extremely dangerous for both the opponent and the user: the chains (ed. official name of the weapon is
Kusarigama, Sickle with a weight attached by a chain.)
In order to train his body for the role, Rain had to adhere to a strict diet during the filming shoot. His main diet at the time consisted mainly of chicken breasts and vegetables. When asked if there was any food he missed in particular during those days, Rain said with a laugh: "I missed kimchi, sushi, shark fin soup, and every Asian food."
As a final word in the interview, Rain
hopes that all Asian artists trying to break into Hollywood will be successful.
This interview was conducted by AF-member (and former mod)
nanshi. All pictures from the interview are copyrighted by
lau1c.
Source:
AsianFanatics Forum
Note: The article also included an pictures taken of the movie's director James McTeigue and nanshi's account of her experience interviewing Rain which I didn't include here. ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
biznass.livejournal.com
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}