Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lead Simu Liu has admitted to exaggerating his martial arts background in a bid to land the groundbreaking Marvel role.
Released in cinemas last year to the tune of over $400 million at the box office, this martial arts behemoth cropped up in conversation during the Shang-Chi star’s recent stint on Variety‘s ‘Actors on Actors’ series.
“When I got the part, they asked me about my martial arts background and experience, which of course I exaggerated because I wanted the job really badly,” he told West Side Story cast member Ariana DeBose.
“I had done some work as an on-again, off-again stuntman, but if we’re honest, I think I was more of a dancer than I ever was a martial artist.
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“Pretty much from the moment I was cast, I started working with trainers and learning how to move. I had such awful flexibility… A big part of that early process was just bending my body and trying to rip those legs apart,” Liu went on to recall.
So it sounds like his powers of persuasion might even trump those given to his Marvel superhero!
He also found time to wax lyrical on his iconic co-stars Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh in the interview, who portrayed Xu Wenwu and Ying Nan.
“Very different people, but an aura of warmth and friendliness,” Liu commented on the duo.
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“Tony is famously shy, and very, very soft spoken. You would never know his stature and his fame just by looking at him, because he is just such a well-mannered individual. And then the camera rolls, and then you see the intensity in his eyes, and you’re like, ‘Holy crap. I’m literally watching mastery unfold.'”
Yeoh, meanwhile, “really surprised” the actor with her goofiness, “because she plays these badasses that don’t take crap from anyone, they’re very serious” even though she’s “kind of a goofball” in real life.
“We’ll be rolling camera, and then she’ll just be like [waves hands at the camera] [or] she’ll just make a funny face,” he recalled. “It was her wonderful way of telling me to relax and just settle in.”
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