AMCs new seriesInto the Badlandsbrings true martial arts to television.
Fung is a producer and action director on the series too.
Wu also has a role in the upcomingWarcraftfilm which he was happy to discuss with us.
What were your favorite Hong Kong movies before you were in them?
It wasShaolin Temple, Jet Lis first movie.
That was the movie that got me to want to learn martial arts.
Then I became a huge Jet Li/Jackie Chan fan after that.
I think the action sequences and the storyline worked well together.
I think that was the most impressionable one on me in the 90s.
I think Ive seen that one over 50 times.
What was it aboutShaolin Templethat made you want to take up martial arts yourself?
This is real Chinese Kung Fu.
Thats how they were fighting.
I noticed that about the Shaw Brothers movies.
Ive never heard it articulated like that, but thats it.
There was definitely a 4-4 rhythm to all that stuff and the Jet Li style was much more fluid.
His form was just so beautiful.
If you compare Jackie and Jet and Bruce, I would say Jet is the more traditionalist.
As someone who liked Kung Fu, I thought his form was so beautiful.
InShaolin Temple, they showcased a whole bunch of different styles.
They showcased praying mantis style.
They showcased the chain whip weapon.
All these things were flashing in one movie and I was like, I gotta learn that.
What theater showedShaolin Temple?
In Chinatown, San Francisco, a great theater thats unfortunately closed now.
You tweeted recently that you like to keep 12% body fat because ripped and lean isnt very functional.
We see so many actors in action movies with that look.
Is that more impractical than we think?
If youre down to 6% body fat, which Ive done before, you burn out really quickly.
Like in a couple hours, youre pretty much done and then youre useless.
What big fights can we expect in the season finale ofInto the Badlands?
The season finale is going to be a really cool fight.
Cung Le from MMA is going to be in it.
Hes a good friend of mine hat Ive known for over 20 years.
I brought him on board.
So I have to make a run at protect him from them.
I dont want to reveal too much.
Its four way fight?
Its actually three on one.
Three of them versus me.
Cung is one of the three.
Was the chase on the balconies of the dollhouse a tough fight scene?
I would say the most difficult one was the warehouse fight for me.
It was deep in this New Orleans summer and were in those underground barracks there.
So it was extremely hot and humid in there and hard to breathe.
How high up is the wall where youre training M.K.?
I think I remember it being four stories, about 40 feet.
Yeah, yeah, thats real.
Do those throwing stars actually throw well?
They get bent up pretty easily.
We did mess around with them a lot.
They were basically laser cut pieces of steel.
The sharp ends of the butterfly, they get bent up really easily.
Was the fight in the cemetery tough?
That was a very, very crazy fight.
All these people, we had to ensure everyone stayed hydrated, did not pass out.
So theres a lot of places to shoot in there.
Is your costume more elastic for fighting in?
Because any time you kick high with that stuff, it would just rip open.
How restrictive is the red coat and vest?
It was not that restrictive but its extremely hot.
Its a leather trenchcoat again in 90 degree weather, 90% humidity.
So it was not friendly to wear that thing.
You might be able to see it in some of the scenes.
You actually can see my sweat coming through the weather.
Like a tiger striped pattern.
Can they really replicate that on television or are there still limitations?
I think it felt like a movie.
Its just that we had to work at breakneck speeds to get it done.
So there was no downtime or even time to mess around at all.
You had to be really efficient in the shooting.
That one was 25 takes.
It seems like we have a formula how to do it for television now.
If you get a second season, would it run more efficiently?
Could you do more than six episodes?
I dont think we can do any more than that because its just too physically demanding.
Especially if Sunnys going to be involved in most of those fights, itll be a lot.
Because were doing two units at the same time, there is no down time.
So I did 11 fight scenes of the 12 in three and a half months.
That was very, very physically challenging.
Im not a kid anymore.
Once I pull something, Im out for a while.
Luckily that didnt happen.
I think were definitely heavily influenced by Jackie just because I was managed by him for 11 years.
Stephen was managed by him as well.
We both worked on his projects so we learned a lot from him as well.
Also Stephen has his own unique style and visual sense thats a lot different than Jackie.
We tend to be a little more violent than Jackie.
Jackie doesnt like blood and gore but we like that stuff.
WithBadlandswere happy that we can go back to the gore and have blood spurting and bones breaking.
We really got into that.
The colors are so vibrant on TV.
What does it look like when youre on location?
It is pretty brilliant looking.
The lighting is done by Shane Hurlbut our cinematographer.
You walk onto some of those sets and its just gorgeous.
That golden light that comes through, the poppies were there.
I would say 1/5 of them were there and then the rest are CGed in.
And then the colors of the clothing, thats how they are, that crimson red color.
Most of it it’s possible for you to see while were making it.
Most of it is done through lighting but not much is done through color correction.
I dont think we saw you in theWarcrafttrailer, or did we and youre there not looking like yourself?
Do you fight in motion capture?
Yeah, I fight in motion capture but very different than how I fight inBadlands.
That was a major part of the training for that movie.
Was performance capture a big adaptation for you?
It was pretty awesome.
Especially when theres an emotional scene, all those emotions come through now.
Whereas before, even inAvatar, the characters had very glassy eyes and glassy skin.
Its hard to 100% buy into the characters because you felt a little bit removed from it.
These seem real and 10 minutes into the movie I forget that theyre all CG characters completely.
Orcs are one of the most famous creatures inWarcraft.
Did you play the game and did it help you at all with research?
This audition came up, so I told my wife, Look, theres an audition.
She goes, But you promised me you wouldnt work for a year.
And I go, But its forWarcraft.
She said, Oh my God, youve got to do it!
Because of her, I auditioned for it and got the role.
I referred to her most of the time for all the reference.
I tried to go through a lot of the lore online which theres a ton of it.
Just look at what Ive written, look at my notes and go based off of that.
Thats really how we did it.
The character really came to fruition once we did the Orc class to learn how to move like Orcs.
It helped me develop the character in a massive way.
He didnt invent something totally new.
I think what he manages to do in the movie is to tell the story from multiple perspectives.
So its not just Orcs vs. humans.
Theres good Orcs, theres good humans, theres bad Orcs and theres bad humans.
I think him being a player ofWarcraft, he totally understood that.
He captured that essence of it and I think thats what gamers are going to be most impressed by.
It seems like theyve been shootingWarcraftfor years.
How long did you work on it?
It was actually done over a year ago and its actually completed now.
Of course, and thats a great time for it, and all the post work takes time too.
But its actually done already.
Theyre just sitting there waiting to have a spot.
