Legendary Assassin Sina Chat: Wu Jing Explains the Simplicity Behind The Film

Zhao Ning: Welcome everyone.

Wu Jing: Greetings everyone, firstly, let me introduce my partner in Legendary Assassin, director Nicky Li Chung Chi, the action director behind several big brother Jackie Chan movies. Having collaborated a number of times, we have developed great rapport. So, we directed this film together.

Zhao Ning: How did you divide your work?

Wu Jing: Revolution would definitely need work to be distributed. For I had to appear in front of the camera as well.

The beautiful lady here is our female lead, Celina Jade, she's a newcomer, and also our company's newly signed artiste. Her father used to be a martial arts star who's worked with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan before. Remember the priest in Snake in Eagle's Shadow who says "If someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn to them the other also."? That's the one.
 

Celina Jade: He's the one with the beard.

Zhao Ning: Pardon my nosiness, Celina Jade, but are you of mixed parentage?

Celina Jade: My Father is an American, my mother a Hong Konger.

Zhao Ning: You're very gorgeous.

Celina Jade: Thank you.

Zhao Ning: Wu Jing and Celina Jade are enacting a romantic love story, many people are curious, how did Wu Jing become a director?

Wu Jing: It's a long story.

Zhao Ning: You've long had this dream?

Wu Jing: Not exactly. When director Yuen Wo Ping and Cheung Sing Yim brought me into this trade, they had very strict demands, such as taking five-and-half months to shoot a 25 episode TV series.

But later, in my works with other directors, they only used 2 months to shoot a 30-part series. It's all done hastily, with little attention to detail, the martial arts scenes were done hastily, without much consideration. So, at that time, I thought, as an action actor, you must have strict demands, only then could you make quality productions. If I were to direct, I must insist on following the two directors' spirit of meticulousness and refinement.

And in the recent years, after pursuing my career in Hong Kong, I find that chances are very hard to come by. Firstly, being from Mainland, I'm not familiar with the culture in Hong Kong. I'm very lucky to have met my manager Mr Paco Wong, Ms Syllina Tong; and my partner Nicky Li and Celina Jade. Rather than waiting, why not create our own opportunities?


Not being the everlasting sunny kid

Zhao Ning: Based on some feedback, many find it hard to accept you as a villain in the recent films. We got to know you through Master of Tai Chi, we are used to you being an ingenuous, loyal and adorable lad. I even wondered if you ever had any difficulties expressing mean and menacing qualities.

Wu Jing: No, for everyone has a dark side, I'm just showing my ugliest side. I have acted as many heroic characters in the past in Mainland, but the environment in Hong Kong is different, needing you to develop other aspects, and as an actor, you can't forever confine yourself to one type of role. Villainous roles are but a kind of tryout.

Zhao Ning: But you might be stereotyped as villain too?

Wu Jing: No, in the past, everyone's seeing me as a sunny kid. But now, everyone's saying instead that I've become a professional villain. At least, this means my acting has been acknowledged. And one day, I might even be toppling anything I have done before.


Being piquant rather than philosophical

Zhao Ning: Tell us about Legendary Assassin already.

Wu Jing: This film's story is very simple. In this market, we are all exploring, as directors of martial arts films, as action stars, we are all pondering over how to introduce action to the world of sentimentality, how to create a new cornerstone in action films. Everyone is experimenting.

We were discussing with director Li, why not write a simple love story, it's enough when we could move the audience. We also have an underlying motif, which is advising people towards kindness. If the audience couldn't feel it, it doesn't matter. We just want to let the audience watch a simple kungfu film, to enjoy, to relax, and not something that makes you ruminate what the message behind it is. If it's too didactic or philosophical, I feel that the two of us haven't approached masterhood, so we just wish to let the audience watch a recreational show.


Apprehensive About Drama Scenes

Zhao Ning: Let's hear about some fun moments behind-the-scenes.

Wu Jing: To put it simply, Legendary Assassin is about a lonely person who arrives on an island, bumps off a baddie, gets acquainted with a female cop, and the two develop feelings for each other. It's that straightforward.

Zhao Ning: But what of the ending?

Wu Jing: Ending? Why didn't I finish my sentence? That's what I want to achieve, to let you be curious about what'd happen in the end. Go buy the ticket.

Zhao Ning: This is what makes a director. Director Li has been laughing.

Wu Jing: He often laughs.

Zhao Ning: I believe martial arts directors must be very exceptional.

Nicky Li: Not really, when filming, we were actually more nervous about drama scenes.

Zhao Ning: You never divided between drama and action scenes? Doing everything together?

Nicky Li: Yes.

Zhao Ning: Then, why were you worried?

Wu Jing: Actually, in terms of action, both Paco Wong and Ng See Yuen have said they're not worried about action scenes, for Nicky Li is an award-winning martial arts director, and all along, I myself have been doing fighting roles, we just have to show what we're capable of, but when it comes to drama, it's a different story. Look at director Li, his hair has turned white.

Zhao Ning: Indeed, more often than not, the most anticipated portion of action films are action, but, after watching the film, the critics love to grumble about how dull the drama scenes are, or the story is confusing. This has become a blemish in action films.

Wu Jing: Indeed, many, many blemishes. They are prejudiced against Chinese kungfu movies, and to them, it's given that Chinese should perform martial arts beautifully, it's nothing out of ordinary, it's a prerequisite. And they also have this mentality that those who practises martial arts can only fight, and that it's enough for them to just be able to fight. All these discriminations land us in a very difficult plight.

To which I'd rebut, from an early work of Jackie Chan, Dragon Heart, it's drama, and subsequently, he was crowned Best Actor at Golden Horse Awards.

Nicky Li: Crime Story.

Wu Jing: Yes, Crime Story. I've been working diligently, so I believe that all of us, the wushu practitioners possess a kind of sentimentality. But perhaps, because of our action scenes are more shocking, more captivating, the audience tends to overlook what was laid out in our drama scenes. Without paving the drama groundwork, the fist that is delivered would not carry much weight at all.


The art of Crying Freeman

Zhao Ning: Speaking of histrionics, Celina Jade has been full of praises for you, saying that it takes you merely three seconds to shed tears.

Celina Jade: Precisely, very fast. He's able to help me get into my character very quickly.

Wu Jing: Not that fast, at least 20 seconds. Actually, I picked this up while shooting TV series.

Zhao Ning: Trained?

Wu Jing: You have to cultivate it. Everyone feels that you're a wushu practitioner, you can't act, you can't cry. But prior to that, I hadn't had the slightest inkling of crying. When I broke my arm, I fixed it myself. Having recovered, there was no more reason to cry. At most, tears would well up in my eyes in those few nights I couldn't get to sleep.

If you were to asked me to act as one about to lose a beloved one in a love story, I still won't know how to weep. Later, I picked it up from a master. I learned how to lift the eyeballs, to pull the muscles behind, causing tears to course down, and make use of this technique while nurturing your emotions.

Director Li would be able to empathise. Director Li is the tough, reserved, stoic kind, he would just swallow the bitter pill quietly. He'd be very diffident in front of the camera. But as actors, we have to express our feelings. This technique, you have to grasp, otherwise, you won't win any awards.

Celina Jade: This method is incredible.

Wu Jing: Actually, this is just an artifice, but the most important factor is to get into the right mood, and also the atmosphere plays a big part too. And at this point, both director Nicky Li and I were very protective of the cast: this time, let Celina cry, c'mon, cry, take your time, slowly building the mood, and we'd begin as soon as she's ready.

In this scene, to save her, I'm ended up being on the brink of death, and it's a drizzling scene. Director Li had one camera, and the cinematographer had another. I told her, I have finished fighting, contributed my part, whether this story can be stirring, be compelling or not depends on her weeping. We let her be fully immersed in her own world, let her shine on her own.

Then everyone, including director Nicky Li, was looking at me. I began chatting with her, and at that time, one of her kin was ill, and many gloomy things happened, so her eyes turned red. I gave a signal, director Li gave another signal, they started creating the rain with sprinklers. And I began to shed tears, looking at her, talking to her in a suffocating tone.

Celina Jade: Then I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.

Wu Jing: And bending down my head, I let her handle the rest. As actors, we have to observe each other's reactions, and I believe that Celina Jade is a very gifted actress. Why? Because she wears her heart on her sleeve, whether she's happy or not, it's all written on her face. As long as you can move her, she'll show it. You have to monitor her mood, this is what we call duet. If all I did was breaking down by myself without affecting her, this is not called acting.

Zhao Ning: I heard that to many Mainland actors, when they're shooting in Hong Kong, they must do sufficient preparation, you have to playact alone, in front of the camera. It's different from Mainland.

Wu Jing: It's the same in Mainland. You have to depend on your acting skills. But in filmmaking, I feel that if you respect your profession, there must be mutual communication, we must move each other; if it's just you convincing the camera alone, it's lifeless.

Celina Jade: Because at that time, even if the camera was only directed at me, he would still remain opposite me, communicating with me; he won't desert me, even if he won't be filmed. And director Li would roll the camera.

Nicky Li: Nah, it's because he's the director, he couldn't go off.

Zhao Ning: Yes, it's his own work, his directorial debut, that's why he must do this.

Wu Jing: I believe this has to do with an actor's work ethics. Once, director Cheung told me they were shooting a scene with Maggie Cheung and another actor sobbing. Though she was not facing the camera, Maggie Cheung would still stay there to induce the other. That way, there was mutual communication between the two, otherwise, it'd be too empty, too aloof, too cold.