If possible, a little background. Where are you from, how old are you?
Javed El Berni: I was born in 1983 in France, in Paris. I am now 30 years old.
What is your height and weight?
Javed El Berni: My height is 1,83 m, my weight ranges from 77-83 kg.
Can you tell us about which martial arts you started with?
Javed El Berni: I was 5 years old when I saw “Way of the Dragon” with Bruce Lee. He inspired me, and after about a year or two I decided to try myself in karate, and I studied for two years. I studied French Sawat for a year, then took up Yoseikan-budo. It is a mixture of karate, judo, boxing, various methods of self-defense and the art of wielding weapons. The classes lasted four years (at the same time he learned to use a pole, and a little later - to work with two sticks from Kali). My sensei was Eric Iannetta. He was the one who taught me the basics and helped me dive deeper into the philosophy of martial arts and self-defense. He also taught me how to use nunchaku. And in 1999 I met Alain Diselle, my teacher in Muay Thai, Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do. Diselle was a student of Carter Wong, a friend of Bruce Lee, and he is very well known in Hong Kong. I also studied with Benny Urquidez, Jesse Glover, Taki Kimura, Dan Inosanto, so I owe my knowledge to all of them.
Then I studied capoeira (later, in Hong Kong, I took it up again), and in 2007 in Sydney I did a little judo and boxing. In 2008, I wanted to learn traditional Muay Thai, so I went to Thailand for a mountain training camp and stayed there for three months. The days were intense, I had to train in the morning, afternoon and evening, run a lot and at the same time practice my own method of improving my physical condition. He fought several commercial fights at the amateur level. He used Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun and the kickboxing style of Benny Urquidez against his opponents, adapting them to himself and working ahead of the curve. The Muay Thai fighters were shocked both psychologically and physically, as they were not used to this style of fighting.
So, Javed, how did you get involved in the cast of Ninja 2?
Javed El Berni: I found out that actors are being recruited in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. There was an interesting character on the roster named Lucas, it was a speaking and fighting role in a dojo with the main character played by Scott Adkins. I auditioned, then director Isaac Florentine called me back, and that’s how I got the role! A month later, filming began in Bangkok.
How was it working with Scott Adkins?
Javed El Berni: Regarding Scott, I will say that he is very technical, talented and competent. Our joint fight was quite traditional, close to reality, in the style of karate. Scott is very precise, precise and flexible, his technique is well balanced. When it comes to throwing punches, he has no lack of confidence, he has excellent control of himself, a true expert in his field! In most fights, he fought without a stunt double; cables were not used there either.
What kind of training did you do in preparation for the role?
Javed El Berni: Fight director Tim Man along with Brahim Achabbake acted as coordinators. They wrote out all the movements in advance. I just took their advice. It wasn’t difficult, but, of course, it still wouldn’t have been possible without training. The fight consisted of traditional karate stances, this, in particular, contributed to the recreation of my character, a typical karateka. Isaac Florentine, on the other hand, made it easy and easy to follow because he was very clear about how he wanted Lucas (my on-screen character) to be.
Were you asked to demonstrate any technically complex or difficult elements?
Javed El Berni: No, not that much! When it comes to filming, producers don't want to take unnecessary risks; there are always safety margins, depending on the production and the stunt team. In Ek Tha Tiger (a big budget Indian film) I had to do a couple of spectacular stunts, one of which was quite risky and ended up with a small accident, but nothing serious. The set was fully compliant with safety standards thanks to director Mark Rountwaite and his assistant Steve McQuillan.
I also starred in Rumble Fish, where I played the lead role (a character named Mike). There, time was limited: the script, the shooting schedule and budget restrictions. No one will hold auditions to find out what you are capable of in general! You just have to stick to the script and do what you need to do. Sometimes it's frustrating because you know that you are capable of much more, for example, you could add more tricking to the techniques, but you don't want to complicate the already difficult work of other people, so you have to keep everything to yourself, you have to respect time and budget framework!
How was it working with director Isaac Florentine?
Javed El Berni: Great! You can feel how passionate he is about martial arts, Bruce Lee and traditional martial arts. Isaac has an amazing vision for action. At times he was very zealous about his work, and this served as an incentive for the actors and crew members. We were imbued with his enthusiasm, we wanted to follow his example! He was very poised, insightful, energetic and competent. He is a pleasant and modest person, good to work with.
How was it working with Kane Kosugi, son of the legendary ninja Sho Kosugi?
Javed El Berni: Just a great guy! I was lucky to be surrounded by people like him, he is a true gentleman, smart and humble. I was amazed by his skills when I watched the whole movie! He exudes positive energy. Kane has been involved in martial arts since childhood. After watching the film, you will understand that he is not just an actor, he is a real martial arts expert.
Share your opinion about other on-screen fighters. How do you feel about Jackie Chan?
Javed El Berni: He is my inspiration. For example, I didn’t miss a single magazine that wrote about him! Thanks to him, I got the desire to do stunt work, parkour/freerunning and acrobatics! Since childhood I dreamed of working with him. I hope this happens someday!
Donnie Yen?
Javed El Berni: I love what he does, it's inspiring. Love the way he delivers the action! I like watching fight scenes with him. The blows look very believable and are voiced conscientiously. The movie "Ip Man" is great! Like Hot Spot, I think the final fight with Collin Chow inspired a lot of people. I also like his early films like Drunken Taiji.
What can you say about Tony Jaa?
Javed El Berni: I think he appeared at the right time, turning from a stuntman to an actor, he presented Muay Boran to the audience and brought a fresh stream to the world of martial arts. Now he has many fans all over the world! By the way, I played one of the roles in Tom Yum Goong 2!
Mark Dacascos?
Javed El Berni: I love his screen charisma, he is very underrated. I would like to see him in larger roles. For me, he is, first of all, a screen fighter, but I think that he is also good as an actor.
Gary Daniels?
Javed El Berni: I acted with him in The Mark: Redemption. Gary is a very nice guy: energetic, personable. He is also underrated, I hope he has bigger projects in the future! He trains a lot and is in great shape for his age. You won't believe what he is capable of at his age!
Name your favorite kung fu movies.
Javed El Berni: “Fist of Fury”, “Way of the Dragon”, “Police Story”, “Diner on Wheels”, “Drunken Master 2”, “Project A”, “Fearless”, “Ip Man” and many others!
Name five martial artists who influenced you the most.
Javed El Berni: Bruce Lee, Alain Diselle, Christophe Carrio (his books on improving fitness), I watched a lot of fights with Benny Urquidez, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Buakhau Pau. Pramuk (Thai fighter), Miyamoto Musashi (his “Book of Five Rings”) are the people I most admire!
READ PART TWO OF THE INTERVIEW
Author: Raj Khedun
Source: kungfukingdom.com
Translation: EvilDollaR
Thanks for the link Celpaso
Home » The Interview »
Tags: Isaac Florentine, Javed El Berni, Kane Kosugi, Scott Adkins
Tags: Isaac Florentine, Javed El Berni, Kane Kosugi, Scott Adkins
No, of course (Waiting for the continuation of an interesting interview, simply.
The second part of the interview was lost somewhere)
Petrosyan?
)) ah, yes) There really is not only copy-paste, but also pride. Jackie still had to play all the female roles and all the negative ones. Jackie and Jackie fight against Jackie and Jackie drives.
And in “Ninja 2” it’s just a copy-paste, they are listed there twice in the same roles.
And he, like Tim Man, is listed in the credits twice)) Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, in short))
Well, in the credits of one film there was also enough copypasta: https://fight-films.info/dzheki-chan-popal-v-knigu-rekordov-ginnesca/
In "Ninja 2" Javed is rather weakly involved.
Javed El Berni is great! One of my favorite movie fighters, just look at “Fighting fish”. But I agree about the interview, like some kind of interrogation!
Probably because they were asked to leave the interrogation room because they exceeded the limit)))
I wonder why they didn't ask about Jet, Jean-Claude and Steven?
He is right. Mark and Gary are not underestimated.
The second part is even tougher. ;)
And this is only the FIRST part =D
It’s not really an interview, but some kind of interrogation)) He was sweating a lot, poor fellow, while he was answering.