Cung Le. Interview for Maxim magazine

How did you get involved in the “Man with the Iron Fists” project?

Cung Le: RZA invited me to his recording studio to talk about the film. I had never met him before, I had not read the script until that moment, and, in essence, all I knew was the name of the film, and that it was about martial arts. As soon as we met, he told me that he would be glad if I played the role of the Bronze Lion, and gave me information about the character and the plot. Before I left, he asked me: “Deal with each other?” Well, in order to know whether I confirm my participation in the project. I shook his hand, making a commitment right there, without even talking to my agent or reading the script.

No regrets, right?

Cung Le: No, absolutely none! I had looked up his IMDb profile before this, so I was aware that he had directed films before, plus I had always been a Wu-Tang Clan fan. Then, when I got to the set, I found out that Quentin Tarantino had been RZA’s mentor for six years, so I had only one desire - go ahead and act!

As a professional MMA fighter, do you find it difficult to control yourself when filming fight scenes with other actors?

Cung Le: I started out doing traditional martial arts, so I think I have great control when it comes to striking. Take for example the fact that in sparring I can’t hit my partners too hard, otherwise I’ll be left without them!

Did you have a specific person in mind that you were hoping to get into an on-screen battle with?

Cung Le: I was supposed to fight Russell Crowe, but when he showed up on set, RZA came up to me and said, “Brother Cung, I have good news and bad news.” The bad news was that Russell only had 10 days of filming, which wasn't enough time to learn the fight choreography. The good news is that I'll be fighting Lucy Liu instead, and I didn't mind at all!

She looks really cool in the movie.

Cung Le: She's great. In one scene, she had to jump over a large wooden chair, but she crashed straight into it. Everyone was scared and asked, “God, are you okay? Should we invite a stuntman? And she replied: “It’s not worth it, I can jump over this chair. Let's try again." That's why I respect her so much.

Have there been any other memorable on-screen fights [in your film career]?

Cung Le: Actually, one of the best scenes I had was in the movie “Fighting,” which I did a few years ago with Channing Tatum. In one of the episodes, he was supposed to finish me off with a choke from behind, and I told him: “Look, just bend your arm, don’t squeeze my neck with your forearms.” I guess what happened was that at some point he really started to tackle. My natural reaction was to pat my hand, but you can’t do that in a movie! The next thing I remember is darkness and waking up not knowing where I was!

Posted by Stephanie Redwan
Source: maxim.com
Translation: EvilDollaR

33 comment

    Author's gravatar

    Kung decided to follow in the footsteps of Roy Jones and Anderson Silva, lost to Bisping, and the result, as they say, is “in the face.”

    [img]http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/_images/pictures/20140823045843_454008664.JPG[/img]

    Author's gravatar

    Hello! Maybe off topic, but it seems to me that if you don’t like an actor or fighter, this is not a reason to flood anywhere. I read comments for information, not fluff. If you don't like it, don't watch it! And Tim is quite a decent movie fighter, in my inexperienced opinion.

    Author's gravatar

    Having visited the site in the morning, I didn’t even think of seeing such a sudden trololo)) Cung Le and Tim Man never even dreamed of seeing such interest in their persons)) Was there a full moon at night...

    Author's gravatar

    Vasdimm about 1 hour ago.
    So where are the insults? You're butt

    Dude, you're wrong, you said a bunch of stuff, but you still haven't substantiated the reason for your hatred of these movie guys. If you just don’t like them, then write so - I don’t like them, but why throw around “expressions”?!
    I don’t have tender feelings for them, but I treat personalities from the world of “cinema” martial arts as follows: if a guy does something better than me (I’ve spent more than 15 years in martial arts) - he’s definitely worthy of my respect! It probably sounded too pompous, but I think you understand what I mean. :)

    Author's gravatar

    So where are the insults? You just experienced butthurt, remove the pre-moderation and not three comments. Unless you're a bitch and a coward, of course. Jerk off to teen man without b.

    Author's gravatar

    1. Vasdimm, regarding the insult: YOU (not you) left a comment on behalf of

    EvilDollaRsikun
    EvilDollaR (dog) yandex.ru

    And who after this is the Insignificance and the Coward? Comments on this site are not indexed, by the way, and separately, for those especially gifted, it should be mentioned that the e-mail address should not contain uppercase letters. You can find out what uppercase is on Google.

    2. On the right in the sidebar are the most mentioned tags during the existence of the site. I don't see either Man or Le there, if we are talking about the fact that news about them is published too often.

    More questions? Or get up early because you have school tomorrow?

    But there still hasn’t been an adequate answer to “that same question”...

    Author's gravatar

    I don’t see any insults, unless for someone the word coward is an insult.
    Well, you don’t have to delete the comments, but leave them.
    I must say thank you for this:
    1) Discussion and comments on the site, which is a plus.
    2) And indexing kung le on the Internet.

    Author's gravatar

    Why such timidity, new nicknames with insults that people have not seen? I didn’t write that comments would be deleted, I just need to behave within the bounds of decency.

    Author's gravatar

    The site owner refused the discussion and ran away from the battle when his hero was debunked.

    Author's gravatar

    The hamsters came running.)

    I warned you repeatedly. Alas. There is no point in insulting people. And we never got an answer to the question of why Tim and Kung are squalid...

    In the near future I will publish another piece of news that mentions Tim Man. Its author is not me, but Mike Leader. And many actors seek his favor. If someone doesn't know about it, Google can help. The question is settled. Vasdimm's comments will be pre-moderated in the future.

    PS especially for Vasdimm: A coward is a person who likes to insult by changing his nickname.

    Author's gravatar

    The hamsters came running.) With the exception of Ravenside.

    Okay, using a specific example: EvilDollaR, which film is better than US with Orlovsky or Tim Man’s film where Jl Lewis starred?

    “I agree, Kung Le is not a great screen fighter (namely an on-screen one), but in our country, practicing fighters always play tenth roles. Well, very often in bad films.”
    Well, we look at them through the prism of cinema. And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the difference between Cung Le in the 30s, Tim Man in the tenths, and, say, Gary Daniels.

    "in Cunga Le and Tim Man. Why them? Isn't it worse?"
    The site owner often sees them. So often that he even, like me, celebrates his next appearance.

    Author's gravatar

    Oh yes, we should take pop singers too. We need to take Stas Mikhailov and Philip Bedrosovich Kirkorov into fighting games. And better for negative roles. At least let's see how they are finished.
    “The bloody revenge of a divorcee”... or “I didn’t know that kung fu could be cruel...”

    Author's gravatar

    And poor Silva and Machida fell so low that they starred in bit parts in a trashy Canadian action movie...

    The same fees for action films, if we take Hong Kong/China, are now the highest for pop singers, this is a fact. A familiar face means more money at the box office.

    Author's gravatar

    And, apparently, the size of their fee will show the level of their skill...

    Author's gravatar

    Vasdimm, following your logic, some of the best fighters of our time are Keanu Reeves and Jason Statham.

      Author's gravatar

      Judging by Vasdimm's logic, Silva and Emelianenko should star in every second Hollywood blockbuster.

    Author's gravatar

    EvilDollaR, you can challenge my personal opinion with specific examples and convincingly prove that these are great fighters and actors and films with them are very popular.

    On this site, most of the films/actors are not very popular (or not popular at all). This is not an argument. And this is in no way a reproach to the site or a reproach to the films. It's just a fact.

    "Why does one of the best fighters of our time play tenth roles..."
    Is it usually different in modern times? I agree, Kung Le is not a great screen fighter (namely an on-screen one), but in our country, practicing fighters always play tenth roles. Well, very often in bad films. Adkins also still plays tenth roles.

    Evil and Vasdimm, it seems to me that you are talking about different things. Therefore, the dialogue does not come out. But I thought the shot at Cung Le and Tim Man was very unexpected. Why them? Isn't it worse?

    Author's gravatar

    So, Arlovski is a great actor? Are these the last two low-budget "Unisols" normal action films? They are considered by many to be the worst in the series.

    The film with Bolo and Kung came out a long time ago, I sent it to everyone who asked, even to several Americans. Cheap crap with a stellar cast. It turns out that Bolo is also a nonentity? You shouldn't judge a person based on one movie.

    PS Let me give you a simple example: why are wrestlers often invited to play roles in modern action films? Because they are half actors, they are used to constantly working for the public, so they have more experience, and accordingly, the level of acting is higher. The same Jackie Chan in his early films at some points looked like a natural imbecile. We can't even talk about Bruce Lee's acting. A wooden face and grimacing during blows, the varieties of which can be counted on one hand. But Arnie, for example, thanks to his wooden face, got a role in The Terminator.

    Author's gravatar

    Cung Le: "That he is one of the best fighters of our time"
    Laughed :).
    That one of the best fighters of our time plays tenth roles with the exception of the film with Bolo, which was never released?
    Even Orlovsky is even more famous and is invited to play roles in normal action films.

    Tim Man, well, you can read people’s reviews of his latest film on the root tracker.

    The stars star in leading roles and earn good money, but what are the fees for Tim Man and Cung Le?

    Author's gravatar

    EvilDollaR, you can challenge my personal opinion with specific examples and convincingly prove that these are great fighters and actors and films with them are very popular.

    MaksimKa, an actor who looks bad on screen, or rather a stuntman.

      Author's gravatar

      Cung Le: 11 kickboxing titles, 3 MMA titles, winner of the best knockout of 2012 (as voted on mmafighting.com). There is no need to even prove that he is one of the best fighters of our time.

      Tim Man:

      - Swedish Taekwondo Champion in 1997, 2000 and 2001
      - 3rd place at the World Taekwondo Championships in 1995
      - More than 16 years of martial arts training (already in my second decade)
      - Over 10 years of experience as a martial arts instructor

      And for what reason are they squalor in the world of biography? Nobody called them great actors. Such people simply do not exist and have never existed. I don’t remember a single real fighter who would receive an Oscar or a palm branch specifically for acting in a martial arts film (nominations for best foreign film have nothing to do with it).

      An example of such squalor: Sean Faris, who has the same relation to BI as an African baboon to the assembly of the hadron collider, despite the first part “Never Give Up” and “The King of Fighters”.

    Author's gravatar

    Somehow Evildollar chatso publishes information about these 2 squalor of the world BI-Tim mane and Kung le...

    Someone has been “trolling” lately in an unreasoned and illiterate manner. Last warning.

    Author's gravatar

    EvilDollaR, you received 2 of my messages (I’m not in a hurry, but just to know if you got it or not) =)

    -

    Author's gravatar

    He knocked out former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin in the first round.

    Author's gravatar

    I won’t say anything for Tim Man, but Cung Le competes in the UFC and has a decent record there (who doesn’t know - the most authoritative MMA organization at the moment), was the champion of Strikeforce (the second most authoritative MMA promotion).

    Author's gravatar

    Yuri, based on what he shows in the movies, and where he came from, seems to have also never heard of such a “Dragon”.

    Author's gravatar

    Somehow Evildollar chatso publishes information about these 2 squalor of the world BI - Tim mane and Kung le...

    Author's gravatar

    I can imagine the headlines of online Mr. advertisements (based on the last answer): :D

    - Cung Le died at the hands of a movie star!
    - Channing Tatum easily defeated the MMA champion!
    - The fatal outcome in the fight between Tatum and Le was a foregone conclusion from the very beginning!
    - Tatum secretly studied Dim Mak?!

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