BACK TO KOTD Interview Thang Nguyen

 

 

Caroline & Elodie : what was your role in the shooting of KOTD?

Thang : Trying not to give too much away, I was an extra for a Metro scene. All I had to do was stand on the train and look like someone commuting, which isn't too hard is it? Actually it was, I was getting really tired at one point.

C&E : what are your impressions about the whole crew? Was there a good atmosphere?

Thang : The crew was very professional and friendly. As I spoke no French at all, they did their best to communicate. Everyone on the set looked very excited and lively including all the extras. A lot of set up had to be taken care of before shooting, so we had some waiting to do. But everyone was friendly and talking to each other. I spotted Corey Yuen walking about too, but there wasn't any action scene

C&E : Did you have to rehearse a lot?

Thang : There were no rehearsals for extras as far as I knew. Well maybe not for the extras who had no dialogue. There were a selected few that had to rehearse their lines. All I was told to do was to "Stand here and read this newspaper". We had to do the shots over and over again. It wasn't because everyone was doing it wrong, just that they wanted to find the perfect shot. We were shooting from 9pm until 5am in the morning!

C&E : How is Jet at work?

Thang : Jet seemed calmed and relaxed, he obviously knew what he had to do. Before his scenes however, someone would come up to him and go through it one more time. Jet was very friendly, talking to a lot of the extras while we were waiting for the "ACTION" signal from the camera crew.

C&E : What did impress you the most about his way of working?

Thang : It was probably Jets patience. I mean, I for one was starting to get frustrated as they kept insisting on taking the same shots over and over again. But Jet didn't mind at all. Very professional, he simply waited for the signal again and performed. Jet's a perfectionist and takes his work very seriously.

C&E : What kind of relationship do you think he had with Luc Besson?

Thang : I did not see Luc Besson on the Metro shooting or while we were filming at the station. I only saw him inside Jet's trailer. He seemed very friendly and introduced himself to me as Luc. I didn't realise who it was until he had left. But when he was talking to Jet, they seem very close. I think they both understand each other pretty well.

C&E : Would you like to try this experience as an extra another time?

Thang : I would love to come back and work with Jet and the crew again. Jet was really cool. I only wished I was in an action scene, maybe I could be one of the guys that gets beaten up by Jet! It'll be an honour!

 

(Thang is also a Webmaster of the Official UK Jet Li fansite)

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