Aaron Kwok Joins Chen Kaige’s Upcoming Film “The Monk”

Chen Kaige’s (陈凯歌) upcoming 3D Chinese martial arts film The Monk <道士下山> will feature an array of big stars. Aaron Kwok (郭富城) has joined the cast, which includes Wang Baoqiang (王宝强), Fan Wei (范伟), Wang Xueqi (王学圻), Li Xuejian (李雪健), Chiling Lin (林志玲), Vanness Wu (吳建豪), Jaycee Chan (房祖名), Lam Suet (林雪), and Danny Chan (陳國坤. The Chinese media has likened the film to the legendary Chinese classic The Water Margin <水滸傳> in its epic scope.

The Monk, a co-production between Columbia Pictures and Chinese production companies, tells the story about a highly-skilled monk who is forced to leave his monastery and fight for himself in the outside world. It is based on Xu Haofeng’s (徐皓峰) novel A Monk Comes Down the Mountain.

Aaron will play the titular monk, a highly skilled martial arts master. Chen Kaige has expressed his confidence in Aaron, who is a two-time Best Actor winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Chen Kaige explained that Aaron’s extensive dance background and filming experience was what prompted the director to cast Aaron in the role. Chen Kaige praised Aaron’s charismatic looks, and that Aaron genuinely looked like a grand master once he stepped into the costumes of his role.

A few days ago, the 48-year-old actor filmed his first scene for the movie, which was an action sequence consisting of his character fighting against ten opponents in the snow. Action choreographer Ku Huen Chiu (谷軒昭) revealed that Aaron did all the stunts himself and spent an entire day to master his moves.

Aaron said, “I have an old injury on my leg, but thankfully I do not need to do strong and powerful movements because my character’s fighting style focuses on being steady and calm.” The crew praised Aaron’s professionalism throughout the entire fight sequence, and even applauded for him after the scene was done. Chen Kaige also complimented, “His eyes are full of acting, and definitely worthy of the Film King title.”

In addition, American media reported that Sony Pictures Releasing International will be handling the international distribution of the film, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Source: QQ.com

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.