We got to sit-in on on the global Press Conference for the Film and joining us were:
Destin Daniel Cretton – Director
Kevin Feige – Producer
Simu Liu – Shang-Chi
Awkwafina – Katy
Ben Kingsley – Trevor Slattery
Meng’er Zhang – Xialing
Ronny Chieng – Jon Jon (Moderator)
Ronny: Uh, so these days, you know, you’ve M-Marvel’s kind of such an established brand that people trust. Do you mind just telling people what was kind of like the biggest risk or bet you felt like you made in the early days when you were still building people’s trust that you felt like paid off?
Kevin: On paper. You could touch them. You could open them. You still can. And, uh, the dream was to bring that to the big screen. So, that is what we were doing, and I was lucky to be involved in early Spiderman films and X-Men films. And I do think s-still the biggest risk which seems outrageous to say now, was, uh, casting Robert Downey, Jr. Um, it was both the biggest risk and the biggest, um, uh, the most important thing in the founding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without Robert, there’d be… We wouldn’t be sitting here today.
Ronny: Okay, okay. Thanks. Um, so Destin, you worked as a social worker. Like a professional social worker for two years at a group home for at-risk teenagers.
Destin: Yeah, for two years before I went to film school.
Ronny: How do you feel that job has affected your story telling, like being in that kind of situation with those kind of people?
Destin: I feel the stories I am drawn to are a combination of humour and optimism, but also not shying away from the very real darkness and pain that we all experience as humans. I think this movie really does encapsulate a lot of the things that I believe in.
Ronny: Uh, so, uh, Awkwafina, uh, I got a question for you. Do you mind if we compare contracts after this? ‘Cause I just wanna see my reps are doing their job, um.
Awkwafina: Yeah. For sure.
Ronny: Uh, so in this movie, you are like shooting arrows, were drifting cars. I think at one point, spoiler alert, you get your head slammed into a bus seat. So, this was pretty physical, um, movie.
Awkwafina: I’d say this was slightly more physically demanding. But not physically-demanding as in like wind, but more like I was falling as a team with gravity. When I fall, my neck kinda gives out. It’s kind of a ‘me issue’ as I don’t have the will power to lift it up. I actually went to a race track and learned how to drift, which was really fun but probably not practical in any scenario. And I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.
Ronny: Uh, look, lots of heavy hitters in this movie. Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Sir Ben Kingsley. Simu, how was it, like can you talk a little bit about being on set with these legends?
Simu: Yeah. I mean-I mean it was like imposter syndrome every single-every single day. Um, it was, no, truly, truly it was-it was such a-a such a treat and, uh, it was all I could do just not to-not to mess it up, you know. Um, when I was first cast, I-I-I did the-my final screen test with-with Nora, and she did such like a wonderful job of putting me at ease. And that was that was so beautiful and-and just as I met, you know, more the-the members of the cast like Tony and-and, um, Michelle and-and Sir Ben, I mean, it just, every day it was like waking up to a-another dream. And, uh, it was-it was really beautiful. And then-and then having Meng’er come and join us too, when, uh, we were all in Sydney was fantastic…
"SHANG CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS! opens in Theatres September 3!