IR Interview: Luke Evans For “Weekend In Taipei” [Ketchup]

The Inside Reel

Actor Luke Evans talks to The Inside Reel about environment, characterization and chemistry in regards to his new action film: “Weekend in Taipei” from Ketchup Entertainment.

Transcript

00:00No! No!

00:02No!

00:04No!

00:06No!

00:08No!

00:10No!

00:12Joey, it's been 15 years.

00:14Whether it broke your heart

00:16is not coming back.

00:20You bring me my wife,

00:22and you kill John Lawler.

00:26You said no more secrets.

00:31I'm not going to lose you again.

00:40I see you haven't changed a bit.

00:42Thanks.

00:44I think when we last time was for Echo,

00:46you got to always go to some interesting places.

00:48Environment is so important, I think,

00:50probably for you as an actor,

00:52you know, although you've done a lot of stuff with green screen too.

00:54What does it feel like,

00:56how does it add to it

00:58when you are in a place like Taipei?

01:00Immensely.

01:02Immensely.

01:04It becomes a part of the story.

01:06It's not just a location.

01:08It feeds into everything that you do.

01:10I mean, you know,

01:12the heat,

01:14the sensory aspect of it,

01:16you know,

01:18it changes your performance.

01:20Echo 3 was a perfect example of that,

01:22you know,

01:24working in the Colombian jungles

01:26and Cartagena

01:28and all those amazing places,

01:30Bogota.

01:32It becomes not just a canvas

01:34but a real living part of the story.

01:36Taipei is very unique,

01:38you know,

01:40there's these giant record-breaking

01:42structures in the city,

01:44you know,

01:46and then small little undercurrents of markets

01:48and back streets

01:50and we got to use it all

01:52and really, you know,

01:54utilize the uniqueness

01:56of the city of Taipei

01:58and the expanse of it

02:00and that

02:02only plays into the storyline

02:04and helps you as an actor, you know,

02:06really use that as a tool.

02:08And then what happens?

02:10I was offered a job.

02:12A job? What kind of job?

02:14The only thing I was good at.

02:16Driving.

02:18And then a few years later,

02:20I met her dad.

02:22All right. What do you want to know?

02:24How did you two meet?

02:26Can't remember. It was so long ago.

02:28John, tell the truth.

02:34It was a work thing.

02:36What kind of work thing?

02:38I was a cop.

02:40A DEA agent.

02:42I was sent over here undercover to track a drug shipment

02:44and I was pretending

02:46to be a client following a mule car

02:48that was transporting drugs

02:50and it turned out that the driver

02:52of the car was none other than your mother.

02:54What?

02:56These are really good dumplings.

02:58Yeah, they are. You should do some more.

03:00And she thought

03:02I was a competitor

03:04trying to steal her drugs.

03:06Playing hard to get.

03:08And it was interesting, I talked to, when talking to Sun a little earlier,

03:10you know, the aspect is that by having

03:12these dynamics, I mean, you have the

03:14action element, but the fact of

03:16how it's working with Gui

03:18with the book,

03:20I think it's why it plays Raymond.

03:22There's a whole thing that

03:24it creates a whole other depth.

03:26So when you're doing the fight sequences, it adds

03:28a lot more. Can you talk about that

03:30aspect and physicality actually

03:32informing the emotionality during a scene

03:34in that way?

03:36I like fight sequences

03:38where the character doesn't drop

03:40who he is to do the fight sequence.

03:42You see the character and the

03:44physical expressions of what he does

03:46in the fight sequence is informed by who that

03:48character is. And with John,

03:50John's not a trained fighter.

03:52He's a DEA agent.

03:54But put in a

03:56situation where he has to fight,

03:58he'll use whatever he has around him.

04:00I very much

04:02in the rehearsals for that kitchen sequence

04:04at the beginning of the show, the film,

04:06I

04:08embraced the idea of

04:10using the knives, the crockery,

04:12the woks, the flames, the food,

04:14whatever I had to hand

04:16I think he would have used,

04:18which created a very character-driven

04:20fight sequence where you see

04:22John all the way through it.

04:24You can see him getting

04:26tired while all these

04:28young

04:30Taiwanese gangsters come into the

04:32kitchen and he's like, just give me a minute.

04:34I'm like,

04:36he's in his 40s,

04:38but he'll get through it. And I love that

04:40because I could relate to that.

04:42I was exhausted

04:44that day and I

04:46could have done with a small break and

04:48a bottle of water from the fridge.

04:50I like to make

04:52these, when you have fight

04:54sequences, they always

04:56feel like they should be,

04:58they are part of the character.

05:00It's not just a moment where he becomes superhero-like.

05:02You've still got to see

05:04your character when you do these fight sequences

05:06and I think what we did in this

05:08is,

05:10we did the right thing.

05:12Remember her hair

05:14blowing in the wind and as soon as her eyes met?

05:40That was it. I was hooked.

05:46No, no, no. That's not how I remember.

05:48Oh yeah? No.

05:50Well, how do you remember?

05:52First, I remember

05:54his shoes.

06:00Can't really remember

06:02his face, I don't know why.

06:04But um,

06:06I do remember our first kiss.

06:10You sure that was our first kiss?

06:12Yes, I remember it.

06:14Why don't you?

06:16You're in trouble now.

06:18The characters are invested and that's why you want to

06:20follow them. I mean, you see they have their

06:22fallibilities. I mean, the whole thing

06:24back and forth with Joey, I think really

06:26adds that sort of layer to it.

06:28But also the humor, the thing with the goldfish,

06:30just that little detail

06:32makes everything sort of lighter

06:34even though the stakes are still fairly high.

06:36Could you talk about finding

06:38those moments in between

06:40that really add to the character,

06:42especially when it's running so fast?

06:44Yeah. No, I love that

06:46idea, you know, that he,

06:48you know, the whole thing is falling apart

06:50around him and he sees this little goldfish

06:52in the remains of what was a giant

06:54fish tank and scoops him up

06:56in a tumbler and takes him outside

06:58and saves this little fish.

07:02You know, but when you think about what he does there

07:04and then you think about how Raymond is

07:06protecting dolphins,

07:08you see this very, very thin thread

07:10of possibly how he wants

07:12to protect this little goldfish, but how his son

07:14has taken it to a much higher level

07:16and wants to, you know, save the dolphins

07:18and save the world.

07:20Well, that's just very good writing, you know.

07:22That's writers who are looking for nuance.

07:24That's writers who are looking

07:26at what may not feel like

07:28important detail, but

07:30it resonated with you.

07:32You actually remembered that moment.

07:34And I think that's what sets out an action movie

07:36to an action movie that has a heart

07:38and has emotional connections

07:40from the character to the audience.

07:42And those little details,

07:44they build a character

07:46that is relatable and

07:48likable and flawed

07:50and of all the other things we all are

07:52as human beings, you see all of that

07:54in the characters within this film.

07:58So, you came back after all this time

08:00from Guam, but then you came back

08:02after all this time from Guam,

08:04but not for me?

08:14You're supposed to be dead.

08:15Give it a minute, kid,

08:16and your mom will take care of that.

08:18Okay, mom, seriously,

08:20who is this guy?

08:22I'm an undercover DEA agent.

08:24To finally take Guam's operation down,

08:26I might make a mean

08:28crème brûlée.

08:29What?

08:30Shut up and let me drive.

Category

Transcript

Recommended