Daniel Wu says co-star Vikander’s a ‘beast’
LOS ANGELES: Martial arts actor Daniel Wu, 43, has been in numerous rumbles on the set of action movies.
Even so, his role in Tomb Raider has been very challenging.
What’s most challenging was trying to keep pace with Alicia Vikander, the Swedish-born Oscar-winning actress.
Vikander plays the iconic Lara Croft, while Daniel plays sailor Lu Ren, Croft’s friend.
A slack-jawed Daniel has described Vikander as “a powerhouse” and “a beast”.
Marvelled a wide-eyed Daniel: “She’s a powerhouse. She is really great. She just put her head down and was like turning on beast mode and it really kind of powered it out. Never really done big commercial action film before she really got into it.”
California-born Daniel is megastar in Asia and only now is getting traction in Hollywood.
A belated homecoming, in other words.
Twenty years ago, after graduating with a University of Oregon architecture degree, Daniel visited Hong Kong.
But a chance scouting in a bar led to a commercial gig, then some modelling. Chinese director
She’s a powerhouse. She is really great. She just put her head down and was like turning on beast mode and it really kind of powered it out. Never really done big commercial action film before she really got into it. Daniel Wu, martial arts actor
Yonfan saw the commercial and approached Wu with an offer he couldn’t refuse — although he tried.
“He asked me to play the lead in his movie,” said Daniel, revisiting the moment his accidental career as one of China’s biggest movie stars began. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about? I’ve never acted before and you want me to be the lead in your movie? That’s crazy!’”
Daniel has now acted in 60 feature films in Hong Kong and China — including crime thrillers, action comedies and historical epics, movies like New Police Story, The Banquet and Shinjuku Incident, and roles opposite Chinese superstars Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Ziyi.
Said Daniel: “Not a lot of people know about the 20 years I spent in Hong Kong. To a lot of people I’m just this new actor, but I’ve been around for a long time.
Daniel is not only the lead actor but also executive producer in the AMC show, Into the Badlands, which has been renewed for a third season since this martialarts show is one of the best-rated scripted drama on cable. The expanded 16-episode season is set to premiere next month.
Back in 2005, Daniel had formed a band called Alive with Terence Yin, Andrew Lin and Conroy Chan. He then directed a movie called The Heavenly Kings that chronicled the formation and events of the band. The film was believed to be a mockumentary of the Hong Kong pop music industry, which earned him the Chinese Film Media Award for best director.
In 2010, Daniel married American model Lisa Selesner in low-key style in a tiny South African village because they love the natural surroundings and simplistic beauty of South Africa. They have four-year-old daughter named Raven.
Daniel had earned a nomination in the Royal Institute of British Architects International Prize. The awards are regarded as the British “Oscars” of the architecture world. He had also been nominated for his design of a library building in China.
The library, located in Mulan Paddock, China’s northern Chengde city in Hebei Province, was inspired by the traditional Mongolian yurt.