Gung-ho actor Eddie Peng explains why he is so prolific
HONG KONG: Like his Monkey King character in Wu Kong, Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng fidgets all the time, racing from project to project. He doesn’t believe in obstacles. On what motivates him to take on new characters and challenges, he would often deadpan “Why not?”
Added Eddie: “I appreciate every opportunity that comes my way. I hate to fail the director, people who I work with and, of course, my audience.”
With some 27 million Weibo fans and another 3.3 million followers on Instagram, Eddie, 35, is one of Asia’s most prolific actors. He has starred in a series of high-budget and highprofile blockbusters over the past years. His latest film, Wu Kong, grossed almost 700 million yuan ( RM459 million) at the box office in mainland China. Take a look at his recent portfolio – it’s as if he has been intentionally expanding his genres and the filmmakers he works with.
Last year, he appeared with Hollywood heavyweight Matt Damon in Zhang Yimou’s fantasy drama, The Great Wall. He has also starred in veteran director Dante Lam’s action-packed thriller, Operation Mekong. More recently, he played a complicated anti-hero in auteur Ann Hui’s melodrama, Our Time Will Come.
Reckoned Eddie: “It has been a great learning curve working with the director ( Hui]). The character fights violence with more violence, but there’s more to this character than the superficial.”
His earlier TV projects were predominately youthful romantic dramas, but he built his name with action films in recent years. These include Rise of the Legend ( 2014), in which he portrayed kung fu legend Wong Fei-hung, and Unbeatable ( 2013), in which he played a young mixed martial arts ( MMA) fighter.
However, he does not want to be stereotyped.
Eddie said the action parts in his films contribute to the development of the characters and the plots. “I won’t be interested in a film that only focuses on action.”
Eddie had stumbled upon showbiz some 15 years ago. He was living in Canada at that time, and he spent a summer in Taipei. Director Yang Da- qing discovered him and offered him a supporting role in the TV series titled Tomorrow. He didn’t look back.