Kevin Cheng talks 'Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy'
HONG KONG: In the upcoming Yuen Woo-ping film‘ Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy’, Kevin Cheng plays the main villain Cho Saikit, who goes through extreme methods to succeed his father’s triad empire, which is currently in the hands of his older sister Cho Ngan-kwan, played by the legendary Michelle Yeoh.
An action-packed film, Master Z follows the wing chun master Cheung Tin- chi ( played by Max Zhang), who goes through a journey of self- acceptance and worth after suffering a defeat from Ip Man. Master Z also stars Dave Bautista, Ada Liu, Tony Jaa, Chrissie Chau, and Patrick Tam.
As the film’ s main villa in, Kevin has a hand in carrying the show’s actions scenes alongside his costars. Kevin recalled one scene where he crashes through a table, shattering in, in a fight with Max. Although they have rehearsed the scene several times, Kevin still sustained an injury to the neck after performing the stunt.
“I wasn’t being careful enough,” said Kevin. “I remembered to lock my neck on the first try, but didn’t on the second try, so I pulled pulled a muscle. Even stunt actors often get injured from simple moves like that. This is a Master Eight (Yuen Woo-ping) action film, so I hope to do the best as I can to his satisfaction.”
The former TVB actor rarely gets the opportunity to play a villainous role. He said, “Playing a villain is easier than playing a good guy, but because this is Master Eight’ s film, I don’t know what his standards are. On my first day of work, I had to slap Chrissie Chau, and that was a very scary moment. I slapped her three times, so much until her cheeks swelled up. Then, I had to stuff her mouth with drugs, and I nearly choked her.” Kevin said he has been a fan of Yuen Woo-ping’ s films for as long as he can remember. “I’ve watched movies like ‘Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow’, ‘Drunken Master’, to ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and ‘ The Grandmaster’. I’m so curious to how those scenes were filmed. It turns out that he has very high standards. I told Master Eight to let me fight a bit more. I may not be as experienced as Max Zhang, but I can do simple moves here and there.” Master Z gave Kevin many firsts. Besides it being his first collaboration with Yuen Woo-ping, it was also his first work with the legendary Michelle Yeoh. He still remembered their first conversation, “Of course, I’ve definitely seen her films before. This time, she plays my older sister. When we were waiting for the cameras to role, I asked her what she has been busy with. If I didn’t hear wrong, I think she’s been shooting the new Star Wars film ."
I remembered to lock my neck on the first try, but didn’t on the second try, so I pulled pulled a muscle. Even stunt actors often get injured from simple moves like that. Kevin Cheng