This is the explosive action role I was looking forward to playing

CRAZY RICH ASIANS STAR HENRY GOLDING TALKS TO LAURA HARDING ABOUT SWAPPING ROM-COMS FOR SWORD FIGHTS IN G.I. JOE PREQUEL SNAKE EYES

HENRY GOLDING may have become famous for starring in the smash hit romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, but he is keen to prove he is more than just heartthrob material.

The actor rocketed to fame as Nick Young in the 2018 box office juggernaut, followed by turns in A Simple Favour, opposite Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, Last Christmas with Emilia Clarke and The Gentlemen with Hugh Grant and Matthew McConaughey – but his new film takes him in a fresh direction.

He stars as Snake Eyes, the breakout character from previous G.I Joe instalments, whose damaged vocal chords and skills with the katana rendered him silent but deadly.

In the new standalone prequel film about the character, set before the events of G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its 2013 sequel G.I Joe: Retaliation, Henry plays a more talkative version of the ninjutsutrained US commando, but one who is no less of a threat with a sword in his hand.

“For any actor to have the chance to play a physical role against type – of perhaps what you started with in a rom com or anything like that – shows that given the right material, the spectrum is infinite,” he explains.

“But for me, specifically, choosing the films that I have very early on in my career was to provide the spectrum, and this definitely hit the action-explosive role that I was really looking forward to playing.”

But transforming into the lethal warrior was no mean feat for the British-Malaysian actor, 34, who started out as a presenter on the BBC’s Travel Show before his big break in Hollywood.

“You don’t realise how taxing it can be doing the sequences. As a viewer, you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s amazing. How did they do that in one take?’ It’s never one take, trust me. There are probably about 30 or 40 sometimes, in the entire day of doing this, making sure everything works and the camera gets it.

“So it’s like a little marathon – you have to pace yourself. But at the same time, you have to be explosive, to get everything right to give your all-out effort to make it look sellable.”

In Snake Eyes we meet Henry’s character as a tenacious loner who is welcomed into the ancient Japanese Arashikage clan after he saves the life of their heir apparent and they teach him the ways of the ninja warrior.

Henry’s experience in boxing and Muay Thai meant he could move

“reasonably well”, but nothing prepared him for getting to grips with the silverware.

“To learn the katana work, the swordplay, and that type of choreography, is very, very different. Especially close combat, hand to hand.

“We had some amazing stunt crew and trainers who were with us until we finished the production.

“It’s a never-ending process. You’re always learning on the go. But it gets easier. The first week is like boot camp; you’re taken through your paces until your body kind of catches up.

“By the end of it, it’s yearning for more. It’s like, ‘So why aren’t we moving today? What is this? Why are you talking too much? Let’s beat people up’.”

Ah yes, the talking. A key change in the prequel is the audience actually hears Snake Eyes’ voice, rather than him being a mute and helmetclad fighter.

“Because obviously it’s his origin and we’re yet to explore the whole losing-his-voice thing, it was important to give him a sense of expression because of how we decided to tell his backstory,” Henry says.

“But at the same time, he’s definitely less-words-said-the-better.

So he’s not exactly the chattiest guy; he’s very reserved and calculative. He’s definitely a listener.”

Director Robert Schwentke, who worked on action hits Red and RIPD, told Henry he was determined Snake Eyes would stand out from the scores of superhero films dominating the big screen.

“My question was, ‘Right, why is this different to any other superhero movie or thing?’ Because if we’re making a generic thing like that, it’s not at the top of my interest list, there has to be something about it that’s unique.

“And he said, ‘100%, I don’t want to tell the traditional story. We need substance over anything else; we want to give the real struggle that someone from the Joes goes through, because we need to understand that G.I. Joes are a bunch of extraordinary men and women who aren’t born with superpowers’.”

The original G.I. Joe comics portrayed Snake Eyes as a commando with blond hair and blue eyes.

Henry, who was born in Malaysia to an English father and Malaysian mother and raised in Surrey, takes over the film role from actor Ray Park, who played the character in

G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I Joe: Retaliation and is white.

His casting marks a departure from previous portrayals of the character, but Henry who recently became a father for the first time, is clear that is does not change the key element of the story.

“At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter,” he says. “We live in a very globalised world, so for me, it was like, ‘Yeah, it’s a no brainer,’ somebody jumping into any type of other culture makes sense. “Back in the day, you had to spell it out. It had to be the ‘Oh, this white guy goes over to this Asian country’. We don’t need to spell it out anymore.

“I think in the sense of globalisation, for me, it wasn’t even a question of, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s a diverse choice’. It really wasn’t. If we can have an islander play Aquaman (Honolulu-born Jason Momoa), who was white and blonde haired, we’re in a good place.

“And if we can have a half-Asian and half-white guy play Snake Eyes, it’s like, ‘Who cares?’.

“As long as the story being told is brilliant, and the action is there blowing people away, let’s have fun with them.”

Snake Eyes is in UK cinemas now

If we can have a halfAsian, half-white guy play Snake Eyes, who cares? As long as the story is brilliant