IGN has interviewed Lee Byung-Hun, the actor who plays Storm Shadow in the upcoming G.I. Joe:Rise of Cobra live action movie! A famous actor known all over Asia, Lee’s role as Storm Shadow is a departure from his previous roles(an exception being A Bittersweet Life), as he has played romantic, and sensitive leads in his other movies. He thinks that his fans may be disappointed and find it strange that he took this role since it is a departure from his usual roles, but he found it to be a great experience on a personal level.
He found it hard to have an interview in English, but found it more difficult to act in English due to difficulty in focusing on emotions when fixing bad accents or pronunciations. He thought director Stephen Sommers was weird at first, but realized that he in fact, was actually really smart, and made very quick decisions. He states that Sommers was a pleasure to work with.
Lee Byung-Hun had no previous knowledge of G.I. Joe(it isn’t popular at all in Korea), and he asked Sommers & Leonardo di Bonaventura if he should watch the old cartoons, but they told him that he didn’t have to. He chose not to watch them as he felt it was better so that he might be able to make a better character. Storm Shadow is similar to character he plays in The Good, The Bad, The Weird.
Like the character Lee plays in The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Storm Shadow is mysterious, with huge pride and honour. Lee was attracted to the role of Storm Shadow because he possesses a kind of dual personality. He carries two swords, weapons that he is known for in the comics, and the first figure from 1984. This was actually Lee’s first movie with swords, and he had to spend one month with the stunt team learning martial arts with swords. With his newfound knowledge, he will be using swords again in his future movies.
Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes grow up together in the movie almost like brothers, but later have a big misunderstanding. A rivalry forms and a confrontation is inevitable. Lee states that the dynamic between the two is one of the most interesting points of the film.
Thanks to IGN & HissTank boards member pepefdzizg for the heads up!
pepefdzizg says
here's the link.
IGN: G.I. Joe Exclusive
Captain Carstein says
Thanks for sharing. Nothing too earth shattering, but a interesting little read.
Steel Brigade says
Thanks for the interview!
Agent-GHQ says
I got a bad feeling about this!
karamazov80 says
Too bad he didn't watch the cartoons, though, to guide his character.
Shin Densetsu says
SnakeEyes2184 says
I have kept quite for a very very long time on the movie, but it seems alot of you have bad feelings about the movies. Let wait to this thing comes out and then we will see. Im pretty sure Hasbro would not let the Gi joe franchised get all messed up. I have a feeling this is gonna be just like Transformers.
Imperial_Ozma says
In Sunbow the only thing that made Storm Shadow stand out was his sense of honor, and he was foiled most often against Spirit (occasionaly against Quick Kick).
I agree, if anything would have been helpful it would have been up to when The Baroness shoots Storm Shadow, but it's easy to understand him not wanting to be bogged down by other interpretations.
SnAkEyEz says
he SHOULD of watched the cartoons.. !!!.. he went into the role not knowing anything about storm shadow... anyways.. I think they are over doing his & Snakeeye's roles.. sounds like they are putting too much emphasis on them... I dont think they ever had a fight scene together in the cartoon.. not once!! I always wished they would of had 1 scene.. never did though ... to my knowledge
Jbluez says
Keep reading: IGN talks to Storm Shadow himself, Byung Hun-Lee - Page 2
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