EXCLUSIVE | 'Mulan' actor Chen Tang says physical training for film felt like being in 'intensive boot camp'
After what seems like an eternity, the live-action remake of 'Mulan' is finally seeing the light of day on September 4. However, it won't be screened in theatres due to the coronavirus pandemic, but on Disney+ instead. The film is a remake of the Disney animated classic and tells the story of Fa Mulan, a girl, who pretended to be a man in order to fight in the army and save her country from hordes of barbarians.
In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Chen Tang, who plays the role of Yao in the film, opens up about his experiences working in the film and the Disney Plus release. "It feels surreal. We're just so happy that it's finally able to come out, you know, in a different way than expected again, planned," he says. He adds that he wasn't sure at first on how to feel about this change of plans, but is now "weirdly excited" about it.
"At first, I was a little surprised. I didn't know what to expect, but now I'm actually weirdly kind of excited because you know, this has never been done before like that," he says. "It is a different time. All of the industry and everybody's eyes are on this thinking like 'Oh, wow, how is this going to work?' Let's put this into perspective. You know, even when this was coming out, when they first delayed it, this is how I always felt. Not only is it, you know, that you can't go to the movie theater, even if you wanted to but, more importantly, this is a health crisis. We care about people. This a family movie, too, but it's also just a movie at the end of the day. I mean, we love what we do. We are so proud of the film and we can't wait for the world to see it. It's gorgeous. But it's health first. Money and movies come second."
Talking about his character, Yao, he says, "I play a character named Yao, I am one of the returning trios from the cartoon. I'm a hard-talking, hard-fighting, tough guy, that is a sort of bully to everybody around him. That's how he thought that's what being a man should be. And through it all, you know, we all become friends with Mulan. I change. I learned the meaning of being a man."
The training for this was incredibly arduous. In detail, Tang explains how it felt like "boot camp" and that director Niki Carrow ensured that they had intense physical exercise every day, where they "would just run" for kilometers at a stretch.
Laughing about it now, Tang says, "When I think about it, my legs start hurting. I knew we would probably need training, but when we got there, I didn't expect to be doing the hardest physical training of my entire life. And I'm a pretty active dude. It was incredibly intense. We landed in Auckland and the next day was training. We did physical labor for four hours a day. And it was basically like very intense physical training. It made you feel like you were working in the fields all day."
They had to master stunt training, archery and horseback riding. "We would finish that, then be shuttled to stunt training. We had to make sure we could do stunts and fight. And then we were doing archery and horseback riding. We even did marching. They built an army and we trained with them and like." Tang says that they were all "in the best shape" at this time, and despite the grueling workouts, it had a satisfactory payoff. "It was wonderful. It gave me so much," he says.
'Mulan' has always been considered an empowering film for women especially, and there is much debate on the relevance of the film today. Speaking about this, Tang says, "Our motto for the film is loyalty, and to be true to ourselves, and fighting for what you believe in. I think right now, we need to be true to ourselves more than ever. There is so much going on in the world right now. I believe a lot of the unhappiness of the world honestly just not speaking with your authentic voice. Because through the journey of Mulan, you know, as she becomes more and more okay to speak from her true voice and be herself in a way, you know, a woman in a man's army, beautiful things happen."
Live-action remakes are usually met with much apprehension, as most fans don't want anything to harm the nostalgia of the classics. Talking about this, Tang reveals the amount of effort Disney put into the live-action film, and that it was "movie magic". "You can't please, everybody. I think Disney did a wonderful job, because they really, really wanted to draw a lot from the cartoon. They made movie magic and I can't tell you how much effort was put in to make it just right, even down to the littlest detail of the embroidery in the Royal courts; you know it was searched for years."
He adds, "Props for them was throwing all their weight behind something like this and just really, really wanting to do it right. It's a creative risk as it is a fantasy. And they really wanted to draw and respect Chinese culture and history. And I have loved them for that. I can't help but respect anyone who takes an artistic risk, unartistic leap and that's what they did with this."
Speaking about his upcoming projects, Tang says, "On October 2, I'm on a television show on Cinemax called 'Warrior'. The first season had a lot of great reviews and received great attention. I joined in the second season. So I actually shot that right after 'Mulan'. It's based on a Bruce Lee story. And Bruce Lee's daughter is actually one of our executive producers and it's basically about a young martial arts prodigy. Great action. Great fighting, great storytelling. I really hope people check it out. I joined the cast as a character named Hong and I play a nice guy, who also happens to be a mass murderer," he signs off with a laugh.
'Mulan' releases on September 4 on Disney+.