Mulan’s Jimmy Wong says film is serious and ‘grounded in reality’ based on ‘one of China’s oldest folktales’
“I’ve been waiting since my birth for this year. So, it’s finally come around. 2020 -- it’s also a very nice number; that’s what I liked about it,” joked American actor and singer Jimmy Wong. Joke or not, one can hardly deny that this year is going to be big for him.
Wong, who plays the role of Ling in Disney’s live-action ‘Mulan’ adaptation, recently joined MEA WorldWide’s (MEAWW) Alana Jordan for a chat about the film. Among other things, the 32-year-old spoke about keeping his work on ‘Mulan’ a secret, the differences between the animated and live-action character of Ling, and reprising a lot of the comedic moments from the original.
First, talking about another upcoming project, the Jackie Chan-starrer ‘Wish Dragon’, Wong said, “So, it’s sort of a modern retelling of the classic ‘Aladdin’ story, which is taken from ‘Arabian Nights’ way, way back in the day, and it’s about a young boy who stumbles across a dragon -- that’s a ‘Wish Dragon’.”
The funny thing is that while Wong’s one upcoming project is the animated Chinese retelling of a story that saw a live-action version release in 2019, his other one is the live-action adaptation of a 1998 animated movie based on a Chinese folktale. “It’s been a really interesting year because you know all of these things have been in production for a couple of years now. I recorded ‘Mulan’ in 2018, which seems like a whole century ago at this point,” said Wong. “So, it’s just sort of been like seeing everything tumble out and finally get released -- bit overwhelming, but I’m excited.”
Talking about keeping his role in ‘Mulan’ under wraps, he said, “I mean we’ve all heard of the historic security that Disney would put on its ‘Star Wars’ movies and all the stuff. And it was just one of those things where you know that you can take some pictures here and there, but you definitely don’t want any of that getting out. Because you don’t want the movie itself to be spoiled either.”
“I want to be able to walk into the theater and feel like I’m seeing it for the first time. And I’m sure a lot of other people do too,” Wong added. In the 1998 Disney animated film, Ling, Yao and Chien Po were a trio of best friends -- almost like the Three Stooges in their personalities -- enlisted in the Chinese army during the war against Shan Yu. Ling, a somewhat clumsy man, initially has friction with Mulan. Over the course of the story, however, he and his friends begin to respect the eponymous character, and even develop a friendship.
Has anything changed about the character or his equation with Mulan changed 22 years later? To some degree, yes.
“So, if you’ve seen the trailers, you’ll notice that the movie has a much more serious overall tone to it. And it’s really diving deeper into the story of who Mulan is, her relationship with her father, and the struggle that she goes through to basically enter a war,” said Wong. “As a result, director Niki Caro, who is from New Zealand -- we shot it in New Zealand -- wanted to take a much more real approach to it. Something that stays a little bit away from the hammy comedy the original is amazing for. But at the same time, grounded in reality that makes it more, I think, for me, it pulls me in a lot more as a viewer.”
Wong further explained, “Especially because this is one of China’s oldest folktales, and stories -- Mulan’s based on a real person. It’s sort of like the Joan of Arc of China in a lot of ways. So, for that matter, you know, Ling and the friends are all there to support her. And we have little moments that serve as a callback to the comedy that we had in the past. But overall, we are, at the same time just like Mulan is, kids in the army, sort of overwhelmed by what’s happening. And really afraid of going into battle -- who knows if we’re going to come out the other side alive!”
But fans of the original need not worry too much about the changes to the film’s tone. According to Wong, “So, you get to see a lot of that, plus the interactions between us that sort of -- I think a lot of people will remember and fondly recall from the original. So, we have that camaraderie and it’s all sort of set in a more realistic tone.”
“There’s actually a small moment in the most recent trailer that released where we’re all sitting there and you hear the line, ‘We’re gonna make a man of each and every one of you,’ which is obviously a throwback to the movie. And you see us firing arrows,” said Wong, gesticulating wildly, “And my character prepares for an epic unleash of an arrow and lets go, and the arrow just falls straight down.”
Wong said that while he did watch the 1998 ‘Mulan’ four or five times -- “Everyone I knew was like we have to watch it again!” -- ultimately, he said he tried to pay more attention to the director, the script and the direction of the movie. “We wanted to make sure that we brought the director’s vision to life.”
The live-action version of ‘Mulan’ comes to theaters March 27.
