[2010.04.02] DONNIE YEN PRAISES HUANG XIAOMING'S PROFESSIONALISM

courtesy of takungpao.com

The Wilson Yip Wai Shun directed, Donnie Yen Chi Tan, Huang Xiaoming, Sammo Hung Kam Bo, Lynn Xiong (Hung Doi Lam) starred kung fu epic IP MAN 2 will open simultaneously on April 29 in Asia. Yesterday the film unveiled the latest set of photos with Ip Man's oldest disciple Wong Leung (Huang Xiaoming). His cool denim look was very trendy and sharp. Huang Xiaoming in the film had many fight scenes and even fought with Yen Chi Tan against hundreds as they performed the film's only big scale group fight scene. Yen Chi Tan gave Huang Xiaoming high marks. "For his first kung fu film he already fought very well, he has a lot of potential."

IP MAN 2's story took place in the 50s Hong Kong. Every actor almost wore uniform costumes. Yet in the latest stills, Huang Xiaoming appeared in a denim look with an extra large leather bag and looked very trendy to modern eyes. Huang Xiaoming became the entire film's most trendy symbol as he added color to the gray toned film. Reportedly, this look was Huang Xiaoming's first appearance in the film as he challenged Yen Chi Tan to a fight.

IP MAN 2 began with the challenge between Huang Xiaoming and Yen Chi Tan. Against Yen Chi Tan and his decades of kung fu background, Huang Xiaoming honestly said the stress was enormous. Yet his performance finally received Yen Chi Tan and action director Sammo Hung Kam Bo's recognition. Yen Chi Tan expressed, "Because Huang Xiaoming didn't have any martial art background, a lot of action would be more difficult to perform. At the start of this fight scene Hung Kam Bo could not capture the feeling that he wanted so he let us fight time and time again. Finally Huang Xiaoming's arms were all red and face was all pale, but he only rested for five minutes before starting anew like a professional. Actually I feels that he already fights very decently and has a lot of potential."

According to Huang Xiaoming, he has enjoyed wuxia novels since childhood. "My childhood dream is to make a kung fu film." This time he fulfilled his own kung fu dream because he was able to learn real kung fu from Yen Chi Tan, Hung Kam Bo and others on IP MAN 2. In the film all the actors from Yen Chi Tan and Hung Kam Bo to Sik Siu Lung had kung fu backgrounds. Only Huang Xiaoming was trying his first kung fu film. To keep his performance from looking too gentle, the team revealed that Huang Xiaoming was very professional and tough. Not only did he spend a month before the shoot to practice with a Wing Chun instructor, he kept practicing with the stunt coordinators on the set. He even moved a wooden man into his hotel room to practice daily. Reportedly after the shoot Huang Xiaoming even transported the wooden man to his Beijing home from Shanghai and still practiced when he had time. In life he also became an authentic "martial art fanatic".