Actor Simu Liu was recently seen participating in the press rounds for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and also appeared on the red carpet at the global premiere of the film. But, he took time out of his busy schedule to host an "ask me anything" session with fans online, and he had some interesting information to share.
Reddit users posed several fun questions to Liu, who plays the lead role in Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi, which varied drastically in nature, but the actor answered each one with grace and humor. From referring to Benedict Cumberbatch as “a supportive but also sexy father,” talking about his community being represented in the superhero space, to his “deer-in-the-headlights” moment when he was first introduced as Shang-Chi at Comic-Con 2019, Liu had a response for all the different genres of questions asked.
One thing that Liu has always been open about is his Asian heritage and the struggles of succeeding in Hollywood due to the “way [he] looked.” During the Reddit AMA session, he was asked about how difficult it was for him to succeed and he opened up about how he has put on “ridiculous and offensive accents in the past,” all to impress the casting directors. He regrets not being true to himself, and as he struggled to find his footing in the industry he realized the importance of representation. Shang-Chi has a mostly Asian cast and crew, and that is something that Marvel has taken pride in, to be able to bring in more diversity into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I’m Simu Liu and I play Shang-Chi in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of the 10 Rings. AMA! Let’s do this! (except spoilery stuff!) from marvelstudios
When a fan asked about his past experience with action sequences and martial arts, Liu joked about how he would spend a lot of time backflipping in his yard, and “almost broke [his] neck” once. He even revealed how he had to work a lot of side jobs and worked as a substitute stuntman. For Shang-Chi, however, he “trained 5-6 hours a day, 5 days a week with the stunt team.” This was aside from the time he spent training in the gym. “I had my work cut out for me because Shang Chi is the Master of Kung Fu, and Simu is the Master of Almost Breaking His Neck,” he joked during the Reddit session.
It is common knowledge that Liu is quite active on social media. He often interacts with his fans on his Twitter account and even is a regular Redditor. One fan asked him if he still visits subreddits, and Liu immediately confirmed that r/nba is still his favorite one, which he visits “on a daily basis to keep up with all things basketball.” A surprise shoutout came from Liu for r/CrochetPatterns, where the actor claims to share his “little knowledge” for the art.
About his co-stars, Liu only had words of praise. He spoke of his scenes with Awkwafina, who played a large role in his casting as Shang-Chi, and how they were “the most free-flowing.” Director Destin Daniel Cretton would let their takes run long, and the scene on the plane, where Liu is seen teaching Awkwafina how to pronounce Shang-Chi, was largely unscripted. He has previously spoken about how he was most excited to be working with Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh, but during the Reddit session he refers to working with Leung as a “master class in acting every single day.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premieres in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Source: marvelstudios/Reddit