What really attracted you to the film and is there anyone in particular who inspires you in the world of martial arts movies?
The director, Zhang Yimou was the main attraction for me and as for all that martial arts stuff I hardly know anything it is all mainly down to the choreographer.
How much training did you have to do?
I practised basic swordplay for about one month and then the action director worked out the scenes mainly whilst we were on set. I always looked after my face.
What appealed to you more the story or the action?
The elements of the love story appealed to me more and once again the director Zhang Yimou also drew me to the project.
Would you like to try out different films like say some big Hollywood movies?
I would like to try out many kinds of films but I don’t think that there are a lot of parts for me in certain movies particularly in Hollywood.
Do you think that Asian cinema is finally going global in a big way?
Yes, well the Chinese mainland has opened up and so the western world is getting to see more and they are pumping more money than before into a lot of foreign films.
Do you have more fans on an international scale than in your home country?
Well let me put it this way, I don’t have a fan club so I couldn’t really say.
Was it challenging for you to shoot at all those locations in the varying weather conditions?
Well for us the cast all we could do was wait but for the director, it was very challenging. For example the scene in the snow was very cold but it was also very well done, it is a very good scene. I have an opinion about drama, if say there is a character in a movie who is trying to open a door and it opens with one try then there is no drama, but if the door is locked and it has to be broken down now there is drama. When we shot in the snow it restricted our movements and this added to the drama of the scene, in fact the snow wasn’t planned it just happened and so were padded up for the cold and we did it.
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