Dan's Movie Report: Actress Sarah Chang Interview - Wolf Warrior 2 Chat- A Dan's Movie Report Exclusive

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Actress Sarah Chang Interview - Wolf Warrior 2 Chat- A Dan's Movie Report Exclusive

Wolf Warrior 2 has exploded into box office history this Summer with an amazing 800 million dollar box office haul in China alone. I was one of the fortunate few who had the opportunity to witness this spectacular film in the cinema in the U.S. as it only played in 53 theaters nationwide. Wolf Warrior 2 represents a great advancement in U.S./Chinese collaborations as the East meets West idea was not the white man saving the day. Actress and stunt double Sarah Chang shares her experiences from the set of Wolf Warrior 2, as she was Celina Jade’s stunt double and had a small acting part as well. The interview was conducted on the set of her new film Trigonal: Fight For Justice.

DMR: How did you get connected for work on Wolf Warrior 2?

SC:I got on the film because of my friend Kevin Lee and his wife Janet Wang. They helped me get in touch with the Wolf Warrior 2 executives. I was also fortunate to go for the first time to Jackie Chan’s training center to do an audition, after that they brought me along. After that I got into the training, and finally I got to be the stunt double for Celina Jade.

DMR: Cool story, yes often it is personal connections that lead to work. Not to spoil Wolf Warrior 2, but there is an amazing helicopter crash sequence, I am curious what was the prep time for the helicopter crash stunt? Chat about some of the techniques you learned to prepare for that.

SC: We had two weeks training before the movie started, most things however were ‘on the spot’ whatever is needed. Celina Jade does not actually fight in Wolf Warrior 2 (Ed note: she plays a doctor). Although she does not fight, her character is involved in a car chase scene and has some action. The film had two units filming at the same time, so I was always in the Jeep, or in the helicopter depending on the situation. I actually got to play a role inside the helicopter, I was the factory owners wife, and we were trying to escape, and then the helicopter crashed. I had to break the glass with my head (Laughs) yes that was the stunt.

DMR: That is a funny story, Sarah, what was it like to work with Celina Jade and other cast members on Wolf Warrior 2?

Celina Jade is the sweetest girl ever, she is super super nice and eats very healthy, actually. She is always bringing flax seed on the set, and granola. Celina is always making sure we have our grape seed oil. She really is super healthy and sweet, sometimes she would even cook for us! We would go and hang out, she is a really good cook. She had a restaurant called Home: Eat To Live (Ed Note: the HK eatery recently closed).

DMR: Great story, yes Celina is vegan, I had the opportunity to give her fruit from my trees when she came to South Florida. Pushing on with the interview, having watched the film in the theater, it was pretty amazing to see how much screen time Heidi Moneymaker had. Share your thoughts on having the ladies doing more action sequences on Wolf Warrior 2 and other films.

SC: I think right now the hottest thing is having action women! For example, look at the recent success of the Wonder Woman. Basically, look at all the current film trailers, everything is women, Atomic Blonde… It is the new trend, it is important to have a good action director, and have to have good training so you can kick ass on set.
Heidi Moneymaker, wow, she is totally ripped. When I first met her I was like (bows with outstretched arms) hello! She of course did the stunts for Black Widow. We also worked with the talented Sam Hargrave, Aaron Toney, and Brian Ho. All of these guys worked on Avengers, and many of the top action movies. It was the most amazing experience to witness how they all gelled together. Some of the stunt performers only met each other for the first time, but the way they just understood action was amazing. They just moved together like a cohesive unit, so fluidly. It was a great learning experience for me to be among those performers.

DMR: Thanks Sarah for sharing your experiences on Wolf Warrior 2, we will catch up again when Trigonal: Fight For Justice arrives. As always, keep action alive.

Brand New! 2018 Action Reel: