Dan's Movie Report: Actress Sarah Chang Interview (2018) A Dan's Movie Report Exclusive!!

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Actress Sarah Chang Interview (2018) A Dan's Movie Report Exclusive!!

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report Readers. For my second interview with actress and stunt team leader Sarah Chang, I will focus on her upcoming feature Trigonal: Fight For Justice. The new film will be released September 26, 2018 in the Philippines and soon after Worldwide. Sarah chats about working with a wide variety of talents from all over the globe and discusses her various responsibilities on the film. Enough of my incessant babbling, on to the textual action!

Hi Sarah, What is your role in the Trigonal?

I am playing the character of Mei Li.

What attracted you to the role of Mei, what attracted you to the character?

I finally get to be comical, out there, and let myself go. She is very quirky, basically in her own world. I think I can really relate to her. When I read the script, I thought, this is totally me. Nobody really knows that about me because I hide some of it. Haha, but in real life I feel I am like Mei. Haha.

Talk about the pre-production and support prior to shooting Trigonal.

We did acting classes with Gabby Fernandez, to prepare for the role. We also had to do training of course, because Mei does Wushu which is my area of expertise, so it was a perfect fit

Talk about the location of where the film was shot?

Bacalod is in the middle of Philippines on Negros Island. It was different, like a surfer town. The locations on Trigonal are very gritty and grungy and we have to make sure we did not get Denge haha, that was like the first thing that I noticed. I really enjoyed the people here, they are super laid back, very nice, and really talented. They are extremely humble about their skill and talent.

How about shooting the film in your character.

I really enjoyed it, with the workshop with Gabby he went into the character and pulled out all of the details that I was supposed to notice that I did not notice in the script. During the acting workshop I was, whoa (OK) this is where I am supposed to go (in character). While actually doing it on the shoot, I remembered what was going on (there, at the workshop) I pushed into the moment, then it felt so natural, and so much fun. I feel like I can be Mei all the time.

What was it like being directed by Vince S.?

Very comfortable, he gives you simple ques, and then you just follow, he does not interfere with the process, he guides you and then you are there.

On the Trigonal you are the action director, share your experience.

Yes, for the first time I am action directing, I have never done it before, and it was a lot of stress. I was really nervous about it, but I am so thankful to have my team SACHANG Team in Manilla (Sarah has a team of action professionals) and I was also fortunate to have new additions to my team in Bacolod. B the Black Dragon Team Windel Billiones, his son Winsie, and Andre Barayoga, there was also Keno and Kyds Rhey Fuentes, team of Filipino Martial Arts brothers. There are so many amazing martial artists here, hidden gems. There are so many different fighters here, it is easy to work, seems like everyone is a master at their talent. The actors in Trigonal are hand picked because they are martial artists. It was very easy to work with everyone. I was just letting them go at it, and I would say ok it looks good, next scene. It is such a blessing to have such talented actors and martial artists to work with.

What was it like working as an actress in the film?

As an actress I had a great time, because my co actors were amazingly talented. Everything moved and flowed flawlessly. I could bounce off all of the emotions especially with Ian (Ignacio) most of my scenes are with him. It was enjoyable working with him, he always gives you something, and I respond to him.

How about the other actors in the film you worked with the action ones?

Ok we have Capoeirista and Escrimador Mekael Turner who paired up with China's UFC fighter Li JingLiang. MMA fighter Wu PeiXiu from Taiwan came in and worked with Brian Wilson. He is actually a friend from my stunt team in Taiwan, he came in and worked with Brian Wilson, their fight turned out really well. It was kind of funny because I get to pick weapons, I picked this really cool looking thing, but when it was made it was extremely awkward to handle so we had to change the fight so they would lose the weapons right away As cool as the weapon looked, it was just too cumbersome to wield in battle, so that was one thing we altered. It is interesting to have to deal with all of the aspects of the fight. I never really thought about that aspect, I am usually worried about the choreography, how I am going to make sure it doubles, or hits. Now I am dealing with the whole look of the fight. I am dealing with the feeling and what I want to achieve. Example: This guy comes into a fight, is he the bad guy, what kind of a bad guy is he? Is he a good guy etc... I had to think of all of the acting bits and action bits.

Any specific scene or part of the shoot of Trigonal you remember?

I really enjoyed the acting workshop with the Kung Fu Panda haha, we have a scene about the Kung Fu Panda. It is hysterically funny. During the acting workshop I went crazy with it, but during the shoot I was not as crazy (I was very tired). Still it was so much fun.

Anything you would like to add?

I just want to say it has been an amazing experience working with very seasoned actors Christian Vasquez, Rhian Ramos and Ian Ignacio. They are all so experienced it is easy for them to get it(transition into character) It was kind of cool doing Rhian Ramos first action scene. In the beginning she was like, “Are you supposed to do that, are you supposed to hit them there, won't they get hurt?” Now haha she is addicted to it, I think she wants to do another action scene. Christian Vasquez did really well in his action scenes, and he was really easy to work with. Epy Quizon surprised me with his kicks haha, he did this crazy twirly thing not even sure if I can do that one haha, Paul Allica and Ian had such a long and drawn out fight. It was supposed to be done in one night, and we spent three days doing the fight. Props to them, I know it was a long fight, they had to do a lot of takes, we had to get everything, because it was such an emotional fight. We wanted to make sure it was perfect! (Please view the all new trailer below.)