He
can't walk down the street in Korea without being swarmed by fans, but
pop superstar Rain is fairly unknown in North America. Last year he
appeared in the Wachowski Brothers' film Speed Racer, and he currently stars as Raizo, a ninja who hunts and kills other ninjas, in the ultra-violent and bloody Ninja Assassin.
"It's very sexy. I love my character. I think [he] is the most incredible character," he told CityNews.ca while in Toronto promoting the film.
Rain
sees conquering Hollywood as a challenge and doesn't plan to slow down
until he gets the same reception in America as he does in his home
country.
"I want to challenge myself to see where my limit is. I'll do my best and Americans will love me too," he says.
The Wachowskis (brothers Larry and Andy), who produced Ninja Assassin along with Joel Silver, wanted to make a serious ninja film from the time they finished the wildly successful Matrix trilogy back in 2003. They couldn't find the right person for it until they worked with Rain on Speed Racer.
"They
have the abilities to make dreams come true," he says of the directing
duo. "Without them I couldn't have done the film in the first place. I
love them and want to work with them again."
The Wachowskis also brought back their V For Vendetta director James McTeigue to helm Ninja Assassin.
Rain says he was great to work with and enjoyed his directing style. He
also cited McTeigue's commitment to the film, as well as his humility
on set.
The Raizo role required intense training -- Rain learned
Tai Chi, Tae-Kwon-Do, kung fu, kickboxing as well as sword fighting.
There was no wire work or camera tricks in Ninja Assassin and Rain did his own stunts, which left him with cuts all over his body at times.
"I trained for eight months, five days a week, eight
hours a day. It was hard. I ate chicken breasts and vegetables. No
sugar or salt of any sort. It was horrible," he says of the experience.
During
the interview he would occasionally speak Korean when he got excited
and passionate about an answer. While talking about his idols Bruce Lee
and Jackie Chan for instance he slipped into his native tongue. "They
are my heroes," he enthuses. "I saw a lot of Lee movies from when I was
young."
Rain is also a very funny, cool guy and cracked jokes
often. While talking about Lee and Chan he said sarcastically, "I'm so
powerful, I'm so much faster, I'm so young, I'm so more handsome than
them."
Rumours of him starring in a remake of Enter the Dragon
have been circulating on the Internet. When I asked if he's signed on
yet he told me he hasn't decided and then added, "If I tell you, my
producer will kill me." Read into that what you will.
Although he's only starred in one Korean film, Chan-wook Park's I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK,
he feels his focus should be on Hollywood productions and currently has
offers for two action films as well as a romance. He did say the Korean
film industry is popular in Asia and is similar to Hollywood but on a
much smaller scale.
When asked if he prefers the music business
(he has six albums under his belt) to the movie business he said, "This
is like: 'Do you prefer father or mother?'. I love singing and acting
and I'll concentrate on both."
After seeing Ninja Assassin I was curious to find out if there will be a Ninja Assassin 2. He seems willing to return: "If people like it [the first one] we will do it."
Ninja Assassin is currently playing at a theatre near you. Check out a featurette on Rain's training for the film below.
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
Top image: Rain in a scene from Ninja Assassin. Courtesy Warner Bros.