Although his fight with Mike Tyson in “Ip Man 3” seemed seamless, Donnie Yen recently admitted that filming the scene itself was quite scary and dangerous for him.
The actor, who held his Masterclass at the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival recently, shared that he went into filming with the former professional boxer knowing that the latter was not an actor and would not be able to fake his punches like an actor would.
“When I was in a scene with him, I had to remind myself that I have to be very cautious. I did not allow myself to think I was shooting a scene for a film,” said Donnie. “I had to treat it as a real fight in a boxing ring with him and it was a matter of life and death. I couldn’t afford to be distracted in any way, otherwise it wouldn’t have been a K.O., it would have cost me my life.”
He also revealed that he even risked a possibility of getting Tyson’s hook in one shot as he was only able to duck at the last possible moment for the sake of the cameras.
“That was so dangerous! I literally felt the air move with his punch, which was like a truck coming towards me head-on. I felt that wind… that’s still so clear in my mind, so dangerous! His fist was so huge, and it touched my hair,” he said.
The actor added that it was one of the biggest pressures he had filming the said movie.
On the other hand, the actor is set to appear in the fourth instalment of the Keanu Reeves-starrer, “John Wick”, and is currently promoting his new Hong Kong movie, “Raging Fire” – which is also the last movie by director Benny Chan prior to his death.
(Photo Source: Donnie Yen Instagram, China Daily, IMDb)