“You can look [at] my trajectory as an actor to see how, pretty much, on every film I have got better. You can see that I am not resting on my laurels.” Scott Adkins
Today we welcome back the martial arts movie star, Scott Adkins, who makes his third appearance on our show. Scott and the director, Jesse V. Johnson, have been responsible for some very impressive work over the last few years, including Savage Dog, Accident Man, The Debt Collector, Triple Threat and their latest, Avengement, which sees Scott provide one of his most intense acting performances. It’s a partnership which allows Scott to take on more challenging, character-driven work, and one which shows no signs in slowing down. In this quick catch-up, Scott talks about how his new-found creative freedom in front of and behind the camera has sparked an interest in directing his own films. He discusses the types of movies he would like to make as a director, as well as giving us an update on some of his upcoming movies; one of which is Ip Man 4, which sees Scott working with kung fu movie legends Yuen Woo-ping and Donnie Yen. A huge thank you to Soo Cole and the whole team at the Fighting Spirit Film Festival for organising this conversation.
The UK martial arts actor and filmmaker Mark Strange shares a connection with Scott that dates back to 2003, when Mark also worked on the Jackie Chan film, The Medallion, which featured a young Scott Adkins. Flash-forward to 2019 and Mark can now be seen going toe-to-toe with Scott in tough new UK actioner, Avengement, which is out now in the USA and available on digital in the UK courtesy of Dazzler Media. The film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from 1 July and you can pre-order it now from Amazon. Mark will also be making an appearance in Ip Man 4. On this episode, he discusses his experiences working in Hong Kong as well as the challenges of getting his own action movies off the ground in the UK, where he has predominantly worked with the director Chee Keong-cheung. Their latest film – the zombie action flick, Redcon-1 – took a mammoth seven years to complete, and is available to watch now on Netflix.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest Scott Adkins news by following him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and for all the latest Mark Strange news, follow him on Instagram and Facebook, and also check out the website, markstrange.com.
Jesse V. Johnson and Scott Adkins working on Avengement.
Scott Adkins and Donnie Yen on the set of Ip Man 4.
Mark Strange as Lt. Frank Perez in Redcon-1.
Mark Strange with Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast host, Ben Johnson.
