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Compiled by: Jack Foley
Q. What appealed to you most about The Descent?
A. As an Asian actor, it's rare to come across a character
that isn't written as Asian. Juno is a very full, well thought
out character who has this huge spectrum of emotions and experiences,
and that for any actor is a blessing.
You don't come across those kinds of characters very often and
because it's horror, everything is extreme, which makes it ever
more amazing.
Q. What was the best part about working on the film?
A. The best part about working on this film is being
able to express such extreme emotions. Juno is so confident and
so cocky at times. She's supposed to be charismatic and all these
things, but then she's also got this side that almost falls apart
when something emotional happens, so being able to express that
and really see if I could do it has been really rewarding.
Q. And the worst?
A. The worst thing for me is the rain cloud that always
seems to follow Juno around - she's constantly soaked to the bone.
I'm like, where is all the water coming from? I don't swim. I
didn't actually mention that in my audition. So being thrown into
the icy cold water in Scotland was absolutely terrifying. And
I also don't drive but thankfully I didn't have to do that. We
re-jigged the script a little bit. Those are the two things I
have to learn to do this year.
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Q. What do you like most
about the film?
A. There's a real honesty about the characters. They're
all great girls, but they're thrown into these extreme circumstances
and things start to break down and you start to see their weaknesses.
I think Juno could quite easily be perceived as the baddie, definitely
when I first read it I thought it was written like that, and I
thought no.
I wanted people to empathise with her. I think she's very human,
she made a mistake, she wants to rectify that and get rid of the
guilt.
The characters are thrown into this hideous nightmare and they
all have this moment where you think 'that's not that nice', even
Sarah has her moments.
And that's what I love. It's honest. They haven't just made someout
out to be the 'baddie' and it's one-dimensional. It's confusing
because you see little glimpses of bad and good in all of them.
Q. What was the physical aspect like? You seem to be
involved in a lot of the fighting?
A. It was difficult because I was actually wrestling
a guy and that was hard work. I have lots of bruises and burns
to prove how difficult it was.
It has been pretty harrowing. I have not had to fight a man like
that before and literally throw him. We didn't have enough time
to really rehearse because of the hectic schedule, so the direction
was basically to just go for it.
So he went for me and I went for him and I have never felt that
much rage, having to throw him was so grueling and fighting on
the sand was like glass cutting your skin.
Q. How was working with an all-female cast?
A. Working on a film with an all-female cast has been
so much fun. It's such a rarity. I respect all the girls so much
as actors. They're all completely different and we have a lot
of fun off set as well.
There's a real support actually. I really believe in sisterhood
and going caving and rock-climbing together, it was so great to
have their voices down the bottom going 'come on, you can do it'.
The Descent: Our verdict
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