ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to director George Huang and star Sung Kang about Weekend in Taipei. Huang and Kang discussed how the action project, which was co-written by Luc Besson, came to fruition, how they made Kang’s character a believable villain, and more.
“On a deep undercover assignment in Taipei, DEA agent John Lawlor (Luke Evans) was doing everything right… until he fell in love with his informant, beautiful Josephine ‘Joey’ Kwang (Gwei Lun-mei), one of the Asian underworld’s best transport drivers,” the synopsis for the movie reads. “Compromised and cover blown, John was forced to flee. Now, years later, John is back in Taipei for the weekend. But is he here to finish the job? Or to win back Joey’s love?
Weekend in Taipei releases in United States theaters on November 8, 2024, from Ketchup Entertainment.
Brandon Schreur: George, my first question is for you. I’m wondering if you can tell me just a little bit about how this project came about. I know you co-wrote it with Luc Besson, who was also a producer. Did you come to him and say, ‘Hey, I have this great idea for an action movie and you’re the action movie guy, let’s do this?’ Or how did that happen?
George Huang: So, Luc and I have actually known each other for a while. He actually, out of the blue, called me, like, ten years ago, and said he’d read a script of mine. He wanted to talk movies, so we got together, and that naturally just led to, ‘Hey, let’s write something together.’ He had a couple of story ideas, so we started writing together about ten years ago.
Even back then, Luc — he’s a very prolific filmmaker. He said, ‘Look, you work with me, I made more movies than Fox this year, so there’s an incredibly high likelihood that we will make our movie together.’ And that’s, oh my god. For any filmmaker, that’s exactly what you want to hear. We wrote one script together, that did not get made. Wrote another script together, that didn’t get made.
With this one, he came to me and said, ‘Hey, I’m interested in doing sort of a female Transporter movie set in Asia.’ So we wrote that together, and the third time’s a charm. He and his wife Virginie [Besson-Silla], who is his producing partner, really did everything they could to make this happen. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity to bring this film to the screen.
Sure, definitely. And it came out so well, too. I think you guys make some magic together so that’s awesome. Sung, you’re really well-known for playing Han in the Fast and Furious franchise. He’s obviously a really well-known and beloved character. Here, you’re kind of doing the total opposite where you’re not just a villain, but you’re an evil villain. Like, I think the moment where you really reveal your true colors is when you have the kid tied up and you’re hitting him. It’s like, ‘Oh, man. This guy isn’t good.’ I’m curious what it’s like going the complete opposite of things. Is it more fun playing a hero or a villain?
Sung Kang: Definitely a villain. It’s more fun. A lot more fun. The hero can get boring after a while. I’ve played Han so many times. It was nice to get into a different role. I think when you’re the bad guy, you get to take more chances and risks. You get to play more. It’s a lot of fun.
Sure. George, question for you about Sung. What’s it like directing Sung to be so evil like that? Do you have to give him a lot of direction, or do you just go, “Go for it, be evil, and we’ll see what happens?“
George: The great thing about working with someone like Sung is that he comes so prepared. Even before he signed on, the role was — yes, he’s the villain of the story, but to Sung’s credit, he came and said, ‘We really have to make this a well-rounded character, we have to make this a real character.’ We all worked together to try and deepen the role and not just make it a mustache-twirling villain, [we wanted to] give the character complexity, a deep backstory, and understand what it is that he really wants from all of this. Credit to Sung, he really brought these layers and depth to what could’ve been a typical, cardboard cutout villain.
Honestly, there are audiences who feel that [Sung’s] character is the hero of the movie and not the villain. You feel incredible empathy and sympathy for what he’s going through in this situation, and that’s really a credit to not only Sung’s work but his performance. It was a gift, quite honestly.
Thanks to George Huang and Sung Kang for discussing Weekend in Taipei.
