As a rising actor an insiders' tipp Scott Adkins could make his breakthrough with "Undisputed II: Last Man Standing" and open the door to Hollywood. So maybe we will read his name in a leading role soon.
Which way led you into the movie business? Were your martial arts skills the ticket or have you visited an acting school before?
I was accepted to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London which is a very well respected acting school but unfortunately I couldn't get a grant so I had to leave after only a few months of training. It was my martial arts that got me my first break in the Hong Kong film industry in 1999.
Have you ever aspired a pure martial arts career or was the step into the movie business always your dream? And what was your first contact with martial arts?
I was inspired mostly by people like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Van Damme. Growing up as a kid these guys were my idols and I always hoped that I could find a way to have a career in the martial arts movie world. I was about 12 when I made up my mind that that was what I wanted to do but as I grew up I became more and more intrigued with the craft of acting and began to take it more seriously. Martial arts was definitely my way in to the film business but I consider myself and actor first and foremost. My first contact with martial arts was Judo. My father and my elder brother used to go and naturally I went along with them. I was 10 years old and I didn't look back really. I have studied Judo, Tae Kwon Do and Kickboxing extensively and also took lessons in Wu Shu, Ju Jitsu.
By the way, you are a very acrobatic and agile fighter. Have you practiced additionally sports? Maybe gymnastics?
Yes I've done a lot of gymnastics. I consider my fighting style to be similar to Tony Jaa's. I think this was the natural next progression of martial arts performing, to combine gymnastics with martial arts and to try and raise the bar on what can really be done for real.
You attracted first attentions in "Extreme Challenge", "Black Mask 2: City of Masks" and "The Medallion". Your roles were small but you have established yourself with these engagements. Normally it isn't easy for European actors to get a chance in Hong Kong. What was your formula to success and why Hong Kong and not Europe or the U.S.A.?
I was lucky. I'd never really considered going to Hong Kong, it just seemed so far away and like a different world. I used to send my showreels out to Bey Logan in Hong Kong and he would always give me great feedback and support. When "Extreme Challenge" were looking for Western fighter's he encouraged me to send my reel to them so I did and then I got offered the role. Unlike a lot of Westerners I was always flown out to work in Hong Kong and it seemed like everyone wanted to use me. When I was about to fly back to England after "Extreme" I went along to an audition to be in a teaser trailer that was to be made to secure funding for Black Mask 2 and I actually ended up playing Black Mask in that. This of course lead to my role in Black Mask 2 and I also got to work with Jackie Chan because the director of Extreme Challenge was going to work on the Accidental Spy so he brought me along and that also led to The Medallion.
How instructive was it to work with Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark or later in Europe for "Danny The Dog" with Jet Li and Yuen Woo Ping?
What ever job I've ever done has always been a huge learning experience but certainly in the early days I would try and learn as much as I could from these masters of action film making. I would come to set on my days off just to sit by the monitor and learn as much as I could. I recall one day on the set of The Medallion, sitting down and watching Jackie Chan perform something like 36 takes of the same movement. It was amazing to see the perfectionism with my own eyes.
Do you have inspiring examples or are you from time to time in contact with other British actors as for instance Gary Daniels or Ray Park?
I've met Gary Daniels and he was an incredibly nice guy. I don't know Ray Park though.
Where do you see your future? Hollywood or Hong Kong? Only appearances in action movies or also other productions?
Hollywood. I want to concentrate on leading roles now and I don't think Hong Kong could offer me that as I am not Chinese. Certainly, I am getting more offers from LA.
You act and acted in diverse tv series ("EastEnders", "Holby City", "Mile High"). Who gave you the idea to check out roles apart from action movies?
I will always take an acting role over an action role as I have already proven myself in the action arena. It is more important to establish myself as a dramatic actor. Certainly when you look at how the action film industry has changed you can see that actors with no martial arts ability are being trained in Kung Fu and the audience seem to be accepting this. So I believe it is more important than ever before to prove yourself as an actor first and a martial artist second.
"Ice Planet" is a new science fiction series with you in a leading role alongside Michael Ironside. I have seen the trailer and the first impression was good. It seems to me there is a big budget behind it. What character will you play? Can you describe him a little bit?
I am not involved with Ice Planet. It's a mistake on IMDB.
Did you refuse any offers in the past? And if why?
I have. Most of the time it's a problem with scheduling. I might be offered two roles at the same time which is what happened with Ice Planet. I decided to do Holby City instead. There are a lot of action films that get made that are too low budget to be able to make the action scenes work and I have turned down a few of these. If I can't make the fights look good because I don't have enough time then I'd rather not bother. I want the audience to know that when they go to watch a Scott Adkins film that the action will always be up there with the best, if not the best.
Ok, let's talk about your co-operations with Isaac Florentine. For the first time you collaborated with him for "Special Forces". How did you get this role? Did you follow a casting call or did he contact you directly?
Isaac had seen my reel and he'd contacted me previously for a different film that didn't come off. He kept me in mind and then had my character written into the Special Forces script to beef up the action.
And how is it to work with him? Draw comparisons with other directors.
Isaac is the nicest guy I know and he works harder than anyone else on the set. He has a great eye for how to move the camera and keep the pace of the film moving forward. As I know Isaac so well, I feel very comfortable with him as my director and I trust his opinion but it also allows me to feel that I can be creative and try different things. He also allows me to have my own input. We are great friends so that is a plus.
Uri Boyka is your first leading part. Were you a little bit nervous or tensed before the filming started? And have you intensified your training? You look more muscular.
I'm always nervous before a new project. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, which is something I feel I need to do at the beginning but after the first week I'll be more relaxed and probably do better work. I did have to put a lot of muscle on, the main reason being that Mike was so huge to begin with and if I was going to make a convincing villain I needed the size to back up my skill. It helped to get me in to character. You look in the mirror and when you're that big you see a different person. Add to that the tattoos and the beard and hair and it's easy to become Boyka. It was hard to perform all the acrobatic kicks when I was that big though. Lots of pressure on the joints.
How was your relationship to Michael Jai White on set? How different was the choreography with him compared to agile Hong Kong stars such as Jet Li, Andy On and Jackie Chan?
With Mike we really tried to go full on with each other and often we're actually making contact with each other. Sometimes it's difficult when you're working with someone that is afraid of getting hurt or is not that competent as a fighter. It's hard to go all out if you're worried about hitting each other. But with Mike, we're both very experienced martial artist so it was no problem. I trusted in his ability as he did in mine and if a mistake was made, which wasn't often but anyone who's made a fight film knows that these things happen, but if someone got hit we were friends so it was cool. We just wanted to make the best film we could. I have a huge amount of respect for Michael as a martial artist and I learnt from him.
What can we expect from you in the future? Is "Undisputed 3" an option for you? Will you and Isaac Florentine develop a new project together or will we see you in an absolutely unusual role?
At the moment I'm doing Holby City for the BBC and I will be starring in Isaac's next film. It's too early to say what it is as the script is still in development but it's going to be very special. I don't know anything about an Undisputed 3.
Ok, the closing words are yours. If you want to say something to your German fans is this your chance.
I want to thank the German fans for their support and I want to let them know that I intend to be on the cutting edge of action cinema and they can feel confident that every Scott Adkins film will be one to watch out for. I hope you all enjoy Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and I intend to surpass it with the next movie. Thanks.
