Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng, who is set to star in "The Great Wall" film, has been touted to be the next Bruce Lee. Interestingly, the 34-year-old actor has his sights set on breaking into Hollywood as the next enormous martial arts film export.
Peng, who was born in Taiwan before moving to Canada at the age of thirteen, had been making clamor in the Hollywood and China's film industry. In a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, Peng admitted that he has huge plans in Hollywood.
"A couple of years ago I started to learn martial arts and Kung Fu basically because of the role I took," he explained. "You know we all have a Kung Fu dream, right. We all like Bruce Lee. I grew up with Bruce Lee, I grew with Jackie Chan movies, so when I got the chance to do Kung Fu, I was like, 'I've got to do something here, I've got to learn something'."
Although learning Kung Fu is not easy as it seems, the "Rise of the Legend" actor expressed how fortunate he is to learn something from it. He then revealed that he does all his own stunts, stressing, "In Asia, they really want to see your face, it is not like Hollywood movies where you have the stuntmen and four doubles for one shot."
Peng will star in the upcoming American-Chinese 3D epic science fantasy monster adventure action film, "The Great Wall," alongside Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Jing Tian, Andy Lau and Willem Dafoe. The film apparently allowed Peng to showcase some of his martial arts expertise.
Peng also hopes that "The Great Wall" film will open ways to a Hollywood industry that is looking at off the inexorably lucrative Chinese market. Set in the Northern Song Dynasty, "The Great Wall" revolves around an elite force of soldiers, who make a last stand for mankind against a slew of legendary creatures.
With a reported total budget of $135 million, the upcoming epic science fantasy film is said to be the most expensive and the greatest American-Chinese co-production to date.
"This is the biggest movie I've ever been involved with," Los Angeles Times quoted Damon as saying before a group of reporters, adding that the viewers will surely be in for some "fun surprises" once they see the film's version of the Great Wall.
Check out the trailer below: