Daniel Wu, who works as an executive producer in AMC's "Into the Badlands," said had no idea that he would end up as the lead star. In the show, he plays Sunny, the regent to the Badlands' most powerful Baron, Quinn (Marton Csokas).
In a recent interview with BT.com, the 42-year-old Hong Kong-American actor detailed how he landed the lead role. He stated AMC always wanted the role to be played by an Asian and also wanted the actor to be an experienced martial artist.
Wu added they got a lot of auditions back then. Some are good martial artists who had never acted professionally before, while others are talented actors but had no martial arts experience.
"It came down to about five people in the end," said Wu. "The show editor and the other executive producer were like, 'You know you were made for this role, Daniel. Would you consider doing it?'"
Out of all the martial arts films he had done in the past, Wu revealed "Into the Badlands" is one of the most demanding projects he worked on. He added that doing martial arts for a television series is the biggest challenge.
"It's very challenging to try and do that level of action on a television schedule because we pretty much have to shoot one episode within eight days," said Wu. "So, you have to do these incredible fights within that eight-day time frame."
"The Man with the Iron Fists" actor also gave a light on what Sunny is like and what does the tattoo marks on his back speaks to. He stated Sunny's 404 tattoo marks on his back represents the total number of individuals he successfully killed.
However, Sunny's world will start to change when Veil (Madeleine Mantock) becomes pregnant. Since they are not allowed to have families in the Badlands, the pair needs to get away from the ruthless region in order to survive.
Premiered on Nov. 15, 2015, "Into the Badlands" Season 1 delivered the third highest-rated show in American cable TV history, Deadline reported. It averaged 5.6 million viewers per episode, including 3.4 million adults from ages 18 to 49 in Live+7 ratings.
In light of its success, AMC renewed "Into the Badlands" for a 10-episode second season. The new season is expected to premiere in 2017.
Stay tuned for more updates as they arrive. While waiting, check out "Into the Badlands" Season 1 here: