Donnie Yen (Photo : YouTube/ScreenSlam)
Donnie Yen's role as the visually-impaired warrior monk Chirrut Imwe in the recent "Star Wars" spinoff film - "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" has been making waves upon the release of the film. However, reports also suggest that the actor almost begged off to take on the role that is now gaining popularity.
Los Angeles Times sat down with the Chinese superstar and talked about his qualms prior to taking the role. The actor mentioned the time when his agent rang him informing him about such news. Upon learning that he is being tapped by Disney, he jokingly stated that the company might be in need of someone to have a lightsaber skirmish with Darth Vader of some sorts. Kidding aside, he said that he was honored to be offered with such part in the film, though he pointed out that he felt bad thinking that he will be away from his family for several months in the event that he accepts the role.
He then asked his kids about it and they responded on a positive note. His fate became even more evident as friends, loved ones, and even fans cheered him on as it will be a momentous event in his career.
Yen even spilled that the production even sought his opinions about Chirrut and replied to them that the character can still be added with such attributes that would stand out with the rest, South China Morning Post said. As a result, the "Ip Man" star even devised a martial arts method for his character since it is known that Yen has this penchant for creating martial arts styles for most of the characters that he portrays.
Meanwhile, his fight scene against a group of stormtroopers was one of it highlights of the film. In fact, a toy line even posted a stop-motion video that somewhat reenacted the said scuffle and is now gaining popularity online.
During its opening weekend, "Rogue One" already raked in a hefty sum of $155 million at the box office and is expected to go up as the day passes.
