Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finally arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD tomorrow, and to celebrate the release, we recently caught up with star Meng'er Zhang to talk about her breakout performance as Xu Xialing in Destin Daniel Cretton's critically acclaimed Marvel Studios blockbuster.
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With the Ten Rings now under Xialing's control, we got Zhang's thoughts on what could come next for her father's criminal organization, some behind-the-scenes tidbits about developing chemistry with Simu Liu and her other co-stars, and finally, the possibility of continuing her character's story in a potential Disney+ spinoff.
Check out the interview below, and keep scrolling for the full transcript!
ROHAN: With this being your first big Hollywood production, what kind of challenges did that present for you as an actress, in terms of stunt training and on-camera acting versus stage acting?
MENG'ER: Yeah, this is my very first movie ever and like you mentioned, the training process was hard because I didn’t have any martial arts background before this film, so they flew me in four months early to train and it was really intense, I mean you can literally hear Simu and I screaming on the stunt stage and yeah, also I worked in theater before, so camera is so new to me, but everyone was so nice and everyone helped me so much like Destin, he was really patient with me.
Also, Sir Ben, I asked him a lot of questions, because he also has a theater background. I asked him, “What’s the difference between working on stage and working in front of a camera,” so he said, “Working on stage, we’re like landscape artists and working in front of a camera, we’re like portrait artists,” and that just gave me a very clear clue on how it should be like and yeah, I just feel really grateful and every day working on-set was like a masterclass to me.
ROHAN: Since you're a trained stage actress and singer, were you disappointed you didn’t get to sing with Simu and Awkwafina?
MENG'ER: Oh, I would love to, I want to sing with them! We went to karaoke together, we loved that, and wow, it’s a really good idea, I’m down! Yes!
ROHAN: How good were you able to get with the rope dart?
MENG'ER: Oh, the rope dart is really a cool weapon and when I started training with it, I couldn’t get it because it’s a rope and it’s soft, it’s not like a staff and it’s really hard to control and then afterward, my trainer Master Tung, “You shouldn’t think of controlling it, you should listen to the rope dart too, you have to communicate with it,” and I started learning how to communicate with it and how to flow with it and it’s really an amazing experience.
ROHAN: The end of the film sees Xialing take control of the Ten Rings organization, and it's not entirely clear whether she'll be using her father's resources as a source of good or if she'll have darker intentions - What was your take on the ending and where do you hope your character can go next?
MENG'ER: To be honest with you, I don’t know anything. Marvel doesn’t tell us anything! *laughs* But, I’m so excited to see what comes next too and I can’t stop thinking about it myself. Also I ask myself those questions like, “What’s next for her?,” because Xialing is such a complex character and she has so much more for us to explore and discover. Like how did she train herself in her father’s compound and how did she build the fight club all on her own in Macau and in the end credits scene, we can see her sitting on the throne and you can see Razor Fist and Jon Jon standing by her side and what are they going to do next?
Also, the sign says, “The Ten Rings will return,” but what kind of a Ten Rings organization without the actual Ten Rings? You know what I mean? I think, I hope Xialing can get the rings because she’s the new leader of the organization right now and also, I don’t know if you watched the cut scenes that are on the Blu-ray and there’s a scene which is Shang-Chi apologizing to Xialing for abandoning her and that was a very emotional scene. You will also think about, “Has Xialing really forgiven him?,” So, what’s next for the siblings too is really interesting to me and I am as excited as the fans, I cannot wait to find out.
ROHAN: You and Simu have such genuine sibling chemistry in the film... was it pretty natural to develop that rapport with him, or was that something that you developed over time?
MENG'ER: Yeah, it was really natural. From the very first time we met, it was so natural, that was the screen test I did with him - by the way, I didn’t know I was auditioning for a Marvel film until then, until I met him - and he showed up in the room in his training suits and slippers, he had started training already so he showed up like sweaty, you know, like how your brother can be. He just gave me a brother vibe and yeah, it was really natural.
ROHAN: You're working with Simu, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, and the hilarious Ronny Chieng, so was it difficult for you to play it straight in all of those scenes while everyone else is being silly and you have to be all business?
MENG'ER: *laughs* Okay, yeah, that’s a good question! To me, my favorite scene, on that regard, is you remember Razor Fist trying to kill the beast and he has the beast in his hand and he has his razor arm trying to cut it and on that day, we didn’t have anything in his hand actually, so it’s just all him doing this to the air and we have to - it’s so intense, he’s killing the monster, but it’s really funny to watch because he’s like, “Oh! Ow!” (mimics the scene) That’s really funny to me.
ROHAN: Have you heard anything about when you could start work on the sequel? Or have you ever considered exploring your character further in a Disney+ spinoff series?
MENG'ER: We haven’t discussed that deep yet, but I mean, I also read a lot of comments and posts from fans asking for a Disney+ show for Xialing and they are throwing a lot of great ideas and I mean, I’m down. I’m also still training so when Xialing returns, she will return strong!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now available on Digital HD;
and out on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on November 30!