After playing action heroine in Martial Law and The Scorpion King, Kelly Hu has taken a villainous turn. She plays a kidnapper in Cradle to the Grave and mutant villain in X-Men 2. Fortunately, in real life, she's always laughing about something, usually a self-deprecating remark she's made.
I've met Hu on several occasions. This interview is from the BETONSPORTS.com party in Costa Rica, while the photos are from the Tracker premiere party. What a hodgepodge.
How do the fights of X-Men 2 compare to Cradle to the Grave? Oh wow, very different. I think X-Men is not going to be so martial artsy whereas Cradle to the Crave, I was fighting Jet Li. So, it's a whole different story. And in Cradle to the Grave, Jet never takes his hand out of his pocket and in X-men, I'm actually fighting people with two hands.
Who are you fighting in X-Men? I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you that.
Is it someone who wears black? They all wear black, so yes, I can say that.
How has it been going in Canada? It's been amazing, really. It's been such a great shoot and everybody's been so wonderful to work with.
And working with Bryan Singer? I think Bryan Singer is a frigging genius. That's what I think.
How does he demonstrate that genius? He's very aware of what looks good and he knows when he's got his shot. I think even more so, he just put a trailer together of four weeks of things that we have shot without any of the special effects done, and it was awesome. People were standing up and cheering at Comic-Con when they saw it. It was absolutely incredible. He's that kind of genius who can do anything. He can do action and he can do things like Usual Suspects.
Did you do any special effects work? Nothing too complicated.
What did Jet Li teach you about movie fighting? That you can actually be faster than film. Not me, him.
Do you have a method for getting into these villainous characters? A special method? No, because I can pretty much get in touch with my evil side pretty easily.
Do you fight anyone besides Jet Li in Cradle? No, I don't.