Wong Jing shares reasons for casting Donnie Yen

23 Sep - Prolific director-producer Wong Jing had wanted Donnie Yen to play '70s infamous gangster Crippled Ho even before they started "Chasing the Dragon" production.

As reported on Mingpao, the filmmaker who appeared at the promotional event of the said movie recently, stated that while many top stars have done mob movies, he realised that Donnie hasn't actually done such a role in his career, which is why he wanted the actor to do it.

"For example, Tony Leung [Ka Fai] has played a lot of mob figures, so the audience would already expect something from him. But Donnie had never done this before, so it would be something fresh for the audience to watch," he said.

But Wong is not denying that Donnie's martial arts skill was one of the reasons why he cast the actor in the role.

"Crippled Ho was also known as a good fighter, so it's just logical to cast an actor who can fight," he said.

Wong added that seeing Donnie transitioning from a folk hero like Ip Man to a criminal like Crippled Ho would make a great impact on people.

At the same time, Wong also believed that the fact that Donnie Yen has never worked with Andy Lau - his co-star in the movie - is also a bonus, as it helped established an unprecedented collaboration between the two of them.

(Photo Source: kknews.cc)