Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings will be Marvel Studios’ first foray into a martial arts-based film. It’ll follow the story of our titular hero as he has to face his past, as his father Wenwu, the leader of the mysterious organization the Ten Rings, calls upon his return. At one point during his journey, he’ll also meet his estranged sister, Xialing. Our very own Anthony Canton III got a chance to sit down and talk with the actress Meng’er Zhang, who took on the role to play opposite of Simu Liu. She offered some insight into what it was like acting opposite of Liu and revealed she accidentally punched him during the shoot.
My favorite on-set memory is: I punched Simu in the face. I mean that was the first fight scene between us and it was really nervous, because eventhough we trained a thousand times those movements, but it was the very first time for me, so I was really scared to really throw a punch to him. But he was really encouraging it: ‘Yeah, just go for it. It’s okay, you cannot hurt me!’ So I just got into my character and went for it. And I didn’t mean to punch him, but I did. But I have to say, it felt good.
Meng’er Zhang
She also highlights how she sees Simu Liu as a real brother, and how natural their chemistry was on- and off-screen. It also was interesting to play alongside Tony Leung as the father figure, whose performance truly brought the character of Wenwu to life. The film will focus primarily on this dynamic and it’s promising to hear how much fun they had bringing these characters to life. Here’s hoping we have a long future ahead of Meng’er Zhang and Simu Liu. Just for Liu’s sake, he hopefully won’t have to endure a new accidental punch in each production.
