Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will hit theaters on September 3rd. As someone who was able to see the upcoming Marvel film, I can say that it’s a film you’re going to want to see. As a fun and visually kick-ass movie, Shang-Chi really proves that Simu Liu has a long career ahead. Especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In a recent press junket, Liu and other stars of the film sat down with comedian Ronny Chieng (who also appears in the movie) to discuss the upcoming project. First, I want to start with bringing up Liu’s feelings on being in a movie with so many well-known actors in it:
“Yeah. I mean it was like imposter syndrome every single day. Um, it was, no, truly, truly it was such a treat and, uh, it was all I could do just not to-not to mess it up, you know. When I was first cast, I did my final screen with Nora (Awkwafina) and she did such like a wonderful job of putting me at ease. My nerves were sky high. I was an actor from Toronto, and I really had never allowed myself to imagine being a part of the MCU. I mean, it’s the craziest dream that someone can possibly dream. And, uh, Nora did such a great job of putting me at ease and just, you know, being in the moment with me and we had such a beautiful chemistry.”
Liu is referencing the “old married couple” chemistry that he and Awkwafina have in the movie – which, I can attest that the two did have a nice sort of bickering back and forth friendship. The director of the movie – Destin Daniel Cretton – was asked if the friendship was written as just a platonic friendship or a potential love relationship.
Cretton responded:
“I mean aren’t all friendships potential love interests?”
Liu joked:
“Don’t tell it to my wife.”
Cretton then added:
“When one of our co-writers, Dave Callahan, and I were creating this relationship, we actually have a lot of friends who are not the same gender as us, and we-it is strictly platonic and-but also very intimate, caring, and you-we haven’t seen a lot of that on screen, and-and we’re really excited to create that relationship between Shang-Chi and Katy. Um, it also just naturally felt like the only way to go with this movie because Shang-Chi is so deep in his own inner struggle. I don’t think there’s emotional space for anything else.”
Finally, the question as to why Liu got the job as Shang-Chi and if a tweet Liu sent to Marvel had anything to do with it was answered by Kevin Feige:
“Unfortunately, uh, Simu, it was not your tweeting. It was your acting ability, your constant professionalism, and then multiple reads and meetings that you did that got you the job.“
Check out for our review of Shang-Chi and make sure you check out the movie this September 3rd!
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