Casting calls for young Bruce Lee in 'Ip Man 2'
>> Jul 5, 2009
According to China site, XinHua, it's now confirmed that producers have begun a talent search for two different actors to portray the martial arts legend in the upcoming sequel to the hit kung fu semi-biopic "Ip Man".
Producers are looking for an 8-to-12 year-old to portray a young Bruce Lee when he first meets Ip Man and an 18-to-22 year-old to play Lee as a young adult studying under the Wing Chun master.
While in fact Bruce had studied Wing Chun from age 13 to 18 and then moved back to the U.S. to attend college in Seattle. It's possible that Yip will have the adult actor playing a younger Bruce if he can look the part or focus more on the end of his training. Either way, it should be interesting because we'll have to see Donnie Yen prematurely age to play an older Ip Man.
In describing what they're looking for in a young Bruce Lee, Yip was quite specific. "Resemblance in appearance will be considered first and foremost and then the resemblance of manners and last martial arts and acting skills," said Yip.
In other words, it looks like they want young versions of Danny Chan, the "Kung Fu Hustle" star and Bruce Lee look-alike who portrayed Bruce Lee in CCTV's popular TV series "The Legend of Bruce Lee". Chan started out as a dance choreographer hired by Stephen Chow for "Shaolin Soccer" but due to his resemblance to the "Enter the Dragon" star, he landed a small role in that film despite having no acting experience and eventually starred in the TV series.
This talent search appears to be an open casting call as Chinese media reports that anyone can apply for an audition through Hunan Satellite TV and BTV-8.
The producers are capitalizing on the reality TV craze by planning to select ten finalists from each age group and having them compete for the roles on a martial arts TV show called "Wu Lin Feng". The episode or episodes will air on Hunan Satellite TV at the end of July.
"Ip Man 2" is scheduled to begin production in August. Yip mentioned that the third film is already in development too and that if the older Bruce Lee actor is good enough, he will be asked to reprise the role in this third film as well.
Source: Xinhua (via Kung Fu Cinema)
Producers are looking for an 8-to-12 year-old to portray a young Bruce Lee when he first meets Ip Man and an 18-to-22 year-old to play Lee as a young adult studying under the Wing Chun master.
While in fact Bruce had studied Wing Chun from age 13 to 18 and then moved back to the U.S. to attend college in Seattle. It's possible that Yip will have the adult actor playing a younger Bruce if he can look the part or focus more on the end of his training. Either way, it should be interesting because we'll have to see Donnie Yen prematurely age to play an older Ip Man.
In describing what they're looking for in a young Bruce Lee, Yip was quite specific. "Resemblance in appearance will be considered first and foremost and then the resemblance of manners and last martial arts and acting skills," said Yip.
In other words, it looks like they want young versions of Danny Chan, the "Kung Fu Hustle" star and Bruce Lee look-alike who portrayed Bruce Lee in CCTV's popular TV series "The Legend of Bruce Lee". Chan started out as a dance choreographer hired by Stephen Chow for "Shaolin Soccer" but due to his resemblance to the "Enter the Dragon" star, he landed a small role in that film despite having no acting experience and eventually starred in the TV series.
This talent search appears to be an open casting call as Chinese media reports that anyone can apply for an audition through Hunan Satellite TV and BTV-8.
The producers are capitalizing on the reality TV craze by planning to select ten finalists from each age group and having them compete for the roles on a martial arts TV show called "Wu Lin Feng". The episode or episodes will air on Hunan Satellite TV at the end of July.
"Ip Man 2" is scheduled to begin production in August. Yip mentioned that the third film is already in development too and that if the older Bruce Lee actor is good enough, he will be asked to reprise the role in this third film as well.
Source: Xinhua (via Kung Fu Cinema)
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