8 Asians

The new action thriller Bullet to the Head is coming out this weekend and it co-stars Korean American actor Sung Kang, who Dino-Ray interviewed last March regarding Sunset Stories.

Directed by Walter Hill, the film stars Sylvester Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a career hitman who enters into an unlikely alliance with by-the-book detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) to bring down the ruthless killer of their respective partners. The film also stars Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, Jon Seda, Weronika Rosati, and Jason Momoa. The film opens nationwide February 1.

Sung Kang has been one of the highest profile Asian American actors in Hollywood, having recently co-starred with Vin Diesel in the blockbuster hit Fast Five, directed by Justin Lin. He and Lin first worked together on the critically acclaimed drama Better Luck Tomorrow, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, garnering a Grand Jury Prize nomination. Kang subsequently worked with Lin on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, and Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee. They are reunited on the upcoming The Fast and the Furious 6, slated for release in May 2013.

In addition, Kang was featured in Ninja Assassin, War, and Live Free or Die Hard. Kang also starred in the Michael Kang-directed independent films 4 Wedding Planners and The Motel, the latter of which was an Official Selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

His television credits include guest starring roles on such series as Monk, Cold Case, Threat Matrix, Without a Trace, The Shield, NYPD Blue, and more.

Originally from Gainesville, Georgia, Kang began acting at the Los Angeles-based experimental theater group F.A.T.E. (Friends Artist Theater Ensemble).

About the Film:

Two icons of the action movie genre teamed for the first time on the film “Bullet to the Head.” Award-winning filmmaker Walter Hill directed global superstar Sylvester Stallone in the new action thriller.

Stallone, who first approached the director with the project, notes, “I thought it would be great to work with Walter Hill on this type of buddy movie, which is a genre he knows well.

Although, in this case, the main characters are not really buddies at all, but rather adversaries who have to work together against a mutual enemy because their lives depend on it. But out of that, an interesting relationship evolves.”

The story is based on the popular graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tête, which, although originally written in French, was very much inspired by the American cinema.

Acclaimed French author Alexis Nolent, whose nom de plume is Matz, confirms, “I’ve always been a big fan of buddy movies, which is a genuine American specialty. I was playing with some ideas and thought it would push things up a notch to team a killer with a cop—to have a bond that has to cross the line of the law and ethics and principles. The cop is, of course, a little more square than the hit man, who is more able to think outside the box. But the concept was that these two characters who seem to have nothing in common actually have much more in common than they ever imagined.”

Sung Kang, who stars opposite Stallone as the man on the right side of the law in this pairing, observes, “They’re like oil and water: no matter how hard you try to shake them together, they are constantly splitting apart.”

Hill says, “We want the story and characters to be taken seriously, but in a movie like this, I think it’s good to add a touch of humor. Finding that balance can sometimes be tricky, but I think it’s an important part of the entertainment value. I think that’s also one of the things Sly responded to.”