Luke Evans is a DEA agent whose personal connection to a case becomes all the more complicated inWeekend in Taipei. Having first found success on the stage with a variety of West End productions, Evans quickly rose to stardom on screen with supporting roles in theClash of the Titansremake andRidley Scott’sRobin Hood, as well asImmortals,The Ravenand Peter Jackson’sHobbittrilogy. More recently, Evans has found further success starring in the live-actionBeauty and the Beastremake as Gaston, theFast and the Furiousfranchise as Owen Shaw andNine Perfect Strangers, among other titles.
Evans stars inWeekend in Taipeias John Lawlor, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has been on the trail of drug cartel boss Kwang for the better part of 13 years, often to the chagrin of his bosses. When an operation goes awry and John’s asked to take a vacation, he heads to Taipei in the hopes of putting the final nail in his case against Kwang, unknown to his supervisors. This, inadvertently, puts him on a collision course with Joey, a female transporter he fell in love with while working undercover, and leads to an emotional and fast-paced reunion for the two.
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Alongside Evans, the ensembleWeekend in Taipeicast includes Gwei Lun-mei as Joey, fellowFast & Furiousfranchise vet Sung Kangas Kwang, Wyatt Yang, Tuo Tsung-hua, Lu Yi-ching and Patrick Lee. Featuring George Huang’s return to the director’s chair after a little over 20 years on a script from him and action icon Luc Besson (The Transporter, Taken), the movie proves to be an engaging mix of comedy and fast-paced thrills.
Ahead of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Luke Evans to discussWeekend in Taipei, what drew him to want to star in the action-thriller, how he related deeper to Lawlor than many action characters, the challenge of working with the film’s stunt team to choreograph the various fight sequences, and which he thinks will ultimately be the one audiences talk about the most.
John Lawlor Is What Attracted To Evans ToWeekend In TaipeiThe Most
“…he’s made mistakes, but he’s just getting through it like everybody else.”
Screen Rant: Luke, it’s great to see you again and to chat forWeekend in Taipei. I watched it the other day, and I loved just how fast-paced, how funny it was from start to finish. What about it really drew you to want to be a part of it?
Luke Evans: Well, I like John Lawlor. He’s been around the houses a few times. He likes his job. His job is everything for him, he’s a little jaded with life. I could relate to him. He’s sort of an everyman, you know, and I wanted him to be relatable to everybody that watched it. And also, the way he fights, you know, there’s no sort of professional way of throwing a punch. He just gets on with it and tries to survive another day in this dangerous business that he exists within. [Chuckles]
And I like the fact that there’s a slight tongue-in-cheek humor that he has with everything he says. I got to play a very layered character that I just wanted to feel relatable to everybody that watched him. I sort of like the guy, he’s made mistakes, but he’s just getting through it like everybody else. I like playing characters that you’re able to somehow relate to, and I try and bring that to each character. Some are easier than others, of course, but this one for sure, there’s a lot of me in him, and I like that.
Evans Recalls Feeling The Stunt Preparation Was “Intense”
One Form Of Stunt, In Particular, Required Some Wardrobe Shifting
So, you mentioned the fighting, and that is something I wanted to ask about, because I love how well choreographed it is, even if it is meant to sort of be, like you said, just him fighting for survival. What was it like working with the stunt team and with George to really find that balance in doing those fight scenes?
Luke Evans: Yeah, well, it required me arriving much earlier than everyone else to start shooting. I’d start rehearsing [early], because we worked with the French stunt coordinator that’s worked on all of Luc Besson’s movies. And if you know anything about Luc Besson movies, which I know you do, the stunt sequences are always very impressive and fast, and incorporate lots of different fight forms and art forms. So, yeah, we were in a room for two, three weeks before we started shooting, and he took me through my paces.
We had a French team, and then we had a Taiwanese team of stunt guys with a translator who would translate between French, English and Chinese. So, there were a couple of days where it was like, “This is intense.” Because, also, we’re throwing things at each other, we’re hitting each other with woks, and there’s flames, and there’s three different languages in this room, and none of them know each other’s language. So, it took a minute to get used to, but then we got into a routine and a rhythm, and there’d be a pause for translation to happen, and then we would just build on each piece every day. We built the kitchen in cardboard, and worked in an air-conditioned room from 9-5 every day for three weeks, because obviously, there’s not just one fight sequence, there’s several.
I also had to go back to my hotel and spend many hours on a treadmill learning how to run properly and fast for long periods. Because in the film, there’s a huge sequence near the end of the film where I’m running through the streets of Taipei, and I’m not a runner. I don’t like running. I’ve never liked running. I can’t imagine anything worse. So, I had to force myself to somehow enjoy it and build up a resistance to stamina for being able to keep running in that heat. Because Taipei in the summer, we were there through June, July, August, it’s extraordinarily hot. I think the costume designers gave up with the sweat on my back after the first take.
They were like, “We’re just gonna have to put this into the character, because there’s no way you’re not gonna sweat.” [Laughs] But yeah, it was great. It was really fun, and you embrace these things. But the fight sequences were really special. I really enjoyed them, and there’s a lot of character to those fights. The one people are talking about a lot is the kitchen in the restaurant. That took a week to put together, and then every week, we would rehearse it to make sure that my memory remembered everything. But, yeah, it was very, very fun.
AboutWeekend in Taipei
On a deep undercover assignment in Taipei, DEA agent John Lawlor (Luke Evans) was doing everything right… until he fell in love with his informant, beautiful Josephine “Joey” Kwang (Gwei Lun-mei), one of the Asian underworld’s best transport drivers. Compromised and cover blown, John was forced to flee. Now, years later, John is back in Taipei for the weekend. But is he here to finish the job? Or to win back Joey’s love?
Stay tuned for our otherWeekend in Taipeiinterview withGeorge Huang and Sung Kang!
Weekend In Taipei
Cast
Weekend In Taipei, directed by George Huang, follows a former DEA agent and a former undercover operative as they rekindle their romance over a fateful weekend in Taipei, oblivious to the dangerous repercussions stemming from their tumultuous past.
