Shang-Chi Director Praises Tony Leung in Touching Post Featuring Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Ever since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released earlier this month, director Destin Daniel Cretton has taken to Instagram to praise various members of the cast and crew. Not only did Cretton reveal that his sister worked on the film, but he also shared some love for Akwafina (Katy) and said working with Ben Kingsley (Trevor Slattery) was a “highlight of my life”. Cretton’s latest tribute post is in honor of Tony Leung, who plays Shang-Chi’s father Wenwu in the film. Cretton shared some kind words for the iconic actor and included behind-the-scenes photos of them working together.

“The great Tony Leung blew me away every day with his dedication, insight, and humility. Working with him was an indescribable experience that I will cherish forever,” Cretton wrote. You can view his photos below:

Cretton is not the only person who worked on Shang-Chi that has shared high praise for Leung. Simu Liu (Shang-Chi) recently took part in a Ask Me Anything session on r/MarvelStudios, and said working with Leung was “like a master class in acting every single day.” 

Liu added, “He is every bit as legendary as the legends say. What makes Tony so incredibly watchable is his stillness, his ability to convey such emotional colour with a single glance. For a newbie like me coming to set full of nervous energy, he really grounded me and forced me to be still and present.” Liu then joked, “Also, I just love that my job was to literally stare into Tony’s eyes for hours at a time.”

Recently, Kevin Feige made similar comments. At the time, the Marvel Studios head said audiences “weren’t ready” for what Leung brought to his role. “We talked about Simu, but also talking about Tony Leung, you mention the family aspect of the movie which I still don’t think people are quite ready for what Tony brings to this movie and what the relationship and how unique it is and how emotional this movie becomes,” Feige teased to Marvel.com.

ComicBook.com also spoke with Fala Chen, who plays Shang-Chi’s mother, about working with Leung. 

“It’s very different onscreen and offscreen because Tony, privately, he’s such a gentle, calm, almost shy person in real life, so that you … if you put him in the room, he’s the last person you will look at, because he kind of hides his own energy,” Chen revealed. “He’s just very invisible in many ways. He’s so shy. And every time you talk to him, because we were hanging out and eating dinner, and the only thing he talks about is the movie, the script. He’s like, ‘Oh, I’m still thinking. I’m not sure.’ And he comes off as so humble. He’s like, ‘I’m not really sure if I can do that,’ or ‘Why did I … why did your character say that line?’ as if he doesn’t understand, or he’s like, ‘Oh, I need to go home and practice my lines.’ And then, once he’s on set, he’s like the most majestic, charismatic, strong, powerful character in the whole film. And you’re just like, what happened? Because I think he just puts so much thought into his character. He spends all his energy outside work to think about … to work on his character, that once he’s on set, he kind of just unleashed all of those preparation and his work, and his experience, decades of experience, it just comes out, and without being too much. It’s just perfect in the film.”

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters.