Meng’er Zhang just made her acting debut in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Xialing, the sister of the titular character. Not only did she train for four months while making the movie, but she also met her husband on the film’s set. Zhang may be super badass onscreen, but like all Marvel stars, she still requires stunt doubles. In fact, Zhang is one of many MCU actors who has paid tribute to her stuntpeople on social media. Zhang took to Instagram this week to share videos and images of the women who helped bring Xialing to life.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Congratulations to my amazing stunt doubles! Stunt doubles don’t get enough credit. They put their lives on the line to make the characters come to life, they deserve the spotlight and respect! Girls! We completed the character together,” Zhang wrote. You can check out her post below:
More and more Marvel stars have been taking to social media to praise the hard-working stuntpeople. Shang-Chi‘s Awkwafina dedicated a post to her stunt double, Lee Chesley, over the weekend. We also saw a lot of posts in honor of the stuntwomen who worked on Black Widow after the movie was released this summer, including praise from Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova) and a funny photo from David Harbor (Red Guardian). Loki‘s Sophia Di Martino (Sylvie) also shared some love for the stuntwomen of the Disney+ series on social media, and we got to see a lot of cool behind-the-scenes photos and videos featuring the stuntmen who worked on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
As for Zhang, the actor revealed during a recent chat with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis that she actually punched Simu Liu (Shang Chi) in the face when they were filming.
“I mean, I didn’t have any martial arts background before this, so they flew me four months to train. It was really intense, and you really hear Simu and I screaming in the stunt stage. And yeah, the first fight scene we did, I did punch him in the face, yeah,” Zhang admitted. “Because I was nervous and he encouraged me. He said, ‘It’s okay. You can never hurt me.’ So I went for it. And I didn’t mean to, but to be honest, I enjoyed it.”
“Well, I didn’t read the comic before, but yes, the brother and sister relationship, it starts with a lot of punches and kicks, but there’s always love between them,” Zhang added when Davis brought up the sibling rivalry in the Shang-Chi comics. “And I cannot wait to see what’s next for my character and everything between the siblings. I think it will be very exciting.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters. The rest of Marvel’s 2021 line-up includes What If…, which releases new episodes on Disney+ on Wednesdays, Eternals in theatres on November 5th, Hawkeye on Disney+ on November 24th, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in theatres on December 17th.
