Shang-Chi Star Simu Liu Says he "Exaggerated" Martial Arts Experience to Land Marvel Role

Last year, Simu Liu made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut playing the titular role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.  It was recently announced that director Destin Daniel Cretton will be helming the Shang-Chi sequel with Liu returning to play the hero. The movie features a lot of epic martial arts, and it turns out Liu did a little fibbing when he auditioned for the role. During a recent "Actors on Actors" chat with West Side Story's Ariana DeBose for Variety, Liu actor admitted that he "exaggerated" his martial arts experience. 

"When I got the part, they asked me about my martial arts background and experience, which of course I exaggerated because I wanted the job really badly," Liu admitted. "I had done some work as an on-again, off-again stuntman, but if we're honest, I think I was more of a dancer than I ever was a martial artist. Pretty much from the moment I was cast, I started working with trainers and learning how to move. I had such awful flexibility. My groin and my tendons were just so stiff. A big part of that early process was just bending my body and trying to rip those legs apart." 

Liu added, "Making it appear as if it is not over-choreographed was equally important for our movie. We worked with an incredible action director in Brad Allan who sadly passed away last year. He came from the Jackie Chan stunt team and has such an awareness of fighting in a way that is dance-like. He played such a big role, alongside our fight choreographers, in making each action sequence feel like a living, breathing thing."

Speaking of Jacke Chan, Cretton recently spoke with CinemaBlend and was asked if there are any actors he'd like to see show up in the Shang-Chi sequel. "I mean, if we could ever get Jackie [Chan] into a movie that would be a lifelong dream of mine," Cretton shared. "Yeah. Let's put it out there." 

Not only did Shang-Chi have a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office, but it also earned the highest audience score of any Marvel Cinematic Universe film on Rotten Tomatoes (it's now tied with Spider-Man: No Way Home). The movie was met with positive reviews from critics, earning a 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes after 323 reviews, and it also earned an impressive 98% audience score after 10,000+ reviews. ComicBook.com gave the movie a 4.5 out of 5, calling it "one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best origin stories to date."

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now streaming on Disney+.