Prior to its release on DVD, Chief Justice Michael Stailey had the pleasure of sitting down with Scorpion King 2‘s co-stars Michael Copon and Karen David about their training for the film, the experience of shooting in South Africa, working with Randy Couture (Redbelt) and director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander), and just how many scars they picked up from this project.
Q: Could you give us a little background on the story of Scorpion King 2 and what your roles are?
Karen David: Sure. This is a prequel to a sequel and it will hopefully answer a lot of questions for Scorpion King and Mummy fans about the journey of Mathayus (Michael Copon), how and why he became the Scorpion King, and his relationship with his childhood sweetheart Layla (Karen David). Together they embark on this perilous journey to avenge Mathayus’ father’s death against the evil King Sargon played by Randy Couture.
Michael Copon: It’s a lot about this warrior’s journey and how his compassion and emotion drive him to be so courageous, strong, and powerful. He’s a young kid, a young Scorpion King, and he’s learning he can’t do anything on his own and he needs the friendships that he has to help conquer any journey that he’s on. Of course, the biggest thing is that he wants to avenge his father’s death, and that’s something I can relate to. I’ve had a couple fathers pass away, so I understand if someone were to murder my father, I would go across the world to get my revenge.
(They both laugh)
KD: It’s a feel good film with a bit of something for everyone — adventure, romance, comedy, lots of action, and great fight sequences. I think everyone is going to be really happy with it.
Q: The trailer shows quite a bit of effects involved. How much green screen work did you do, as compared with set and location shooting?
KD: You know, not that much.
MC: We really didn’t do much green screen work. I think the trailer showed a lot of what we did, but I’d say about what 30 percent?
KD: Yeah…
MC: Maybe 25 percent of the film might have been green screen…
KD: The sets that they built were just unbelievable. They were so beautiful. And when you’re filming in Cape Town, South Africa, you try to make as many sets as you can against the weather and the backdrop over there. You want to make maximum use of the beauty of Cape Town.
MC: Yeah, they built a lot of those sets up and made them look so beautiful. It’s just amazing to be a part of that set because we felt like we were actually living there.
Q: How long were you guys in Cape Town?
KD: What… six, seven weeks?
MC: Yeah, about seven weeks or so. No, maybe eight weeks.
KD: About two months. Because we had to do prepping and training, before we actually starting shooting. And it was full on. Once we got shooting it was long hours and long days, but it was worth it!
Q: Was there a lot of fight choreography involved in pre-production?
MC: Yeah, probably about two weeks of hard core training in the choreography field. I mean, I brought everything I could to the table. I have a Kapuara background, a martial arts background, and I used to be a Power Ranger a long time ago. So just learning the fight choreography from that TV show and adding it to something so completely different from that realm… and I’m playing this Scorpion King warrior hero, an Acadian, and adding this whole new Acadian martial arts… it was fun coming up with and creating this new idea for filling The Rock’s shoes and making a younger, more agile version of him.
Q: Did Russell have you go back and study Dwayne’s mannerisms?
KD: Michael was actually at natural at that!
(Everybody laughs)
KD: Let me tell you, there were moments… I kid you not… there were moments when I thought “Am I looking at Dwayne?” Some of the facial expressions Michael nailed to a T. It was quite scary. I thought The Rock was right in front of me. It was quite funny.
MC: I kind of always imitated him growing up. (Karen laughs) I met him at Casa Vega four years ago and said I was gonna play his son one day, and now I’m playing him. I wanted to be a wrestler growing up. I was gonna be called “The Supreme Filipine”…
(Everybody laughs)
MC: I had my own move and everything. The Rock was one of my favorite wrestlers, so to actually play him was really cool for me.
KD: You know I’m gonna to tease you about that now. I’m gonna call you “The Supreme Filipine” now…
(Everybody laughs)
MC: And I had leopard pants. I was designing my own outfits…
KD: Well look, you graduated from leopard pants to leather pants.
MC: Leather pants…
KD: The ladies are gonna be very happy when they see Michael in leather pants.
(Everybody laughs)
MC: Definitely.
Q: Randy’s a pretty intimidating guy to begin with, but in person he’s very intelligent and down to earth.
KD: Oh, he is.
Q: When the cameras were rolling, was he able to dive right into the bad guy role?
MC: Yeah, I think he did a great job. He didn’t really have to do much.
KD: His physicality just speaks for itself.
MC: Just looking at him is scary. The thing I’ve learned about myself from his character is “less is more.” It actually shows how insecure you are, if you try to overact how tough you are. If you just kinda let it be and stare at someone, speak slowly, and look into their eyes, it’s very scary. Like Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. He was so creepy because he stayed so still. He’s probably the nicest guy in the world, but he also appeared to be the creepiest. So with Randy, the less he did the better he was doing, because he’s already so scary looking.
KD: Yeah, but he’s such a gentleman and such a sweetheart, isn’t he?
MC: Oh yeah.
KD: We were all touching his ears. We had this fascination with his ears.
Q: What?!
KD: (She laughs) From his fighting, they’re like cabbage leaves, aren’t they?
MC: Like cauliflower leaves. And he was with us with a broken arm and a broken nose…
KD: …and he just writes is off as “Ah, it’s nothing.”
MC: I was always afraid I was gonna hit his broken arm and he’d just start whacking the crap outta me.
(Everybody laughs)
MC: So I’d stay away from the left side of his body, because that’s the arm that was broken, and always stay on his right.
(Laughter)
Q: Russell is quite the renaissance director, having done film, television, and music videos. How was he to work with on this project?
MC: Oh, he was great! He was very compassionate towards the actors and that’s one thing that Russell has always been. He’s been great with Karen and myself, spent time with us, making sure we were always comfortable. And not to mention he’s done sooo many things. He has an eye. I always say if you give him $400 million he can create a whole new world in a movie, like a whole new Earth, somehow without CGI. I don’t know, he has a way of creating things that no one else has ever seen.
KD: His enthusiasm is contagious, for what he does as a director. When he’s describing to both Michael and I the scene and what’s going to be happening, or ideas that come off the top of his head — because he’s just a man full of ideas; not just any ideas, but great ideas — and you just get so excited because you know it’s gonna look great. I mean, just from seeing the dailies at the end of each day, and that’s when it’s not even edited or picture graded or anything, you just look at it and think “Wow, this is going to be pretty special, if it looks this good now.”
MC: He made the film look like it had $100 million more involved than it did. If someone can do that, that just impresses me so much.
Q: Any bizarre experiences happen on set?
MC: Everything. From the first day being there, I was in a cab and got hit by another car because the cab pulled out in front of it. I almost flew out the window, when my head shattered the glass. (Laughter) I sprained my ankle, the first week of training, so I was in the next day on one crutch learning a sword fight. I fell off a horse and onto my face. Karen had a lot…
KD: I passed out in a ditch (she laughs)…
MC: Yeah, she passed out. Overheated…
KD: I was on a camel practicing for 20 minutes, whilst Michael was doing his scenes. It was so unbearably hot, and we were drinking loads of water and taking lots of sugar and glucose, but I passed out as soon as I got off the camel. There was a stomach bug that went around for a while that Russell got and I got. It was lethal!
MC: People were getting anxiety attacks. I got a couple anxiety attacks. Lack of sleep I think too. I only slept three hours a night.
KD: But you forget about things, when the adrenaline kicks in, because you’re just having so much fun. We’re like “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.” And it’s just so funny because everyone thinks “Oh, it must be so glam,” and we’re all just laughing because…
MC: It’s not.
KD: It’s fun, but it’s hard work!
Q: What are you guys working on right now?
MC: I’m doing a film called We Got the Beat. I’m co-producing and starring as this kid Brad Roberts who quit the football team to start the first ever boy band in 1982. It’s starring Rob Hoffman from Step Up 2, Ryan Pinkston from Punk’d, Ryan Hansen from the new Friday the 13th, and a lot of other great young stars. It’s comedy and hopefully the next Full Monty / Napoleon Dynamite. I’m also doing a remake of Night of the Demons a 1988 film in New Orleans, which starts filming September 15, starring Diora Baird from Texas Chainsaw, Shannon Elizabeth from Dancing with the Stars, and the kid from Terminator 2, I forget his name. And I’m hosting the new Dance or Drop show that’s gonna be on MTV. It’s like the Corny Collins Show from Hairspray or like the modern day version of Soul Train and American Bandstand. We’re shooting in Times Square and it’s taking over as the new TRL.
KD: I’ve got a movie coming out next year called The Colour of Magic, which is based on the Terry Pratchett novel, with Sean Astin, Jeremy Irons, and Tim Curry. And like Michael — Michael forgot to mention about his album — I’m on an album deadline right now to get that finished. Somewhere in between writing new songs and recording, I’ve been reading new scripts and a there’s a few things that have come up, so watch this space because I’ll be making some announcements shortly.
View the Trailer:
For More Information:
Read Judge David Johnson’s review of The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior
Red Judge Clark Douglas’ review of The Scorpion King (Blu-ray)
Visit the official site for Michael’s next film We Got the Beat
Visit the official site for Karen’s next film The Colour of Magic
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