Production set to begin on Johnny Tri Nguyen’s ‘Clash’

Come April 24th, the stars of Vietnamese martial arts hit film THE REBEL will be on a new set as production kicks off for their second highly anticipated martial arts actioner. Johnny Tri Nguyen and Veronica Ngo are starring in CLASH, a film that Johnny promises will push both fighting and romantic scenes to the max.

“This is a real action movie so [Veronica] has to work really hard before she acts in the kung fu fights and breathtaking chases,” said Johnny, who is also serving as the film’s action director. “The audience will be amazed at how real the fights are.”

“The romantic scenes must also be pushed to its climax,” he added.

There’s a joke in there somewhere.

Johnny and Veronica are rumored to be a real-life couple which may partly explain why the two intend to produce even steamier onscreen lovemaking than we saw in THE REBEL. It’s territory most action filmmakers keep to a minimum and rightly so. Nothing takes the momentum out of an action movie like a roll in the hay. Hong Kong’s Category III action films overcame this by blending action with lovemaking, most notably in Bosco Lam’s ludicrous CHINESE TORTURE CHAMBER (1994).

In preparation for her role, Veronica took an acting class in Los Angeles and has been training daily in screen fighting with Johnny in an effort to beef up her dramatic and physical performances.

Having listened to her contribution to the audio commentary on Dragon Dynasty’s DVD release of THE REBEL in 2008, it is clear that, despite being a former model and hip-hop star in Vietnam, Veronica takes her acting career very seriously.

“My character is a girl who grew up with social evils around her and has been through many ups and downs. She finally sees the love light that has transformed her. I’m trying to feel the love inside this character. I want to act at my best. The tempting eyes, the shaking hands, the trembling breath, everything must be real,” said Veronica.

Not much is known about the plot of CLASH at this point but from the looks of pre-production teaser images and video related to a Vietnamese-language casting promotion that began in March, the film appears to be more of a modern actioner with heavy gunplay.

CLASH is directed by Le Thanh Son and is currently set for release in 2010.

Johnny and Veronica are also expected to star in MONK ON FIRE, an action movie written and directed by THE REBEL co-star Dustin Nguyen that was announced last year.

Source: Thanh Nien Daily

Tags: Clash (2010), Johnny Nguyen, upcoming, Veronica Ngo