Song Hye-gyo joins ‘The Grand Master’ as shooting begins

Korean actress Song Hye-kyo has joined the cast of Wong Kar-wai’s upcoming martial arts drama THE GRAND MASTER, a biopic of Wing Chun master Yip Man that begins production this month with leading cast Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen.

Song is a popular actress on Korean TV with her biggest hit being the series AUTUMN IN MY HEART. While not her first feature film role, it will be her first international role. According to a spokesman she has been studying Chinese and martial arts for the film.

Long in development, THE GRAND MASTER is Wong’s dramatic take on the life of Wing Chun master Yip Man, who is best known internationally for being Bruce Lee’s martial arts instructor. He has also been the topic of director Wilson Yip’s (no relation) kung fu actioner IP MAN, starring Donnie Yen. This is the first in a trilogy with IP MAN 2 expected to be released in 2010.

For his role as Yip Man, Leung has been training extensively with Yuen Woo-ping’s stunt team and Yip Man’s son, Yip Chun. Their preparation hit a setback earlier in the year when Leung broke his left arm during training but he has since recovered.

Source: The Korea Herald