WGTC: Tarantino’s name is pretty prominent in all the promotion. How involved was he with the film?
Rick Yune: He was there from the begining. He helped RZA write it and mentored him throughout the whole filmmaking process. RZA will tell you he was over there with Quentin while Quentin was making Kill Bill, he did the music for him. He basically went to school and Quentin was the professor.
WGTC: How was it working with RZA?
Rick Yune: The guy is a born leader. As you know he helped create an industry. He brought together different personalities in Wu Tang Clan, some of them really hated each other, and he created something that’s going to be a part of music history.
He’s doing the same thing for movies, and he did that with this film. I mean Russell’s buddies with RZA, Lucy’s buddies with RZA, I’m great friends with RZA, Eli’s buddies with him, we all came together because of him. He brought us all together and created something spectacular.
WGTC: Your next project, Olympus Has Fallen, how’s that coming along?
Rick Yune: Great. It’s directed by a guy named Antoine Fuqua, he did Training Day. It’s a mix between In The Line of Fire and Heat. And it’s great to have a guy like Antoine directing a film like that, and RZA directing a film like Man With The Iron Fists, because these two guys they grew up with risks. They understand life and death situations. RZA grew up in Brooklyn, Staten Island, in some rough neighborhoods, and Antoine grew up in one of the toughest cities, Pittsburgh. So having people that understand what life and death situations mean from not a cognitive standpoint, but from actual experience, that brings a level of realism that a lot of times isn’t there.
WGTC: Do you have anything on the slate for after Olympus Has Fallen?
Rick Yune: I’m deciding on a couple things, but right now it’s finishing up Olympus and getting Iron Fists out there on November 2nd. I don’t like watching myself, I don’t like watching the films that I’ve been in, but I’m really proud of this. I’ve seen this movie three times and every time I fall in love with it even more.
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Rick very much for talking with us. Be sure to check out The Man With The Iron Fists, in theaters this Friday.