Im please to say scottadkinsfanz.org has an exclusive interview from J.J Perry
Hope you guys like it.
1: JJ, how did you get into the movie business?
the first 2 films i worked on were in my hometown of houston texas, "they still call me bruce" and "pray for death" i was in high school, but already an avid competitor they were looking for martial artists with good kicks, i auditioned and the rest is history. i joined the u.s army in 1985, under the elite athelete
program, in 1990 when my time was up i still had that hollywood bug that i caught in houston, so i packed up
my bags and headed for hollywood to seek fame and fortune! and it has brought me to austrailia, which is
my 17th country to film in, and i am still seeking!!
2: Can you tell us a little more about your martial arts background?
i started taekwondo in 1975, when i was 8 years old, i fell in love with martial arts immediatly, in the 70's in texas there were alot of point tournaments, and also wtf and itf tournaments, i was an avid competitor, by 1985 as a junior i had won over 300 trophies and medals, i was approached by a millitary recruter to join the army under the elite athelete program, which i did, and was stationed in korea, and was on the army and armed forces taekwondo teams, competed all over korea, phillipines, japan, mexico , canada, to name a few. it was the training in korea that made me a great competitor, in the late 80's koreans dominated the sport, so i was there in the hey day of tkd.since moving to l.a. in the movie biz, you have to be good at alot of things, we call it "hollywood do". so being an athelete, i cross trained in many differnt martial arts, boxing, wrestling,
juijitsu, sambo, jun fan, wing chun, etc. for me now as a choreographer, i look at martial arts, like a
salad bar, take a little of this mix it with a little of that, until it looks good. in the movies, it isnt important how it really works, its only important how it looks!! this was a little strange for me in the beginning. but im still learning, and i still train eveyday, but at 40 its more about maintenence!!
3: You initially started your career as a stuntman, why the transition to behind the camera?
i am still a stuntman!! and i will always consider myself as a stuntman. i was a stunt performer for many years, i think that is what makes me a good choreographer, i understand what it takes to perform, intricate choroegraphy, injuries, wire work etc. all of the best hong kong directors were stuntmen first,jackie chan, especially in the 80's and early 90's was a huge influence on me. i think it is natural progression to become a choreographer or action director. but i wont hang up my stuntman gloves just yet!
4: You have worked on some pretty big blockbuster movies, are there any in particular that you have enjoyed the most?
the movies i enjoyed the most? thats a hard question, i enjoyed 90% of the shows i worked on. the 1rst
mortal kombat, and the 2nd mortal kombat, because i played many of the characters, "the rundown" because i
won a taurus award, "walker texas ranger" i did 90+ episodes, and it was great stunt training, as far as
driving, fliping and crashing cars, high falls, fire gags, explosions, and lots of fights, plus chuck
norris is one of the most generous men i know. undisputed 2 was a great experience for me, issac,
mike, scott, ross and i met there and really took a low budget film with a short shooting schedule, and
did something really special. i feel lucky and blessed to have this career, so any job i get is special.
5: Do you find it fairly easy to choreograph people in the movie business?
yes and no, i have been fortunate to work with so many of the best in the biz, scott adkins, tony jaa,
van damme, seagal, norris, most of the hong kong roster etc. but to choreograph for an actor or actress with
no martial arts, or atheletic experience is very tricky, its a pleasure to work with a mike jai white or scott adkins, the creative juices just flow, with someone with no experience isnt as fun or easy, its more like work!!
6: According to IMDB.com, you were not only the fight choreographer for the upcoming film The Shepherd, but also the 2nd unit Director, are you going to direct more in the future? What do you prefer, directing or choreographing?
on the shepherd i only had one day of 2nd unit, but part of my choreography process is to shoot and cut
all of the fight sequences on digital as a pre vis, that way i can deliver all depts ie. camera, wardrobe,
makeup special effects, actors,stunts, that way everyone is on the same page. being a director is being a story teller, this is my weakness, being a 2nd unit director is an action director, this is my strength, i will always focus on my stengths..
7: You now have a huge cult following after the successful Undisputed 2. You were involved with the likes of Isaac Florentine, Scott Adkins, and Michael Jai White. Suddenly, since the announcement of The Shepherd (starring Jean Claude Van Damme), it seems to have bought this film even more to the limelight. How did JC have the opportunity to work with someone like yourself, he seems to acknowledge that this is a credible career move for him? Can we assume that Undisputed 2 spurred him to want to work with you?
this question humbles me, i have never thought of myself as having a following, nic the truth is i am
extremely greatful for the career i have, if you would have asked me 15 years ago "where will you be in 15
years" i never would have imagined i would be here, so every day i thank god for this life, and try to do
something to be worthy of this good fortune. to work with jcvd was an honor, i would love to work with him
again, i am a huge fan of the action genre, he was a big part of why there is a market for the type of
movies that we do. i think the shepherd will suprise alot of people. as far as how i got to work on the
shepherd, issac florentine hired me.
8: Can you tell us a bit more about The Shepherd? It has been 7 years since Jean Claude made a movie that
included martial arts. Obviously, this hasn’t gone down well with fans, can you tell us how The Shepherd will be different and did JC have to step up a alot to keep up with Scott?
a modern day spagetti wester with martial arts, shootouts, car and bus chases, and jcvd vs. scott
adkins to top it off!!! fans wont be dissapointed.
9: You recently worked on The Tournament with Scott, will Scotts action scene be a stand out for the film or will the whole film be just as great.
The tournament is gonna suprise alot of people, a full blown action movie, i got to direct a huge fight between scott adkins and kelly hu, usually i dont like to do girls vs. guys, but i took this one as a personal challenge to come up with smart tricky choro. i used cobra vs. the mongoose as my mantra on that fight, kim chiang was kelly hus double. she did an amazing job, its not easy to do a fight with someone like scott adkins, he is superhumanly fast, you cant blink, or be in the wrong place in the wrong time, or you will get k.o'd she was a rockstar, we wrecked her every which way but sunday!!! i am very proud of the work we did on the tournament.
10: The Shepherd is another collaboration with yourself, Isaac Florentine and Scott. What makes Isaac and Scott so special to work with?
there is no bigger fan of issac and scott than i am, issac is the most prepared, hardest working director i know, he is my rolemodel and my friend, he is like a force of nature when he walks on the set, if you imdb me you will see that i have been fortunate enough to work with alot of directors, i have no clue why issac hasnt directed" a" list movies, i am constantly working with directors that couldnt make his coffee!! hollywood is a strange place. as far as scott adkins goes, he is the future of the action genre, he is pound for pound the best martial arts actor on the planet, beleive me i know, its my job to know who's who out there, he is not only a stellar martial artist, he is a great actor, 2008 is gonna be his year, he has alot of things cookin, BIG things, i
cant say because i dont want to jinx him. i am and have always been a big fan of his, he is a good man
and a good friend!! working with scott and issac is always a pleasure, and i am proud to be a part of the
team.
11: Can you tell us more about any future movies you are working on? Nu Image confirmed that they are also preparing for undisputed 3 to get Scott his first leading role.
well i am currently in austrailia choreographing a little movie called wolverine for 20th century fox, i passed on tekken to be here, there is ud3, and hercules and bunraku out there that i would love to be apart of but who knows im just happy to be working!!
12: Do you think that Undisputed 3 can better Undisputed 2? Will you be apart of this sequel?
we will try our best, mike jai white is incredible, so finding a good guy to match scott with is tricky, tony jaa? marko zaror? there arent that many super human fight guys who can act out there, my advice for the aspiring action stars out there is LEARN HOW TO ACT!! it isnt easy, and this biz is hard on stuntmen, i have worked all over the planet, and met incredible martial artists, but they have one thing in common, they cant act, i am guilty of this as well, in the early 90's i wanted to be an action star, but i found acting to be not as easy as it looks. but i think anything that iaasc scott and i are a part of will have great action..
13: You’ve just finished work on Blood and Bone (That’s a pretty hard hitting yet cool title) with Michael Jai White, what more can fans expect to see in this?
blood and bone is gonna be great, mike and i have been freinds for 15 years, he is a true master of his dicipline, he has the fastest hands in the biz!! he is the real deal, he could beat jet li with one hand!! he is doing another movie in end of nov. called "black dynamite" he will be busy in 08.
14: You were due to work on The Smashing Machine, were you disappointed that this was cancelled? Being
an MMA film, I would imagine you are disappointed not being able to work with the likes of Fedor, Cro-Cop and Sho-Gun.
i was dissapointed about smashing machine, but thats show biz.
15: A demo reel was recently released on youtube showing us all what to expect for The Smashing Machine, these fights had a very artistic feel to them, they seemed to be made more for an actor such as Scott Adkins, rather than Fedor or Jean Claude Van Damme. As this was based on Mark Kerr's biography, a few MMA fighters have considered this eccentric, what are your thoughts on this?
well mma fighters arent fight choreographers, the truth is i have to appease a producer a director, an actor and a target market, i have worked with alot of mma fighters, and they found out the hard way, what
works in the ring doesnt always work for camera, to be a fight choreographer, you need to be able to edit,
have a working knowledge of cameras lenses, frame rates, shutter speeds,as well as being a well rounded
martial artist, i was a fighter for many years, i spar, and box and roll all the time to keep myself
sharp, i challenge my critics to do better, i am a big fan of mma, maybe the biggest, so i would love to see
their work. the pre vis that got on youtube is not an example of my best work, to the people who didnt like
it i apologise, i will do better next time, but remember it is easy to criticize, it is not easy to go
to a foreign country and deliver cutting edge action alone!! i have respect for all martial artists, i hope
i will have another mma film to win them over again.
16: Your currently working on Wolverine which is going be a huge film, do you have more time to spend on the fight choreography with a big budget film as opposed to a DTV film?
wolverine is HUGE, thats all i can say
17: What can JJ Perry fans expect in the future?
nik, i will continue in this biz until they stop hiring me, i love my job!! i go all over the world and
work with the best stuntmen and martial artists, my most sincere hope is that people will enjoy my work,
and that it might inspire someone to do better, i am constantly trying to come up with the next cool sequence, find the next great performer, the next amazing move! ever since i saw my first bruce lee movie, i loved action movies, i remember how i felt at the end of armor of god, the first time i saw it, i hope to be able to impact someone like that one day, thats my goal. just rest assured that i will be hard
at work to get that WOW!! out of you. thanks. jj
A big big thank you J.J Perry for doing this interview and answering questions in great detail
me and everyone at Scottadkinsfanz.org and jeanclaude-vandamme.org wish you the best in the future.
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