‘It’s a new can of worms’: How Hong Kong director Stephen Fung set the tone for Wu Assassins, Netflix’s first martial arts drama

A true renaissance man, Stephen Fung’s claim to fame stretches from pop idol to star actor and accomplished movie director. If all that weren’t enough, he also happens to be husband of award-winning Taiwanese actress and model Shu Qi.

Fung has worked with a veritable who’s who of Chinese entertainment. Andy Lau, Faye Wong, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jackie Chan, Eason Chan, Nicholas Tse, Anthony Wong Chau-sang, Edison Chen – Fung seems to have worked alongside nearly everyone who’s anyone at some stage.

However, the star of Gen-X Cops, a University of Michigan graduate, has global ambitions. In recent years Fung has been scoring successes in America with his work as a director on AMC’s Into the Badlands, a production notable for being the first American TV series with an Asian lead in 40 years, thanks to its casting of Daniel Wu.

Now Fung is back with a new series, this time for Netflix. He has taken the lead on Wu Assassins, having directed the first two episodes of the programme. A modern chopsocky yarn, in the best way possible, the series stars Iko Uwais – whose incredible physical exploits in The Raid movies has made him the premier martial arts star of the day – and is Netflix’s first martial arts drama. The production is unfamiliar territory for Netflix and is something of a gamble, but Fung is confident it can succeed, as he tells us below.

What has been the biggest surprise for you when making the switch from being an actor to working behind the camera directing?

I wouldn’t say there were any big surprises at all because it was a very conscious decision to move from acting to directing. So what actually happened was that, I wouldn’t call it a crisis, but I had done so many films as an actor and some of them were not movies that I really wanted to make. You know, you do them for the pay cheque.

So I decided to move away and I stayed in LA for a year. Not only was I doing the typical auditions and all that, but I was also developing my own script. What happened was, I ended up not being cast in any movies I auditioned for but then my synopsis of this film that I wrote got picked up and that’s how my first film, Enter the Phoenix, was made.

As for Wu Assassins, there are elements like it’s set in China Town, the main character is an Asian chef, there’s the ancient triad, martial arts – all elements that seem deliberately schlocky. And whether it’s classic 70s Hong Kong films or Western interpretations of them, like Kill Bill or Big Trouble in Little China, a lot of these elements seem perennially popular. Why do you think that is?

To be honest, at first, when I was offered Wu Assassins, I looked at the script – just the first episode – and I was a little bit hesitant because of what you just depicted. The Asian chef, the triad, and all that. You know, pretty stereotypical characters. But then when I spoke to our showrunner John Wirth, he was really great about letting me be more engaged in setting the tone and how we could change different aspects to make it less stereotypical. And I think the end product is great because obviously this is on Netflix and it's for a worldwide audience, it can’t only be from the Asian perspective. Getting his perspective and my perspective allowed it to become what it is now.