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Return Of The Green Dragons kicks off the 15th SD Asian Film Festival November 6th 2014, at the Reading Cinemas at the Gaslamp. Hong Kong based director Andrew Lau and binational Andrew Loo was accompanied by the cast Justin Chon, Kevin Wu, Harry Shum Jr., Leonard Wu. Eugenia Yuen, Jin Au-Yeung, and Ray Liotta. Return Of The Green Dragons is set in the 1980s and is about Chinese American gangs in New York Chinatown.

I attended opening night, and I enjoyed the film. In this expository blurb, knowing the fact that meeting the cast of an indie film is a bourgeois dream. During my experience, I felt the intimacy of the cast as I asked questions during the Q&A portion of the festival.  I had the opportunity to take a selfie with Henry Shum Jr. since I was able to sit three seats away from him during the film. I also met his manager who happened to sit next to me. I posted the selfie on instagram, and seconds later Leonard Wu commented on my post saying, “Find me after the screening so we can do an interview. ;)”

After the festival, I had the pleasure of interview Leonard Wu. He was so friendly and down to earth.

AM: What was the set like?

LW: “The set was very intense. As you can see on screen, you know being a rated R film there is a lot of violence. It was just constantly going. We shot very quickly. It was a lot of fun but it was exhausting how fast we were going.”

AM: Did you enjoy shooting Return Of The Green Dragons?

LW: “I had an amazing time. It may not seem like it because how intense and dark the film was but being around such amazing talent and waking up everyday knowing I get to do what I love is always a blessing and I am always grateful for that.”

AM: How did you get along with the cast?

LW: “I got along great and the cast was phenomenal. Everybody brought something so different to the table and everybody was so dedicated and so committed. And you just got to, as an actor, to appreciate that and respect that. So I have the deepest love and respect for all of them.”

AM: Any future projects for you?

LW: “I am currently you know, aside from the normal auditioning as being an actor, I am currently working behind the scenes producing a lot. With the hopes of getting hopefully more Asian American faces out on screen and that is kind of the goal. Preliminary work.”

AM: How do you like festivals like the SD Asian FIlm Festival?

LW: “I think festivals like San Diego’s is fantastic and that there needs to be a forum for smaller films . Oh you know, of course we have those…everybody goes and see the 150-million dollar superhero, transformers, robot movie, and that’s great but it is nice to have a venue where people can watch smaller films, more intimate films. In many ways, more relatable stories and i think it is fantastic and important.”
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