The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff hosts an exclusive Q&A with
Weekend in Taipei
director George Huang and stars Luke Evans, Sung Kang, and Wyatt Yang.

Weekend in Taipei
is a throwback action movie about Agent John Lawlor, who returns to Taiwan to finish a job from years ago and finds himself in a compromising position once again.
During their conversation, Huang discusses working with Luc Besson on the story and their inspiration, and Evans, Kang, and Yang discuss filming challenging action sequences and their on-set family.

In recent years, Hollywood has shifted focus to action flicks in the style of ’80s and ’90s classics, from rebooting franchises like Bad Boys to John Woo’s 2024 remake of The Killer. So when filmmaker Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) approached director, writer, and producer George Huang (Swimming with Sharks) with a pitch he couldn’t refuse, the two set to work on the script for Weekend in Taipei, a thriller that races across beautiful locations in Taiwan.

“I really want to do a female Transporter movie set in Asia,” Besson told long-time collaborator Huang a couple of years ago. Together, the filmmakers crafted a narrative that blends fast-paced, heart-racing action sequences with an emotional core. Everything began to take shape when Fast & Furious stars Luke Evans and Sung Kang boarded the project as opposing forces, Agent John Lawlor and the sinister drug lord, Kwang, respectively.

Before the film’s theatrical release on November 8, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sat down with Huang, Evans, and Kang, as well as Wyatt Yang, who plays Raymond in his debut on-screen role, for an exclusive Q&A following an advanced screening. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below for all the details behind what drew the stars to the script, the preparation and execution of challenging action sequences, developing characters and avoiding Hollywood tropes, and more.

‘Weekend in Taipei’ Is a “Female ‘Transporter’ Set in Asia”
The idea came from co-writer and producer Luc Besson.

PERRI NEMIROFF: George, can you tell us all what idea number one was, the thing that started it all, but then also if you and Luc had a break-story moment, something you came up with along the way that made you say, “We have a whole idea for a film now?”

GEORGE HUANG: I’ve had the fortune of working with Luc Besson for the last 10 years, collaborating on different scripts, and he came to me a couple of years ago with the idea, “Hey, I really want to do a female Transporter movie set in Asia.” So, we sat down together and started asking questions. “Okay, she’s a transporter. Who is she transporting? Who is she running away from? Why is she running away? What are her deep, dark secrets?” And then, out of that process, all this stuff started to unfold.

What would you say is the biggest difference between draft one of this screenplay and the finished film that everyone just watched?

HUANG: When we got to Taipei, first of all, it’s a beautiful place. There are a lot of gorgeous scenes, as you can see, and we can’t shoot all of it, but a lot of opportunities just unfolded organically when we were there. For example, the final fight between Luke and Sung, originally, we were gonna do it out in the streets — in the back alley there’s sort of night market — but we were shooting in the summer in Taipei, and it is super hot. So, Luc Besson and I were just wandering the streets just trying to scout, and five minutes into walking we were just drenched in sweat. I just joked to him when I saw a movie theater across the way, “Too bad we can’t do the final fight in an air-conditioned movie theater,” and he looked at me and said, “Why not?” [Laughs] So, to make all of our lives easier, we moved the whole third act to the movie theater.

22:46 Related Here’s How Billie Eilish Inspired Luc Besson’s Upcoming ‘Dracula’ Movie [Exclusive] Director Luc Besson also discusses working with Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz and moving away from “pure fantasy.”

Sometimes, that’s when you find the best stuff, when things don’t go according to plan!

HUANG: Exactly.

I also need a whole spin-off movie about the two people who sat in that theater while they fought.

HUANG: They had a lot of fun things to say.

‘Weekend in Taipei’ “Ticked Every Box” for a Great Action Movie
Evans and Kang share how they joined the film.
Image via Ketchup Entertainment

Luke and Sung, I wanna come your way now to touch on signing on for this film because you’re both very busy guys in this industry; I imagine you have lots of opportunities at your fingertips. When this particular script comes your way, what is something about the story or the characters that made you think, “I have something to gain from this as an actor who’s always evolving my craft?”

LUKE EVANS: Well, I did a movie with Luc, maybe four or five years ago, called Anna, so we’d worked together once before, and we had a really great experience together. The final conversation we had before I left Paris was, he said, “We’re going to work together again one day,” and I guess I was in his head. I didn’t think much of it. Directors promise a lot of things, and often, they don’t come back. But Luc kept his word, and I was in his mind, and I guess in your mind, too, when they wrote this character. I knew that this was happening, I knew that they were writing something. Luc was always keeping me involved, and I was excited to read it. When it came, it literally ticked every box of what I would want to watch in an action movie and what I would want to be part of in an action movie.

SUNG KANG: I can echo what Luke said about Luc Besson. I got the opportunity to meet Luc on the set of Fast X. He came to visit Louis Leterrier, the director of Fast X, and we were just talking about filmmaking. One of my favorite films is The Big Blue. I don’t know if you’ve had an opportunity to see Luc’s earliest films, but I think that is a cinematic masterpiece and a big part of my high school years. And then George Huang with Swimming with Sharks 30 years ago, I think ‘95, he was definitely on my bucket list of directors that I wished to work with because of that film. So, those two elements were a huge draw.

Also, the fact that George was directing this film, I knew that at least I would be safe and be able to have this open dialogue with them to stay away from the common tropes of an Asian bad guy. The luxury to be able to sit down with George and Luc every morning at the hotel — we pretty much all lived together in a dorm, so at breakfast, we were able to talk about the scenes and the characters and just keep adding dimensions. I think that’s just such a blessing and a luxury to have as an actor, to have that access with the writers and the director.

What are some subtle qualities of your characters that you knew you needed to add so that they didn’t just become the villain and the hero of the story, but they felt like fully realized people who had something to fight for?

EVANS: It’s all on the page. You want to see a well-rounded, layered character. Good guys have bad sides, and bad guys have good sides. I think these are very relatable people — even Kwang is relatable. He loves this woman. He’s twisted and crazy, but he loves this woman. He just wants this woman. He’s obsessed with this woman. And I relate to that story, as well. I can understand it. It’s interesting. I think that’s what’s very clever about the writing is George and Luc created characters that are not just cookie-cutter, obvious versions of a bad guy, a protagonist and an antagonist. They are way more than that.

What I love about John Lawlor is I think he’s just a nice guy who’s not really chosen the right decisions in life. He’s a bit of a mess, he’s a bit jaded, he’s tired. The face says everything. I mean, he’s been through the wars, and I think he’s missed the boat of having a family, and he’s accepted that. Then, all of a sudden, boom, a mother of a child and a man who wants to kill them all, and he has to fight for them. And he sort of looks at life with a bit of a smirk. He has a humor. Even in the darkest moments, there’s a bit of, like, “Oh, here we go again,” kind of thing, and I quite like that about him. He’s sort of like an everyman. I like that.

Related Luke Evans Feels the ’90s Vibe in Action-Packed ‘Weekend in Taipei’ Trailer [Exclusive] The thrilling movie comes from the creator of ‘The Transporter’ and ‘Taken’.

The second he saved the fish, I was like, “I get and appreciate this guy.”

EVANS: That’s another thing, right? That’s in the writing. That was in the script from the beginning, and I just think it’s lovely because he saves this little fish, but his son wants to save the dolphins, and they have this connection. Obviously, it’s a tiny detail, but I think that’s what makes this action film a lot more nuanced, this detail like that, which I find intriguing and touching, and I appreciate that kind of detail.

KANG: I think Luke explained it well. To be able to tap into this idea of a character that is so obsessed and in love with a woman, that explains the why. Why is Kwang such a bad guy? Why is he gonna do what he does? Not everybody can relate with being a drug lord and being a gangster and being this sexy [laughs], but I hope most of us can relate to being in love with someone so deeply that you would do anything to keep that person, right? So, that was the North Star. I think that’s what made this bad guy interesting and unique. Again, it’s a luxury to be able to explore those dimensions.

‘Weekend in Taipei’s Wyatt Yang Is a Star in the Making
“There’s a realness to Wyatt’s performance.”
Image via Ketchup Entertainment

Wyatt, I’m gonna make this real awkward for you for a moment. I’m gonna make the three of them talk about you for a second because this is your first movie, and I was just so wildly impressed by how incredibly natural you are right off the bat, and there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s gonna be many, many more filmmaking opportunities for you out there if you want them. So, for the three of you, can you each tell me something about Wyatt as a scene partner and as a lead in your movie that you’re so excited for even more filmmakers to experience in the future?

EVANS: Look at that face.

HUANG: How could you not love this kid?

EVANS: Working with Wyatt, I’ve said it many times, but there’s a realness to Wyatt’s performance. He doesn’t overthink it. And for somebody who’s never been on a film set and then all of a sudden is thrown into this giant machine, you just took it in your stride, and you just left Wyatt at the door and turned into Raymond every day. It sounds simple, but it’s really not easy to leave yourself out of the equation when it comes to performance, and Wyatt did it without even thinking. He just became my son. He became Joey’s son. It was fascinating and brilliant and just so nice to have somebody so young embracing it in a very simplistic way, which is actually a brilliant, brilliant tool. And I told you that night, never lose it. Never lose that because it’s brilliant, and you have it in bucket loads.

HUANG: Wyatt is great, but a lot of it is acting is like playing tennis, so you’re as good as your partner. When you’ve got Luke and Sung to work opposite of? I remember there was one take when Sung was beating Wyatt, and there were tears coming down Wyatt’s face. I was like, “Oh my god, that’s fantastic! How did you get there?” And he was like, “Sung was scaring me, man.” [Laughs] He was like, “Oh my god, what did I do to piss him off?” So, when you have scene partners and actors like Luke and Sung to play off of, it helps out, right, Wyatt?

WYATT YANG: Yeah, definitely.

Image via Ketchup Entertainment

KANG: It’s nice to work with young folks because they remind you what it was like when you were on a set for the first time. Every day I was just so excited because I think you didn’t have to go to summer school or something, so he was like extra, extra excited. It reminds you why we were attracted to this crazy business, his fresh perspective. I give credit to his mother and father; they are also artists and thespians, so he already came with a structure or method to the craft. So, it wasn’t like working with some wild kid that they just found at an open call. I was just shocked how professional he was.

Wyatt, you’re clearly a pro right out of the gate, but one of the coolest things about doing more and more movies is you get the opportunity to learn from the people you’re working with every step of the way. What’s something you saw Sung and Luke do on this set that you wanted to put in your back pocket so you could try them yourself on another film?

YANG: It was really exciting to work with both these amazing actors. I saw Luke play Gaston in Beauty and the Beast and, of course, Sung in the Fast & Furious movies, so it’s really cool to see them in person. They’re really nice people in person, which I did not expect. [Laughs] Me and Sung, probably every other night, would go to this dumpling place called Lai Lai. Every other night we’d walk there. And Luke, me and my family would do karaoke with him, probably like five times. He has a beautiful voice, by the way.

EVANS: So do you!

Gwei Lun-mei Is a Big Reason the Family Dynamic Shines On-Screen
“It came really naturally for all of us.”
Image via Ketchup Entertainment

We’re lucky enough to be able to talk to the three of you right now from the cast, but Mei is not here, and she is absolutely phenomenal — a total powerhouse in that role. Wyatt and Luke, it feels like this movie does not work unless you cast the perfect trio to play that family, so can you each tell me the first time that you stopped, looked around at each other, and said, “Wow, I really am with the perfect scene partners for this dynamic?”

EVANS: I felt it the first scene we did. Obviously, we were introduced to each other before we started filming and got a chance to chat and have dinner and talk. Then you’re in costume, and then you’re on a set, and all of a sudden, the cameras are rolling, and you just hope to God that the chemistry naturally flows and that we all find our place within that little dynamic. And it just happened. Very, very quickly, we just took our roles and owned them, and I felt a protective nature around Mei and Wyatt on and off the set. We all got on.

We just touched on it, but we were in Taipei — none of us live in Taipei. We’re from lots of other places around the world. We become our own family. We create this temporary little union of people that we may not see for a very long time after the movie finishes, but that is what we have. And not often, but sometimes, you get a group of people that really want to make an effort and bond, and we all did that. And like you said, when the cameras roll, you hope and pray that that happens on camera, and it did. It totally did.

I mean, Joey hates me for about two-thirds of the film. [Laughs] I kept saying to George, I was like, “When is she going to be nice?” Because it just feels like every scene, she just hates me. She’s giving me so much shit, punching me, and it’s just like, “Okay, I’m sorry! How many more times can I say I’m sorry?” But it works. When she does smile and when she does touch my face in the car when I say I’m gonna go and meet Kwang in the American alley, it’s really poignant because it’s like, “Oh, wow. She does care.” And she’s gone through all that with him. It’s lovely, and we miss her here. I really miss her because she’s such a gracious human being and so talented and generous, and really bloody good.

YANG: I think it came really naturally for all of us. Obviously, I have a mom somewhere over there, but there’s a scene that really resonated with me when we were all in Popo’s house sitting in the table. At the time, obviously, he’s not my dad, and she’s not my mom, but when the camera starts rolling, I just pretend that they’re my mom and my dad. And I know Luke just gave me some really good advice about filmmaking.

‘Weekend in Taipei’s Kitchen Fight Took Four Days to Film
Between challenging stunts and language barriers, this one was a sequence for the books!
Image via Ketchup Entertainment

I want to pose this question to the entire group because I am very curious to see how your answers might differ based on what your character goes through. This movie is one ambitious set piece after the next, so when you were gearing up to film, which scene did you think was going to be the toughest for you to pull off, and ultimately was it or did a different one catch you by surprise?

EVANS: I know which one for me: that kitchen fight. I don’t know how I got through it. I do not know how I survived it. [Laughs] It was weeks of rehearsal in a cardboard kitchen that we built so we could work within the parameters of what we had that was exactly like the real kitchen. But then, you turn up in the real kitchen, and everything’s sharp, and the woks are real, and the rings are real flames. It was, like, four days of being battered and then soaked.

This is an extremely elaborate fight sequence. Is there any teeny-tiny particular detail of the choreography that was toughest for you to master?

EVANS: The stunt coordinator, [Amedéo Cazzella], has worked on many of Luc’s movies, so we were very lucky to work with an incredible team from France and some French stuntmen. Then we had a Taiwanese stunt team, as well, and then we had a translator who would translate between Taiwanese, English, and French. So, the first few days, I’d literally take three paracetamol at the beginning of the day and three in the middle just to get through. It was like, “How are we gonna communicate all of this and not hurt each other?”

They brought all their different styles to the table. John is clearly a character. You can see what he can do. He’s not a trained fighter. He doesn’t do Krav Maga or jiu-jitsu — all the other boys were doing that stuff. So, he just does what he does and picks up a wok or a knife, and we brought his character very much into the choreography that he does. That just organically grew by the days that we were rehearsing, and after three weeks, we had the whole thing set.

Related 10 Movies That Prove the Oscars Need a Stunt Category Seriously. It’s time.

Wyatt and Sung, do you have an example of a scene that wound up being more challenging than you ever could have imagined to film?

YANG: Obviously, the scene where Sung is beating the shit out of me, that was definitely the hardest scene to shoot. Obviously, it’s my first time shooting a movie, and George gave me really good advice. He was like, “He’s gonna kill you, he’s gonna kill you!” [Laughs] I really understood that when he told me that, so then I just started crying. That was probably the hardest scene to shoot.

KANG: I thought that scene was going to be very hard, but it actually came really naturally for me. That’s actually my favorite scene of any scene I’ve ever done in any film. [Laughs] As I get older, all the action stuff becomes harder and harder, so I knew it was going to be hard, and it turned out to be harder. But I give credit to our amazing stunt team. They put their literally blood and broken bones and hearts into that, so they deserve the credit. We get to come and play, and they go home and…

EVANS: Ice bath. [Laughs]

George, I’m not leaving you out with this question, especially from the directing perspective!

HUANG: As the director, I was terrified. You think, every day, “Oh my god, it’s gonna be a nightmare.” We’re always facing some obstacle. Our first day of filming was supposed to take place inside Popo’s house, but the set burned down. All of sudden, it’s like, “Oh my god, what are we gonna do?” So, we’re scrambling, and every day, it’s like, “Okay, what disaster are we going to have to face today?” But again, when you have Luc and Virginie [Besson-Silla] as your producers, they’ve done it, they’ve seen it all before. And like Sung said, we’d meet at the hotel, we’d meet in the morning, and I’d be going, “Oh my god, the weather is horrible. We can’t afford to be like Terrence Malick and wait for the perfect light!” Then Luc would be like, “Oh, I did a movie with Terrence Malick. I produced The Tree of Life…” And he tells the anecdote that would not only show you how we’re going to get through the day but calm you down. So, I thought all of them were going to be hard, but again, having the perfect cast, the crew that we had, and having Luc and Virginie Besson helps a lot. It really does.

Related Watch the Luc Besson Action Movie That Made Natalie Portman a Star Before It Leaves Netflix Though the ’90s thriller is exceptionally crafted, its problematic undertones cannot be denied.

That will pave the way to my last question quite nicely because I love hearing collaborators give each other flowers. For each of you, whether it was a member of the cast or the crew, can you each recall a time someone did something on the set of this movie that made you stop and go, “That is something else, and I’m so proud of you?”

YANG: Mei, probably, like, once a week, would come to set and give us a present, whether it’s a mug or whether it’s some cookies. She’d always just come to set with something to give. She’s a really kind soul. I would say on set, she was like my second mother.

That’s a beautiful answer.

KANG: I would say daily it was George. I call him Happy Buddha. You just want to go up to him and rub his belly for good luck. On a film set, especially in a foreign country, people speaking different languages and the weather and the unknowns, there’s always something, and when the leader is always level-headed and always positive — I never heard George complain, I never saw him or heard him point fingers, even to this day. He’s a special, special, special person. Sometimes on a set or in life, you learn what not to do from the leaders, but with George, every day I’m around him, I learn what to do and what kind of human being to be.

Another beautiful answer. I have to follow up with one silly question though. Does George have a monitor dance, something he does behind the monitor that signals to you, he’s really loving a take?

KANG: His voice gets us in a lot of trouble. He’s so loud. The first evening that we all hung out at the night market, his laugh is so loud we almost got in a fight. It’s so loud it’s offensive.

EVANS: Not us. Somebody at the restaurant started to tell us to shut up. [Laughs] It was George’s laugh.

KANG: They’re trying to eat. The family’s trying to eat their shaved ice, and he’s like [laughs loudly], and everything starts to shake.

Do people not like joy? What’s wrong with them?

HUANG: There’s nothing to complain about when you’re working with a cast like this and making a movie like this. Every day is a happy day. It’s great. You’re always like, “I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this! I can’t believe I’m working with Luke Evans, with Sung Kang, and Wyatt Yang, and Luc Besson.” It was just like, “Oh my god!” I still don’t believe it’s real. I think I’m gonna wake up from some weird coma because that guy at the restaurant beat the crap out of me. Then I wake up, like, “It was all a dream”

That’s a cool movie idea, actually.

Luke, you want to take us home with this one?

EVANS: On a film set, there are a lot of people that you never meet, you never hear their names, or you never see them, but without them, we can’t make movies. They are the people behind the camera. They’re often the people you spend the most time with. You’re there in the morning in the chair, and it’s the hair and makeup, the wardrobe, the people that are around you all day long, making sure you look the way you look, making sure your hair is nice and the blood is in the right place and the clothes are just about hanging on. You spend a lot of time with them. And my team, they were all young Taiwanese girls, and one didn’t speak any English and did my hair every day, and I’d learn a little something every day with them. They were the people I remember. When I think of my experience, I remember these three girls from Taipei who were with me every single day, wherever we were. On top of a mountain or in the back of a car or in a Chinese restaurant next to a fish tank, they were always next to me. I always remember that group that I’m always solid with.

Weekend in Taipei hits theaters on November 8.

Weekend In Taipei A former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.Director George Huang Cast Luke Evans , Gwei Lun-mei , Sung Kang , Wyatt Yang , Pernell Walker , Zach Ireland , Patrick Lee , Virginia Chien , Lu Yi-ching , Tou Tsung-Hua , Tjarret Yong , Erin Adele Clark Runtime 101 Minutes Writers Luc Besson , George Huang

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