Make it Rain

This week is, in a way, the U.S. debut of Korean pop star Rain with the release of Ninja Assassin. His second American film after 2008’s Speed Racer, Ninja Assassin is the first big-budget vehicle for the star, who takes a prominent role playing Raizo, a ninja defecting from his old clan after the execution of his friend.

Produced by Andy and Larry Wachowski (Speed Racer) and directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), Ninja Assassin modernizes the idea of a ninja film with an international flavor, not to mention buckets of CGI blood. Rain spoke with The Diamondback about why the film, which opens nationwide today, appealed to him and his grueling training regimen for the role and also broke down his grueling training regimen for the role.

“I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee,” Rain said. “I trained for eight months, five days a week and eight hours a day. I ate only chicken breast and vegetables — no salt, no sugar. It was hard. It was horrible.”

Rain also had to study ninja techniques for his character, as well as Taekwondo, tai chi, kung fu and kickboxing. It was a lot of work for what he called a “scary, kickass movie.” 
“Whatever you expect, expect more,” Rain said. “It’s a new style. It’s going to be huge if people like the movie.”

Though this film may be the first time many Americans will see Rain, he is not completely unfamiliar to the U.S. public. In 2006, he played two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, he was included on TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and he danced off against Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report in a dance-off with Stephen Colbert.

Music, according to Rain, is on hold right now in order for him to focus on acting. Though he expressed an equal love for both, he said he has a lot of goals and dreams for his filmmaking future.

“I would like to do romance and horror — zombie movies,” Rain said. “Yeah, I’m going to show you everything.”

Asked if he had any American actor he would love to work with, Rain named Al Pacino, citing the 69-year-old star as his “hero" and noting that Scarface is his favorite film.

Rain comes across as genuine and to the point. Although he is still learning to master English, his down-to-earth nature is evident in interviews. It’s startling because “down-to-earth” is not a phrase one would think to describe the star of such a loud, blood-gushingly violent film such as Ninja Assassin.

In the film, however, there is the sense of self-awareness in the excess. Rain’s outside life even gets a nod when a police chief says, “This guy looks like he’s from some boy band.”
Rain said he’s game for a sequel if the first is successful, noting his love for working with the Wachowski brothers. His name has been tied to the rumored remake of Bruce Lee’s 1973 martial-arts classic Enter the Dragon, but, according to Rain, the project has not been green-lighted.

As for the spectacle of Ninja Assassin, the movie holds nothing back. In the spirit of the film, Rain just wants to go all-out.

“I wanted to challenge myself to U.S. market when I was young,” Rain said. “I did my best, and if I’ll do my best, then all American fans would love me too.”

diversions@umdbk.com