- How did you start in the movie business?

At the time I was number one in forms and weapons working out of West Coast Studios. I was on the famous West Coast Demo Team. Ernie Reyes got a call from Paul Maslak, the editor of Inside Kung Fu magazine saying that there were some Hong Kong producers auditioning people to become the next Bruce Lee. They said they were looking for a guy but he could bring the girls down to try out. There were hundreds of people there. I did forms and weapons, and self defense and they decided to go with a girl instead of a guy when they saw my movements.


- You are a great martial artist; can you tell us more about all kind of styles that you learned?

I have Black belts in Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, Pai Lum Kung Fu, Eagle Claw Kung Fu, Northern Shaolin, and Wu Shu. I've also studied in Tai Chi and Shaolin Kenpo.


- How did you have your part in Righting Wrongs?

I had already completed Yes Madam and Shanghai Express. I was supposed to do a film with Jackie Chan (ndlr : Armour of God). It was at the time he hurt in head badly from a fall. Golden Harvest then decided that they didn't want to wait until he was better so they put me in Righting Wrongs.



- Was it difficult to adapt you to the rhythm of the Hong Kong choreographies?

It was difficult to adapt to the movement. I fell in love with the way the Hong Kong choreographers put together the fight scenes. I guess the hardest thing for me was getting use to being hit so hard during the fight scenes.


- You came from the United States and worked often in the Hong Kong Cinema. Did you feel any difference in the way people from Hong Kong was treating you? Was there any language barrier considering you speak English and not the local dialect, Cantonese?

At first I think the people I was working with didn't know how to treat me. Here I was this small blonde woman that was going to have to fight hard and get fought hard. They were delicate until they saw what I could do. From then on I was treated like one of the guys as far as fighting goes.

Not too many people spoke English. It was my first movie and I had no clue what was going on. The first day of shooting they gave me a line I want to fight you and I was so nervous I said I want to bite you. I cracked up laughing and no one even smiled. They looked at me as if I were strange until I realized no one knew what I was saying. After a year I started to study the language so my conversations would be more than, hi, how are you?

As far as work went there were a lot of hand signals and follow the leader for stunts. That kind of language is universal.



- How do you see the fact that you were one of the rare foreigners in Hong Kong to play mostly positive parts?

I think I was a strange commodity. I was a woman that looked good, and fought like a guy. I looked like the girl next door so they liked the fact that when the audience saw me they were in for a big surprise. I will never forget the first movie I did "Yes Madam". We were at the premier screening and the audience went wild and crazy. It was surreal to me, but I loved it.


- Why do you think that directors took Jeff Falcon as your partner, who fought you at least on 3 movies (Inspectors Wear Skirts, Lady Reporter and Prince of the sun) and generally others foreigners.
Is it a matter of best efficiency with regard to choreographies rhythm or more a matter of commercial choice (perhaps the Chinese audience doesn't want to see you beating Chineses)?

Jeff was a foreigner who could fight like a Hong Kong stunt man. He could follow the action and didn't complain. That's what they liked. Of course it was efficiency but the local people liked seeing foreigners get beat up. I think I was one of the first foreigners who played a lead as a good person.



- Can you tell us more about your relationship with Karen Sheperd and Yuen Biao?

I loved working with Yuen Biao. Of all the people I have ever fought, fighting with him was the easiest. Our timing seemed to be the same. During the time of the filming of Righting Wrongs Biao did not speak any English so we smiled a lot and did a lot of hand signals.

I felt Karen didn't really like me. At the time we didn't talk much. So my attitude is if you don't like me fine I'm not going to worry about it. Karen was number one when I entered the professional circuit. The first year I competed I became number one. No one has ever beaten me in Women's form during the five years I have competed. That is something I am very proud of because that record was never matched. I trained like a maniac; I went to Hong Kong and China to continue to be the best.

When we were about to film Righting Wrongs, the director Corey Yuen asked if I wanted Karen or her instructor Malia to fight with me. Even though I knew Karen didn't like me I still chose her because I thought she would be the better one. I don't think Karen would have chosen me at the time, haha. Now we are friends.


- How do you see the action in Hong Kong compared with the action in the USA? Do you try to use what you learned in Hong Kong in your US movies?

I have always been a huge fan of Hong Kong films. When I was a young girl my instructor Shum Leung would take me to Chinatown every week to see action movies. Action in the US is getting better in films, but I think it is because a lot of Hong Kong stunt men are over here working as choreographers. They have been doing fight scenes forever and in my opinion they are the masters.

The set up for Hong Kong stunts take a long time to prepare. The ending of Yes Madam took over a month alone. When you do small budget action pictures in the States the whole movie doesn't even take a month. Sometimes doing action doesn't only depend on you. It depends on the person fighting you. If I fought with a Hong Kong stuntmen it would be quite different than fighting with a US stuntman. I've tried on many films to get Hong Kong stuntmen over here to fight with me. It's very hard because of the budget so I have always felt my best fights are in the Hong Kong movies because of the choreographers and the stuntmen.



- In the television show "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" you fought Karen Sheperd for the second time of your career. How was the reunion with her?

I fought Karen again in Hercules. I thought it was a great episode and I didn't feel any tension from anyone. I had a great time. It was one of my best experiences filming because I loved working with Kevin Sorbo.


- What do you think about your direct rivals in the girls with guns movies: Yukari Oshima, Michelle Yeoh and Michiko Nischiwaki?

I think Yukari, Michelle and Michiko are all great.


- Why did you stop to make movies in Hong Kong and go back to USA in 1993?

I was set to shoot two movies for Golden Harvest in Utah. They were China O'Brien 1 and 2. I was then signed to play opposite Sylvester Stallone in a movie "The Executioner" but it never went. From that point on I was working consistantly in the US.



- What is the role you are the most proud of?

Well for fighting I would say Lady Reporter, a Hong Kong film, and for acting Outside the Law.


- What are your next projects?

The beginning of next year I will start shooting a movie called "Zero to the Bone" and later in the spring I will be shooting a TV series in England and Beijing.


- At last, what would you want to say to your French fans?

Thank you so much for being great fans of mine throughout the years. I hope you continue to enjoy my films and if you ever want to contact me you can do so at cynthiarothrock.org.

Our warmest thanks go to Cynthia Rothrock for answering our questions.

- Official website : http://www.cynthiarothrock.org/

---

---