He
most recently co-starred with Vin Diesel in the blockbuster hit “Fast Five” and
appeared on “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and “Fast &
Furious.” Now, Asian-American actor Sung
Kang joins Sylvester Stallone in a quest for revenge in Buena Vista
International's hard-hitting action-thriller “Bullet to the Head.”
Directed by Walter Hill (“Streets of
Fire,” “48 Hrs.”), the film is based on the French graphic novel Du Plomb
Dans La Tête. Stallone stars as Jimmy Bobo, a New Orleans hitman who forms
an alliance with Washington D.C. detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) to bring
down the killer of their respective partners.
As the man on the right side of the
law in this pairing, Kang observes, “They’re like oil and water: no matter how
hard you try to shake them together, they are constantly splitting apart.”
Continues the actor, “My character
figures out that there’s a connection between the deaths of our former
partners. Taylor lives by this real rigid code of honor and a moral integrity
that’s been ingrained in him. He wants the entity behind the hits, so he’s
willing to team up with Jimmy to chase down the bad guys, even though he knows
Jimmy is a criminal himself.”
Taylor is willing to compromise on
his values for the sake of the greater good, but there’s still a limit to how
far he’ll bend. Stallone adds, “Jimmy is
confronted with something he’s never been confronted with before—a betrayal
from within and a complete reliance upon a detective who hates his guts. Not
exactly a strong support system.”
Kang asserts, “Generationally,
they’re completely different; morally, they’re completely different; and
ethnically, they’re completely different. Jimmy Bobo comes from a time where
there was no political correctness, so he’s the type of guy that just says
what’s on his mind.”
Producer Kevin King-Templeton
offers, “There’s just a great juxtaposition between the two characters. Jimmy
is bombastic and like a bull in a china shop; he’s tough as nails but, at the
same time, wears his heart on his sleeve. Taylor Kwon is more reserved,
although once he teams up with Jimmy he does begin to adopt more of the hit man
mentality. He’s always been a
by-the-book cop, but Jimmy’s underworld approach begins to rub off on him.”
Adding to the discord between Jimmy
Bobo and his new “partner” is the fact that the hit man is a bit of an
anachronism. “He doesn’t even know how to use a smart phone,” says Stallone,
“and that makes him a great foil for Taylor.”
Coming into the project, Kang says
that he was excited about the opportunity to work with both Stallone and
director Walter Hill. “I pretty much grew up watching Sylvester Stallone
movies. One of the first movies my father took me to was ‘Rocky.’ So getting to
work with him was a pretty amazing experience, definitely one of those things
on my bucket list,” he smiles. “And from the get-go, Walter Hill was so open to
ideas; he was such an ally for me as an actor in that respect.”
Kang was previously featured in
“Ninja Assassin,” directed by James McTeigue and Len Wiseman’s action hit “Live
Free or Die Hard.” His other film credits include roles in Denzel Washington’s
“Antwone Fisher” and Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor.”
Originally from Gainesville,
Georgia, Kang began acting at the Los Angeles-based experimental theater group
F.A.T.E. (Friends Artist Theater Ensemble).
Opening across the Philippines on Feb.
6 2013, “Bullet to the Head” is distributed by Buena Vista International
through Columbia Pictures.