Ninja Assassin could be Korean’s crossover key

Sitting down in the Windsor Arms hotel, the man born Jeong Ji-hoon is dutifully talking to the media about Ninja Assassin in his white Converse sneakers, black pants and ornate grey sweater with leather ties from his own fashion line. With a short coif, the 27-year-old from Seoul looks very different from his movierole, where he’s longhaired and usually shirtless. The exceedingly polite star admits getting into fighting shape was an ordeal.

“I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee. I trained for eight months, five days a week, and for eight hours a day. I ate only chicken breast and vegetables. It was hard. It was terrible,” he says. “And I learned a lot of martial arts, tae kwon do, tai chi and kung fu with sword, double sword, chain and shuriken. A lot.”

It’s his second North American movie, and also the second working with Andy and Larry Wachowski, the brothers who gained fame with The Matrix Trilogy and met Rain after casting him in a smaller role in Speed Racer. They produced Ninja Assassin, and he’s said that meeting the duo is one of the life-changing moments of his life.

“The Wachowskis, I love them. They have amazing abilities to make dreams come true, and have powerful imaginations. I want to work with them again, always,” he says.

That said, he couldn’t resist toying with their emotions on set.

“When I was doing stunts, even though everybody took care of me, I still got hurt, so one day I pretended that I broke my leg. So I said, `oh my God, I can’t feel my legs,’ and everyone was saying `are you okay, blah, blah, blah.’ It was a big commotion and I said, `I’m just kidding.’”

Despite his pop idol status in Asia, Rain says he still has a drive to make it in North America.

“It’s my dream. When I was young, I wanted to be a super action hero in the world. So finally I made it (at home). I wanted to take myself to the U.S. market.”

Koreans in Toronto haven’t forgotten him; tickets for his planned concert here in 2007 were selling for more than $250 before it had to be scrubbed. More North Americans might remember him from his appearances on Stephen Colbert in 2007. The fake news anchor started a mock feud with Rain after both men were featured in a “100 People who influence the world” article. The rivalry culminated with Rain competing in a dance-off with Colbert.

Beyond carrying his crossover hopes in North America, Ninja Assassin also bears the weight of trying to revitalize one of Asia’s oldest archetypes and bringing it back into the spotlight. Shot entirely in English, this is a thoroughly modern ninja tale.

In light of the incredibly popularity of vampires, zombies and werewolves, this story adds some supernatural weapons to the classic ninja arsenal, as well as the cutting edge special effects for which the Wachowskis are renowned.

“The history of the ninja is true in Asia,” says Rain. “But this is a new movie. Ninja Assassin is a different style … I love Bruce Lee. I love Enter the Dragon, and I love Japanese movies. I love Jackie Chan movies, they are my heroes. But (in this movie) I am so powerful, I am faster – it’s a new, different style than those older movies.”

One-name status is still generally conferred on only the biggest of stars, and in Asia, Rain definitely qualifies.

He started out as a Korean dancer and pop star, but has conquered television, movies, music and even launched the requisite clothing line on his native side of the planet. Now he hopes crossing over to similar media domination in North America proves as easy as slicing and dicing through countless enemies in his new-school martial-arts film.

The film has the backing of some of Hollywood’s big players, including executive producer Joel Silver, and Rain has a packed promotional schedule to help it succeed.

As for what’s next, Rain is getting set to do some concerts, and picking his next role.

“I have three scripts that I am thinking about,” he says. “Another action movie, romance and a horror. But I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet.”

It likely depends on just how well Ninja Assassin does. Will he be able to capitalize on the new fans he hopes to gain after this film opens Wednesday? Otherwise, like the warriors in this movie, he might just fade back into the shadows.