Word: hung
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Martial Law concerns Sammo Law, a detective from Shanghai, played by Hung, who has been assigned to the Los Angeles police department. In many ways it is an old-fashioned cop show, with crude plots and characterizations--but this actually makes it a pleasure to watch since it provides a B-movie charge and doesn't require the viewer to care about anyone's alcoholism or love life. What makes Martial Law distinct though is its intricate, speed-of-light action sequences and its humor, and these both derive from the talents of Hung, who has been a star...
...year ago, Hung would never have imagined that he would be appearing in prime time. Last March Terry Botwick, a programming executive at CBS, learned that veteran Hong Kong action director Stanley Tong was interested in developing a martial-arts show for American TV. That's something Botwick had wanted to do for a long time, and he and Tong proposed such a series to Leslie Moonves, the head of CBS Television. CBS has a new strategy of trying to appeal to young men, and Moonves liked the idea. He ordered up a pilot, collapsing the development process, which usually...
...first choice for the lead was Jackie Chan, but he preferred to keep making films like his current hit Rush Hour. So Tong and his partners suggested Hung, who as another huge Hong Kong star was a logical substitute. Hung took the part because he liked the character, who is tough, street-smart and wise. "In movies and television shows, there has never been a really good Chinese lead," Hung says. "So often the Chinese look like they are very scared and shy. I said I would try a new kind of character...
...Hung, 46, has starred in or directed more than 140 films, many with Chan, whom he met as a child when they attended the Beijing Opera School in Hong Kong. There they learned acting, tumbling and martial arts. Hung was older and would bully Chan, and even now, according to Chan, Hung treats him overbearingly. "He is like a Hitler," Chan says. That sentiment notwithstanding, the two are good friends. "We are very close," says Hung jokingly. "I used to beat him up every...
Last year Hung and his wife Mina, a former Miss Hong Kong, moved to Los Angeles, where Hung hoped to direct. He didn't intend to do any acting until Tong, with whom he had often worked, proposed Martial Law. Now Hung spends 12-hour days on the set, with the occasional game of golf as his only distraction. The show has two crews working at once, one shooting the dramatic sequences and the other shooting the action. The latter crew consists of Tong and several other veterans of the Hong Kong film industry. Hung helps stage the fights, performs...